SUSAN LIEU

As a child of Vietnamese refugees, I grew up with unexplainable PTSD, intense body shaming, and unresolved grief from my mother's tragic plastic surgery death. Navigating intergenerational trauma without ever having a name for it was debilitating and lonely. As a playwright, performer, and now author, I have transformed this pain into power and now I want to make sure my book gets in the hands of the people I wrote it for--regardless of their ability to pay. 

The mission of the Intergenerational Healing Book Fund was to distribute free copies of this memoir to immigrants and children of immigrants who can't afford them. I believe healing from intergenerational trauma happens first on an individual level, and reading is an intimate experience to help unpack complicated feelings on family and the immigrant experience. Elle Magazine calls my book a "stunning feat of investigation, introspection, wit and candor; it braids together family history, grief, body image, food, class, race, and resilience for insight that must not be missed.” I wish this for everyone who reads this book, especially the generation of children of immigrants who bear the burden of their parents' sacrifice.

My goal was to raise $50,000 by Tuesday, March 19th to distribute 1500 books to nonprofits that directly serve immigrants and children of immigrants—and we did it! We raised $52,000, which is 104% of our goal. 1640 copies of the book have been donated to the following organizations:

ACRS
Asian American Resource Workshop
California Nail Salon Collaborative
Friends of Little Saigon Boston
Friends of Little Saigon Seattle
Girls Inc of Orange County
Kandelia
Mekong NYC
OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates
Tet in Seattle
UNAVSA
VAALA
Viet Rainbow of Orange County
VietAid
Vietnamese American Roundtable

Special thanks to Friends of Little Saigon Seattle for joining me as a community partner on this project.