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Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Category Archives: Vietnamese

Supervisor Janet Nguyen finally endorses Van Tran, against Congresswoman Sanchez

Posted on by Posted in 2010 Elections, Elections, Garden Grove, Loretta Sanchez, Politics, Santa Ana, Vietnamese, Westminster 1 Comment

It was surely a matter of time.  Supervisor Janet Nguyen was being pressured on all sides by her fellow Republican politicians and today the damn broke as she “hosted a press conference announcing her support for Republican Congressional Candidate Van Tran (CA-47) at Tran’s Garden Grove campaign headquarters,” according to a Tran campaign press release.

“Tran and Nguyen, both big-name power brokers in the Vietnamese community, have carried on a chilly rivalry for years,” according to the O.C. Register.

Nguyen used to be Tran’s protege.  They even honeymooned together with their spouses.  Things got frosty when Nguyen first ran for the Garden Grove City Council – and she refused to use the vendors Tran demanded that she work with.  When you think about it, that was a strange way for Nguyen to pay back Tran for supporting her.  She has since garnered a well-deserved reputation for backstabbing.

This past April Nguyen angered most of Little Saigon when she tried to take over the Black April event in Westminster, that annually commemorates the Fall of Saigon.  Nguyen pulled a city permit and tried to muscle the community groups that normally run that event.  Tran’s allies on the Westminster City Council intervened and made sure she got the morning hours and the community groups got the more important evening hours.  Nguyen was thoroughly punked.  In fact Nguyen was so rebuked by her own people that her Chief of Staff, Andrew Do, was ousted thereafter.  That is how Nguyen rolls.

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Why is KOCE shutting Iglesias out of the Tran vs. Sanchez debate on Oct. 13?

Posted on by Posted in 2010 Elections, Democratic Party, Elections, Latinos, Loretta Sanchez, Politics, Santa Ana, Vietnamese 4 Comments

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez finally agreed to a debate with Republican Assemblyman Van Tran – but the cowards are doing the debate alone, without an audience, on KOCE TV.  And they didn’t invite Cecilia Iglesias, the independent candidate who qualified for the ballot by collecting over 11,000 signatures.  Not fair!

The debate will be moderated by Ed Arnold, the host of the station’s Real Orange news program. For now, the KOCE debate is the only one on the schedule before Election Day on Nov. 2. The first segment will air on KOCE at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 13; the second segment will air at the same time on Oct. 14, according to the O.C. Register.

This is B.S.  Why won’t KOCE let Iglesias participate?  Win or lose, she deserves to be heard.  And she just might decide the winner of this race. It is time for our voices to be heard!

Here are the contact phone numbers and email addresses for KOCE, which has an all-white news team:

Real Orange, 714.861.4355, realo@koce.org.  Email Ed Arnold at earnold@koce.org.  Email his co-host at apulice@koce.org.  Email the news director, Michael Taylor, at mtaylor@koce.org.  Email the Associate Producer, Shelly Guthrie, at sguthrie@koce.org

To Leave a Comment About Programming Email Us at: comments@koce.org.

For Questions About Programming Email Us at: questions@koce.org.

Bad news for Van Tran, Latino voters don’t support Republican candidates

Posted on by Posted in 2010 Elections, Elections, Latinos, Loretta Sanchez, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Vietnamese 5 Comments

“Latino voters, who have helped to propel California’s leftward political swing over recent years, remain reluctant to embrace Republican candidates as the November general election nears, a new Los Angeles Times/USC poll shows,” according to the L.A. Times.

Registered voters who identified themselves as Latino backed Democrat Jerry Brown by a 19-point margin over RepublicanMeg Whitman in the race for governor, despite Whitman’s multiple appeals to Latino voters during the general election campaign. Registered voters who identified themselves as white gave Brown a slim 2-point margin.

In the race for U.S. Senate, incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer held a 38-point lead over Republican Carly Fiorinaamong registered Latino voters, five times the lead she held among white voters.

What does this mean for Republican Congressional candidate Van Tran, who is running against Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez in the 47th Congressional District?

For one thing, I think it means that many Latinos will NOT vote for Tran, but they may not vote for Sanchez either.  I think independent candidate Cecilia Iglesias could end up with a lot of those votes.

Some political experts agree with that notion.  Iglesias “substitutes for ‘None of the Above,'” said Hoffenblum, who publishes the California Target Book on political campaigns. “What Van Tran needs is every vote of someone who doesn’t like the incumbent,” according to the O.C. Register.

We have received several Sanchez mailers at our household.  All of them have ripped Tran for accepting $136K in legal per diems.  Sanchez has yet to send out any mailers about what Latino voters really want to hear about – jobs and immigration reform.

Tran has been focusing on jobs in his own mailers.

Here is what Iglesias has to say about her stance on the issues, on her website:

  • More Jobs / Mortgage Recovery
  • Less Government Spending
  • Improved Homeland Security
  • True Immigration Reform
  • Protect Our Troops/Veterans

Here are the issues Sanchez is highlighting on her website:

  • Education
  • Homeland Security
  • Law Enforcement
  • Military/Defense Issues
  • Health Care
  • In Support of Working Men and Women
  • Economic Development
  • Veterans
  • Human Rights

While Sanchez mentions “Economic Development” she does NOT mention jobs!  And she forgot to mention mortgage recovery, which is a HUGE issue in Santa Ana.

But you have to love Tran’s website.  He doesn’t mention any issues at all!  And he offers a Vietnamese language website, but not one in Spanish.  Nor does he offer his campaign video in Spanish.  What a dope!

Is Congresswoman Sanchez losing the Vietnamese vote and her Latino base too?

Posted on by Posted in 2010 Elections, Democratic Party, Elections, Garden Grove, Latinos, Loretta Sanchez, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Vietnamese, Working Families 1 Comment

Sometimes a picture says it all.  The picture above was taken at a Vietnamese household in Garden Grove.  I suspect that before long we will see more Viet households supporting both Van Tran and Lou Correa.

While it is true that Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez has pandered overtime to the Viet voters, she is quickly losing them to Tran.  Correa, on the other hand, is holding onto them.

Now take a look at the video above, which I found on the OC Weekly, Sanchez is interviewed in Spanish about her campaign.  She speaks the language OK, but had to relearn it as an adult, and it shows.  Even worse, she appears to throw Obama under the bus, and she attacks the Viet community.  It is in Spanish, so here is my translation:

Sanchez talks about how the Republicans are working very hard.  The interviewer then asks her if she is blaming President Obama.

She says that obviously he isn’t helping her.  She goes on to say that many Latinos and Democrats are hurting financially, and she is not sure if they will vote.  She then says that the Vietnamese and the Republicans are intent on taking her congressional seat and giving it to the anti-Latino and anti-immigrant Van Tran.

The interviewer then says aren’t you Democrats to blame for not reforming immigration?

Sanchez answers by saying that if her party keeps control of the House of Representatives, then they will do something about immigration.  But then the interviewer interjects, saying you guys have not done anything so far.

Sanchez responds by saying that if her party loses, then there will be no immigration reform for 10 to 20 years. If her party wins, she says, then there will be reform in November or December.  It sounds like extortion to me.

So the interviewer says that his viewers are thinking that she and her party will just break another promise.

Then he asks why she won’t debate Tran.  She responds by saying that she will debate him but in October, not now, as she is very busy in Congress.

Lastly, the interviewer asks if the Democrats push for more taxes will cause them to lose in November.  Sanchez responds that it depends on the intensity of the Democrats.  She said that when we voted for Obama we had hope for change.  She mentions bank and credit card, and healthcare reform.   Then she says that if the Democrats lose they will lose all of that.

Then the interviewer says, are we better off now than two years ago?  Of course she says, especially Latinos.

Really?  On the one hand she says Latinos won’t vote because they are hurting financially, then she says that we are better off now than we were two years ago.  Those statements are incongruous.

By the way, is it just me or does she look a bit goofy in the video?  She sort of looks like Mr. Magoo, the way she is squinting!

Santa Ana Councilman Carlos Bustamante to host a fundraiser for Van Tran at his home

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Elections, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Vietnamese 1 Comment

When I ran against Santa Ana Councilman Carlos Bustamante, in 2008, I did so primarily because the Democrats failed to recruit a challenger against the only Republican on the Santa Ana City Council.  I was incredulous when the Liberal OC bloggers (Chris Prevatt and Dan Chmielewski) and the Orange County Employees Association (OCEA) joined forces with Matt Cunningham, of the Republican-promoting Red County blog, as well as GOP consultant Mike Schroeder and various friends of Assemblyman Van Tran to mail out hit pieces against my campaign.

I got over ten thousand votes, but Bustamante won that race.

Well, today I received notice that Bustamante is going to be hosting a fundraiser for Tran, who is running against Lib OC darling Loretta Sanchez.  How do you like that?  I hope the OCEA and the Liberal OC are happy.  I would NEVER support Tran for ANY office, but Bustamante is all in for him.

Here are the event details in case you want to go see this mess for yourself:

THE VAN TRAN FOR CONGRESS HOST COMMITTEE

CORDIALLY INVITES YOU TO A RECEPTION

IN SUPPORT OF

ASSEMBLYMAN VAN TRAN, CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS, 47TH DISTRICT

With Special Guests

CONGRESSMAN KEVIN MCCARTHY, 22ND DISTRICT, CHIEF DEPUTY WHIP

& CHAIRMAN SCOTT BAUGH, REPUBLICAN PARTY OF ORANGE COUNTY

Friday, September 17, 2010, 5:30 p.m. TO 7:30 p.m.

At the Home of Adriana & Hon. Carlos Bustamante

1110 West Sharon Road, Santa Ana

R.S.V.P. to Phyllis at: Phone (714) 368-0260 § Facsimile (714) 368-0261

Remember when Van Tran flew his Trannies to the border, at taxpayer expense?

Posted on by Posted in Elections, immigration, Latinos, Loretta Sanchez, mexico, Politics, Santa Ana, Vietnamese 3 Comments

Remember when Republican Assemblyman Van Tran flew a bunch of his Mexican-bashing Trannies to San Diego, to attack and ridicule Mexicans at the border?  I do.

You can read about it by clicking here, where I have translated an article that appeared in a Viet newspaper.

To make matters worse, these haters used a U.S. military plane to take them to the border.  That’s right.  Taxpayers paid for this trip!

Now Tran wants Latinos to vote for him in his campaign against Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez.  No thanks Tran!  We have not forgotten your trip to the border…

Van Tran reiterates his support for Arizona’s crackdown on immigrants

Posted on by Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, immigration, Loretta Sanchez, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Vietnamese 5 Comments

Picture of Mexican-bashers Van Tran and Allan Mansoor courtesy of the L.A. Times

Republican congressional candidate Van Tran has been quite sneaky this year about his views on immigration.  But he finally came clean during an interview with the O.C. Register that was published today.  He “aid he supports Arizona’s right to attempt to crack down on illegal immigration.”

Tran flew to the border a few years ago with a host of his Trannies, to make fun of Mexico and the border situation.  I was deeply offended considering that he and most of them are also immigrants, but unlike Mexicans these haters got a red carpet welcome to the United States, after the fall of Vietnam.

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, who Tran is challenging also was interviewed.  Here is what she had to say about immigration:

Sanchez said the federal government should do a better job of controlling its borders and knowing who is coming in and out. She also said there should be more visas made available for immigrants coming here to work.

She said she would support a program for illegal immigrants to apply for citizenship if they learn English and pay a fine. “People should have the right to earn their way in,” she said.

Clearly she is much better on immigration than Tran.

No Latinos showed up to Van Tran’s grand opening on Labor Day

But will Sanchez prevail?  Many Democrats aren’t so sure about that.  I spoke to a number of Democratic elected officials and candidates yesterday, at the O.C. Labor Day event at the Santa Ana Zoo.  Many expressed concern about Sanchez’s chances of reelection.

The problem is that an independent Latina, Cecilia Iglesias, was able to get on the ballot, after collecting 11,ooo signatures.  One elected official said that the way she collected the signatures was interesting.  At first she only was collecting a handful per day, then all of a sudden she was turning in thousands of signatures, he said.  It looked like someone had paid to collect the signatures.  Did Tran and the OC GOP pave the way for Iglesias by collecting signatures for her?

There are also rumors that Iglesias’ campaign materials are being walked by Tran’s volunteers.

And then there is the recent video that Iglesias posted, of Ronald Reagan talking about a suspect election in El Salvador, which our blogger Gabriel San Roman posted about here.  Iglesias is from El Salvador.  There are a lot of Latino Republicans of Salvadorean extraction.

Another Democratic insider told me that over the past few years she has consistently requested Republican ballots from the O.C. Voter Registrar, even though she is registered as a Decline to State voter.

I have not confirmed any of this, but it is worrisome.  Tran is disgusting and corrupt.  We must stop him from getting to Congress.

I have had my issues over the years with Sanchez, but we all need to set aside such trepidation and get behind her.  Tran must be stopped!

The SAUSD does not offer their website in other languages – and their ESL links are broken

Posted on by Posted in Cambodians, Education, immigration, Latinos, Santa Ana, Vietnamese, Working Families Leave a comment

Why doesn’t the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) offer their website in additional languages, such as Cambodian, Spanish and Vietnamese?  I just called their Public Information Office and confirmed that they do not offer such a service on their website.  I find that simply astounding.

I checked with other local school districts and found they also don’t offer translation on their district websites, except for Garden Grove Unified, which does offer several options to those who speak other languages.  Click here to see their Spanish resource page.

Irvine Unified does offer a web page with information and resources for parents of children who need to learn English.  Click here to see that page.  They offer information on that page in numerous languages.

What about the SAUSD?  Well, take a look at the graphic atop this post.  That is what you will find when you click on their “Master Plan for English Learners.”   No wonder they have screwed up so badly with English learners that over 1,000 high school seniors per year end up failing the High School Exit Exam!

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Loretta Sanchez for Governor in 2014?

Posted on by Posted in california, Democratic Party, Elections, Loretta Sanchez, Politics, Santa Ana, Vietnamese 2 Comments

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez has filed paperwork with the California Secretary of State so she can raise money for a gubernatorial bid in 2014, according to the Sacramento Bee.

This is interesting timing given that she is in a tough reelection battle this year versus Republican Assemblyman Van Tran.

Sanchez reported transferring roughly $3,200 from her 2010 gubernatorial fundraising effort to the new account, which was opened late last week.

If Sanchez wins, and Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman wins, we could end up seeing a Sanchez versus Whitman race in 2014.  Wouldn’t that be something?

Whitman first has to beat this year’s Democratic nominee Jerry Brown.

Democrats lead Republicans in the 47th Congressional District by 16 points, which favors Sanchez.  However there are fears in the Democratic Party that Latinos will not vote in November – and that Republicans will.  The 47th also features a lot of Vietnamese voters – and many of them are Tran supporters.

GGUSD Trustee Candidate Bao Nguyen kicking off his campaign in Santa Ana on Aug. 7

Posted on by Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, Entertainment, Garden Grove, Politics, Santa Ana, Vietnamese, Youth Activities Leave a comment

Bao Quoc Nguyen is kicking off his campaign for the Garden Grove Unified School District’s Board of Education, at the home of Maria Alba, at 4022 West Fay Circle, in Santa Ana, on August 7, from 4 pm to 7 pm.  Click here to RSVP on Facebook.  Click here to read the event flyer.

Click here to see Nguyen’s campaign Facebook page.  You will note that most of his friends appear to be Democrats, and he appears to support the Dream Act, so I don’t think we have to worry about whether he might be affiliated with Republicans such as Van Tran or Janet Nguyen.

Here is Nguyen’s bio, from his website:

Nguyen is a proud product of the Garden Grove Unified School District. He has served as a member of the school site council at Ralston Intermediate while a student. He graduated from Pacifica High School after transferring from Garden Grove High School during his sophomore year. At Pacifica, Bao was named “most spirited” in his graduating class and also in student body leadership. As a high school senior, Bao was selected to represent his congressional district in the Presidential Classroom program in Washington, D.C.

A commitment to public service has been demonstrated throughout Bao’s educational career – from serving pancake breakfast to registering voters at the annual Strawberry Festival. Bao has also volunteered at Saint Columban Church to assist the elderly and immobile with house chores.

While earning his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California at Irvine, Bao served in various leadership capacities for the Cross-Cultural Center and for the Political Science Student Association. He also served as the UCI student body representative to the Irvine City Council. Bao was a recipient of the Praxis Scholarship, which sent him to work in Washington, D.C. for the first Presidential Executive Order on Asian Americans since Japanese Internment. Bao is also a recipient of the Brett Baldwin Prize in Poetry, awarded by Poetry MFA and Humanities Associates of UCI’s Department of English and Comparative Literature. He has published poetry and other writings in both English and Vietnamese languages, locally and internationally, including Jossey-Bass’ New Directions for Student Services.

Bao has a master of arts in religious studies from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, and holds a California State Certification in Mediation. He has been an invited guest speaker at different colleges and universities, as well as community organizations, including the local chapter of California School Employees Association.

Bao has taught as a substitute teacher in grades K-12, including special education for the Garden Grove Unified School District. In his recent capacity as community organizer, Bao helped Garden Grove United Methodist Church bring a campaign for senior transportation to successful completion in the City of Garden Grove. Bao is trilingual in English, Vietnamese and Spanish.

Tran Welcomes Tea Party Express Endorsement Proving He’s On The Fringe

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Democratic Party, Politics, Racism, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Vietnamese Leave a comment

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

For Immediate Release, July 30, 2010
CONTACT: Jennifer Crider & Andy Stone (202) 485-3440

Tran Welcomes Tea Party Express Endorsement Proving He’s On The Fringe

Van Tran has welcomed the endorsement of Tea Party Express, which begs the obvious question: Does Tran agree with the racist and anti-Semitic attitude that has become a hallmark of the group?

After all, Tea Party Express leader Mark Williams came under withering criticism for making racist and anti-Semitic comments – which the Tea Party Express has defended, even as other national Tea Party groups have distanced themselves. The National Tea Party Federation even kicked Williams’ group out over the remarks.

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Does rogue bully Commissioner Stroud harbor anti-Viet beliefs?

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Racism, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Vietnamese 1 Comment

Was this the work of the Usual Suspects?

Over the past several days astounding revelations about the alleged bullying of the 16 year old youth representative to the Parks and Recreation Commission by Commissioner’s Julie Stroud, Tish Leon and their ally city council candidate Thomas Gordon have been made public. The young man who resigned from the commission rather than face continued harrassment at the hands of these folks is ready to share emails and phone records to help confirm his story.

My sources inside city hall tell me that the Mayor and City Council are taking this matter quite seriously and that there is a good chance that if Stroud and Leon don’t resign they will be removed. Because of the Orange Juice’s continuing coverage of this fiasco and the resulting pressure being applied on city leaders the attacks on Art Pedroza and myself have been intensified by the “usual suspects” and their allies in the blogosphere.

It has been brought to my attention that Gordon has been engaging in an ongoing smear campaign against myself and is responsible for the numerous anonymous comments alleging that I am racist against our friends in the Vietnamese community. This is so ridiculous that I should ignore it however it is necessary to expose the reason for the smokescreen being created by Gordon.

What Gordon fails to mention in his smear campaign is that I was there to support the very first Vietnamese candidate to run for elective office in Santa Ana, Henry Le, back in 1992. I have subsequently been a staunch supporter of Vietnamese pols Hoa Van Tran and Hugh Nguyen. While Gordon and his friends like Ryan Gene Williams were involved in smear campaigns and dirty tricks aimed at undermining the campaigns of Viet candidates. It was Williams who, with Gordon’s knowledge, redirected URL’s associated with the campaigns of Hoa Van Tran and Dina Nguyen to gay pornography sites.

Why would someone like Gordon who befriends members of the Vietnamese community under the guise of being on their side engage in or approve of such despicable actions? The bigger question is, if Gordon was so concerned about bigotry against the Vietnamese community why does he remain silent about his mentor Julie Stroud’s bigotry aimed at the Vietnamese?

That’s right Stroud doesn’t only bully 16 year old kids she also appears to harbor anti-Vietnamese sentiments or at least that is how she came across in statements on the Yahoo Santa Ana Citizens group during the debate over a street monument being dedicated to the Little Saigon area near First and Euclid on the west side of Santa Ana.

The forever angry Julie Stroud

Here is what Stroud had to say in a June 18, 2003 comment on that site:

You are simplifying the problems that are rearing their ugly head. We didn’t
just lose a fight. Our elected representatives chose to turn their backs on
the neighborhoods and side with the Vietnam Business Council (a council of 22
men) that are for the most part not even residents of Santa Ana.

This is only the beginning of the Vietnamese influence on our local
government. They will do whatever is necessary to expand their influence
throughout city hall and the chamber…i.e. the Vietnamese flag that was placed on the
public right of way on Euclid, south of 1st Street, even after their permit was
denied by city hall.

The LA Times reported that on the monument site a Vietnamese flag would
permanently be flying above bamboo trees. Only an amendment by Alvarez
prevented this from being included in the motion by Franklin, second by Garcia.

The bus that brought many of the monument supporters to the council meeting
were people mostly over 60 and couldn’t (or wouldn’t) say the pledge of
allegiance to the US flag. They didn’t even look at the flag, yet one supporter entered the
meeting room with a Vietnamese flag on a stick twice the size of the little
United States flag under it.

Please don’t pass judgment on what happened Monday night if you were not
there. The council members that voted against neighborhood concerns (not
wanting to be labeled as living in little Saigon) in favor of a group of business men
who want to expand their perimeter of influence into the West part of town,
must face the music.

Julie Stroud

I just love how Stroud says, “They will do whatever is necessary to expand their influence throughout city hall and the chamber”. If that’s not fear mongering and playing the bigot card I don’t know what is. I wonder how Stroud feels about having to serve with one of “them”, Kenneth Nguyen, on the Parks and Recreation Commission?

I wonder if Mr. Nguyen is aware of Stroud’s open resentment of Vietnamese folks such as himself having influence at city hall? I wonder why Gordon doesn’t share this little tidbit with everyone he comes across?

Julie Stroud’s protege’ Thomas Gordon

Perhaps the next time you see Gordon or Stroud you can ask them to explain Julie’s position in regards to the Vietnamese community. When “Tommy Boy” pulls out his phone to show you cherry picked out of context statements to try and smear me ask him, “Why does your mentor Julie Stroud not like Vietnamese people?”

A bully and a bigot. That doesn’t sound like the resume of someone who should be serving on our city’s Parks and Recreation Commission. Make sure you let David Benavides, the councilmember responsible for her being there, know that she must go.

Common Ground Open Mic coming to the VAALA Center in Santa Ana on August 5

Posted on by Posted in Entertainment, music, Santa Ana, Vietnamese Leave a comment

Common Ground Open Mic is coming to the VAALA Cultural Center in Santa Ana on August 5, from 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm, at 1600 N. Broadway, in Santa Ana.

Doors open at 6:00pm.  Open Mic sign ups by 6:30pm.  Show starts at 7:00pm.  $5 donations suggestion. No one turned away for lack of funds.

FEATURING:

  • Mai Doan | poetry
  • Anna Minh-Giang Nguyen | spoken word
  • Jumakae | hip hop & vocals
  • Diana Nguyen | youth spotlight
  • Keli Arslancan | art exhibition
  • Em-1 | special guest dj
  • Gingee | special guest dj
  • contact: commongroundOC@gmail.com for more info.

*co-sponsored by the Vietnamese American Arts & Letter Association

FEATURED ARTIST BIOS

All featured artists embody this month’s open mic theme: empowered women (re)defining the arts.

Keli Arslancan is a Muslim Hapa, born and raised in La Palma, CA. Her Turkish father came to the United States on a scholarhsip to comlete his doctorate. Her mother was a Japanese orphan adopted by a Polish American woman after WWII. Keli’s artwork has become a reflection of her biracial background. As an artist, Keli has beeen fascinated with figurative language because it is an instrument used to compare and contrast two unlike things. In her pieces, she focuses on the relations of language with image and allusion with illusion.

Mai Doan is never able to explain herself in one sentence. She looks to poetry as a tool to disrupt and expand understandings of what it means to be queer, Vietnamese, mixed, woman. She needs and believes in cultural transformation, collective liberation and love. Her words have been published in the online anthology Flick of My Tongue, a project of Kearny Street Workshop and Intersection of the Arts, as well as the Spring 2009 publication of Cipactli, a Raza Studies Art and Literature Journal at SF State University. She performed at last year’s APAture’s Literary Night, and you can catch her this Fall performing at Litquake in San Francisco.

Diana Nguyen. 16 years ago, Diana Nguyen was born. Since the day she was born, she grew up in a household of Vietnamese affection. Her parents’ hard work and their forehead sniffs signified their love; however, growing up as Vietnamese American was not always easy. The reassurance of her parents’ love was not always there. She faced the struggles of self acceptance in American society. Where was her place? And who was she? Lost in the media’s protrayals, she knew she had to find her answers elsewhere. Books, lessons, and people came forth her way and allowed her develop her own sense of identity. She answered who she was and realized her place in American society. Today, she now enjoys continuing the discovery of life, from local ice cream shops to her personal identity.

Anna Nguyen.  Minh-Giang (Anna) Nguyen is a 5th grade educator in East San Jose and is a member of Viet Unity, a Vietnamese grassroots collective based in the greater Bay Area. She earned her B.A. from UC Berkeley in Mass Communications and Sociology while dedicating her undergraduate career to the education and empowerment of underserved students through organizations such as REACH! (API Recruitment and Retention Center), bridges Multicultural Resource Center, and SASC (Southeast Asian Student Coalition). During her free time, she enjoys writing, running, sleeping, and being in the company of awesome individuals. nguyenwins@gmail.com

Jumakae is a “Southeast Asian”-American artist weaving cultural differences into a common thread through lyrical storytelling and improvisation, accompanied by various sounds from acoustic melodies to fresh beats. Her words speak for the silenced people of the world, from the sex workers in Thailand to the 9-5 worker with broken dreams. She hopes to awaken the lost child that sleeps within every individual so that they can realize the beauty that exists through shared goals and creative expression. She has had the opportunity to perform alongside artists such at Akil from Jurassic 5, KRS-One, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Barikuda from One Love Community, Native Guns, and other prominent hip hop and spoken word artists from Southeast Asia to Los Angeles, CA. She is part of the artist collective based in Long Beach called ONE IMAGINATION, which helps to foster creativity and challenge the status quo through its various writing and performance workshops. She also co-hosts an open mic the last Thursdays of every month called Break the Silence held at PIZZA PI near the East Village Arts District. Please visit www.oneimagination.blogspot.com for more information, or visit her Music Page: www.myspace.com/siamesemeerkattion.

common ground: connecting communities through creative expressions. we are a collective of community members, artists, and activists committed to cultivating positive and safe space for artistic growth and community empowerment.

Democratic Assembly candidate Phu Nguyen is holding a fundraiser in Santa Ana

Posted on by Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, Entertainment, Politics, Restaurants, Santa Ana, Vietnamese Leave a comment

Assembly candidate Phu Nguyen is having a Fundraising Dinner on August 13, here in Santa Ana, at Emerald Bay Restaurant, located at 5015 W. Edinger Ave., Suite V.

Nguyen is the Democratic challenger to Republican nominee Allan Mansoor, the Mayor of Costa Mesa who is infamous for his Mexican-bashing.

To RSVP, please contact 1-888-8-vote-phu (1-888-886-8374) or votephu@gmail.com, or click here.

Van Tran says Loretta Sanchez hasn’t pandered enough to the Viet voters

Posted on by Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, Loretta Sanchez, Politics, Santa Ana, Vietnamese Leave a comment

Does Tran seriously think Sanchez hasn’t pandered enough to the Vietnamese voters?

Republican Assemblyman Van Tran has fired off his first shot at Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, who he is running against in November, in the 47th Congressional District.

Tran is attacking Sanchez on Vietnamese human rights, which is ironic because this is an area she has actually worked hard on, as opposed to Mexican migrant rights which she has pretty much ignored.

Here is Tran’s press release:

Click here to read the rest of this post.