Georgia Southern journalism graduate hopes to ‘be a voice’ for Asian, Black stories 

December 21, 2023

Growing up, Javon Huynh always wanted to follow in his mother and grandmother’s footsteps by going into the education field. 

In his small hometown of Waycross, Georgia, Huynh worked at the local YMCA where he gained experience working with children. He felt this solidified his plans to become a middle school teacher. 

But not long after he began his educational journey at Georgia Southern University, Huynh experienced a profound loss that ultimately changed the trajectory of his life.

“In 2020, my friend passed away due to a car accident,” Huynh said. “I remember being so lost.”

To cope with his grief, Huynh turned to writing and decided to write a memoir about his friend. 

“I just felt like his story needed to be told,” he said. “I felt like he had so much life to still live. He played the trumpet well. He taught himself Spanish. He would say things in such a profound way, and I felt he needed to be honored.”

As Huynh was writing, he felt a sense of deeper meaning to the memoir.

“I remember writing it for a long time and thinking, ‘You know, this story is bigger than me,” Huynh said. “So I reached out to almost all my friends and got quotes from them, and they added their favorite memories about him. Then we went to the Waycross Journal-Herald and they published a section dedicated to him and it was called ‘Losing a friend during pandemic.’”  

From there, Huynh knew he had found his niche.

“I just remember the outpouring of the community when they all read it — thanking me, congratulating me, thanking my friends and thanking me for writing a piece like that to honor him,” he said. “I think that’s what made me want to tell stories that impact people.” 

Huynh switched his major to journalism and things began to fall into place. He was enjoying his classes in the Department of Communication Arts and began writing for campus publications like Sincerely Southern. 

Huynh, who is Vietnamese and African American, was also invited to contribute to a CNN article highlighting Asian Americans who were faced with racism growing up.

“I was anxious at first as I wasn’t sure how the story would pan out,” he said. “However, my family reassured me that if it occurred to me, it has probably happened to someone else as well. For this reason, I decided to tell my story to raise awareness and assist others because it does happen.” 

Huynh told CNN about a time in his childhood when an adult made jokes about the pronunciation of his last name. When he shared the article and story with his friends, he was once again inspired by the support he received from telling his story. 

“When I told my friends about it, they all apologized for what had happened to me,” he said. “I remember from my first beginner journalism course over the summer, how my professor, who was interested in learning more about me, discovered that story. They apologized and emphasized the significance of sharing that story. Every one of those experiences made me realize that speaking up was acceptable, and it even sparked my interest in journalism more.”

Because of this, Huynh began to find ways to write stories and find experiences that would allow him to shine a light on minorities, especially in the Asian and Black communities.

“I want to advocate for Asian American people, but I also want to advocate for African American people, and I can do both,” he said. “It is tough trying to advocate and make sure that everyone is on the same page because there are some stereotypes against Asian people and there are stereotypes against African American people, and sometimes they don’t get along together. So I want to at least try to be the bridge that builds them together and show, ‘Hey, I’m the both of two.’”

One opportunity Huynh had to be a voice was by participating in the 2023 Voices Summer Fellow for the Asian American Journalist Association. He was the only student from Georgia Southern to attend, and one of 20 students nationwide selected for the fellowship. Huynh met with other students in the program to create a long-form project about Asian American college students and adults who have ADHD that they presented to the Asian American Journalists Association during its national convention in Washington, D.C.

This experience gave Huynh much more than the chance to network and practice his journalism skills.

“The reason I even signed up for this was to learn more about the Asian community because growing up, I didn’t really have that,” he said. “I wanted to see what it was like to immerse myself with fellow Asian Americans, and I walked away with around 20 lifelong friends. We were all learning ourselves, learning to work in this market, how to tell our stories and how to have our voices heard.”

Huynh also interned with Savannah-based news station WJCL and in spring 2023 was named the Top Broadcasting Student by Georgia Southern’s Department of Communication Arts. Additionally, he has taken his journalism skills back to his hometown job at the YMCA, where he implemented a journalism course for the summer camp program. 

“That was really cool — I got to keep my journalism alive while I was away working,” he said. “I got to teach them how to use a camera, or my phone and we would make newscasts of the daily announcements. We called ourselves the YMCA Times.” 

Looking forward, Huynh, who graduated with a journalism degree on Dec. 14 at Allen E. Paulson Stadium on the Statesboro Campus, plans to keep growing in the journalism field by exploring different opportunities like fellowships, internships and travel. 

“I’ve learned through traveling that there is a lot to see and do in the world,” he said. “I am eager to keep growing and learning. As a journalist, I believe it helps to expand your knowledge of other communities and cultures when you seek to write about specific topics.”