‘Voices for Change’ lecture, panel to feature Jane Hamilton-Merritt

Jane Hamilton-Merritt, author of “Tragic Mountains: The Hmong, the Americans and the Secret Wars for Laos, 1942-92,” will be the featured guest for the Asian American Lecture Series “Voices for Change.”

This free, public event includes a lecture by Hamilton-Merritt at 6 p.m., Wednesday, March 18, in the Cone University Center, McKnight Hall. On Thursday, March 19, there will be a panel discussion with the author, Hmong American veterans of the “secret wars” and Hmong American youth born and raised in the United States, starting at 10 a.m., in Cone Center’s McKnight Hall.

Hamilton-Merritt is a journalist/photographer, war correspondent, historian, human rights advocate and authority on Southeast Asia. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 and 2000 for her work on behalf of the Hmong people of Laos.

The author of seven books and hundreds of newspaper/magazine articles, Hamilton-Merritt has been involved with the Hmong since she was a photo-journalist covering the Vietnam War. During that time, she was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the war, and she won the Inland Daily Press Association’s Grand Prize Trophy for her frontline combat photography. She has testified numerous times before Congress and at congressional forums on chemical-biological warfare, genocide, and refugee issues and human rights violations by Asian governments.

Prospective attendees are encouraged to register online to ensure a seat at this free event.

The Chancellor’s Diversity Challenge Fund provided support for this event along with the School of Nursing and the College of Education, as well as the First Hmong United Methodist Church of Charlotte, Lao-Hmong American Coalition of North Carolina chapter and SGU Veterans.