Tou SaiKo Lee

Tou SaiK Lee is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he earned a Master of Arts in Southeast Asian Studies. His research explores Hmong perspectives on indigeneity in Southeast Asia, with a particular focus on cultural identity, language revitalization, and the role of traditional and contemporary arts in sustaining Hmong communities across the global diaspora.

Lee is a hip hop artist, storyteller, spoken word poet, and educator from St. Paul, Minnesota. In 2016, he received a Bush Foundation Leadership Fellowship to study Hmong communities in Thailand, Vietnam, China, and Australia, examining how Hmong people utilize both traditional and contemporary artistic practices to preserve culture, language, and identity. His TEDx talk, “Reclaiming Cultural Identity and Language Through Hip Hop,” highlights the ways creative expression can serve as a pathway for cultural reclamation and community empowerment.

For more than twenty years, Lee has facilitated spoken word poetry, storytelling, and hip hop arts residencies in schools and community organizations across five states, helping young people develop their voices through creative writing and performance. He is the founder of Street Stops and Mountain Tops, an initiative that connects teaching artists from Minnesota with students in Hmong villages in Thailand through arts-based educational exchanges.

Today, Lee continues his work as a community faculty member at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he teaches Worldview Through Hmong Language and helps students explore Hmong language, culture, history, and identity through an interdisciplinary and community-centered approach.

YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/tousaik