Most of the 172,000 people of Cambodian origin now living in the United States arrived here as refugees, fleeing war, starvation, forced labor and the mass killings of the Khmer Rouge rule. In "Cambodian–Americans Speak," three survivors who are forging new Khmer-American identities speak about their lives, their art and their struggles to reclaim memory.

Sophiline Shapiro keeps the ancient forms of Cambodian classical dance alive and blends them with dramas that speak to a people's need for justice.

Chanrithy Him writes her own heart-wrenching accounts of genocide and gives voice to other adolescent survivors of trauma.

Prach Ly jumps into hip-hop -- that most American of forms -- and raps the story of Cambodia, from the evacuated streets of Phnom Penh to the freestyle immigrant mix of Long Beach. /

Cambodian-Americans Speak by Sheraz Sadiq, an Associate Producer for FRONTLINE/World.

photo: Prach Ly
credit: Photos courtesy of Jerry Gorman

photo: Chanrithy Him
credit: Photos courtesy of Chanrithy Him and W.W. Norton & Company

photo: Sophiline Shapiro
credit: Photos courtesy of Michael Burr and James Wasserman