Doris Ho-Kane

Doris Ho-Kane is the founder of an Instagram account called 17.21women, a reference to the 17.21 million square miles covered by the continent of Asia. She is a first generation Vietnamese American, born to refugee parents who were boat people. Ms. Kane is originally from Dallas, TX but moved to New York City almost 16 years ago for art/design school (Fashion Institute of Technology) and never left. She worked in fashion for over a decade, doing everything from apparel design to brand curation to visual merchandising.

How did 17.21Women come to be?
About three years ago, I had an idea to start a fashion magazine geared towards Asian (American) women. It was in the development stage but sputtered out as I was a one-person operation and I just had a baby. When Trump was elected, the dormant activist-feminist in me was awakened with such a powerful jolt—I had to fight back. "It's a marathon, not a sprint", right? I decided to start something visually impactful, personal, and sustainable. I revisited that idea I had in 2014, but instead of focusing on fashion, I wanted to shine a light on extraordinary Asian women throughout history; game changers. I needed a medium that was more immediate and that would cast a further reach, so I started posting to Instagram.

What's next for 17.21Women?
It will remain a visual outlet of my curated research; a place to share stories of these amazing, oft-forgotten Asian American and Asian diasporic women in history. Separate from the Instagram account (but related in subject matter), I am in the early stages of establishing a nonprofit here in New York City.

As a very long-term goal (and a huge undertaking), I dream about establishing an institute and archive that houses a collection of API ephemera, a non-circulating library where people could easily access historical documents and information that may have fallen through the cracks. It would also continue to record and preserve history through action and events at or related to the archive center. A comprehensive online database would accompany it as well. It can get tricky gaining access to museum or university archives, and there are so many different subject matters within the API realm that are stored and scattered across the world. Centralizing everything and making it easy for anyone to access this important information would be the big goal.

How are you a progressive?
I am a resister of the status quo. I believe in equal rights and equal access for everyone. EVERY. ONE. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Who inspires you?
My mom, Hoàng Oanh. She is the sticky rice that holds my family together. She sacrificed everything for her five children, and she continues to be a powerful presence and influence in our lives and her grandchildren's. 

What was the best advice someone gave you?
One of my extraordinary sisters, Đào, sent me this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt, and it's something I read every day: "Do what you feel in your heart to be right—for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't."

If you could ask Trump one thing, what would it be?
How do you sleep at night? I don't know, actually. Would he even field a question from a Vietnamese American feminist? 

What's your favorite movie quote? 
It's a quote from one of my least favorite movies (They Live), but it works in so many life situations: "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and I'm all out of bubblegum."

Fun facts:

• I've been vegetarian for more than half of my life.
• I was a freak and a geek in high school (a punk rock, AP student) and was voted "Most Unique" by my peers.
• I have exceptional facial recognition skills—I never forget a face. Is there such a thing as a photographic memory of faces?

Chi Nguyen-Ventura

Chi Nguyen-Ventura, a first-generation Vietnamese American, is a member of King City's city council in Oregon.  Originally chartered as a retirement community, the median resident age is 58 and the city is 86% white.  She jokes that when they elected her, the city got four for the price of one - a young, LGBT woman of color.  Although she was not the typical councilor candidate, she credits her election to the fact she shares the same values as many of its residents - a simple desire to help the city thrive.

How are you a progressive?
I am a progressive because I challenge the status quo. Change is constant, however, we live in times where change is happening at unprecedented clips.  We can certainly see this inflection point in technology. Antiquated policy-making of old is not keeping up with the innovations. Yet the weird conundrum is the more we change, the more we go back to nature. I learned environmental conservationism from attending the most conservative college in the state, from none other than the College of Forestry and Geology. It's best to engage with folks whose livelihoods depend on that natural resource since the policy concepts will most often ensure the proper stewarding of that which they need to be sustainable. Progressives asks the hard questions and tackle the tough stuff; we stand up when something is not right.   

Who inspires you?
My late paternal grandfather is my hero and idol. He was a colonel in the ARVN Ranger. He paid the ultimate price for us to experience freedom and democracy. He dedicated his life serving others, be it family or country. I was only lucky enough to have slivers of childhood memory of him, but the stories I hear of his legacy sustain me to this day.

What are you known for in King City?
I known as a pragmatic problem solver and change/trouble maker (depending on which side of the table you're sitting on). I think it's par for the course since I like taking on the tough challenges. I am the youngest Councilor in a city that was historically a retirement community. Prior to my joining, the council's average age was in the 80s, with mostly Caucasian males, except for one female. Though I cannot take full credit, since I've joined, we now have on our council of seven: three females, three persons of color, 3 young (under 40 years old), and 1 LTBGQ. (Sure I counted myself 4 times, so I guess I'm a buy 1-get 3 free deal, what a bargain!) My biggest ask of my new city manager was to help our largely fixed-income constituency diversify our revenue base - which is take advantage of our currently, not-landlocked city, to expansion. This projected our sleepy town into the forefront of our County, Metro regional council of government, and State levels to assert our big hopes and dreams to grow our city.

What was the best advice someone gave you?
Gosh, there are too many to list. But my trouble-maker side wants to rear its head by challenging the question. I think advice is only as good as you pay for it. So whatever advice is given--what's in it for the person giving it? I always check back in with my values before I listen to anything anybody says. Ingrained in all first-generation Asian-Americans is the thought of "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down." But for the large part of my life, I've always put myself in that position. Maybe because I've seen too many friends being bullied for looking different early in my childhood, but for one reason or another, my extroversion has helped me avoid that. I look different but can play a part that helps dispel misconceptions or bring things back to a level of commonalities so that we can bridge differences and build on common shared values. 

If you could ask Trump one thing, what would it be?
This is what has stumped me the most because I was literally trying to think of an issue or cause to ask the question on, but in the end I landed with this:  because I think so much of who a person is today is based on who they were as a child, I would ask him to share with me how he grew up, like fondest memories and worst memories, etc. There just has to be a reason why he is the way he is and perhaps learning of the child inside this man may help me begin to understand.

What is your favorite quote?
My favourite lately has been Mahatma Gandhi's 7 Deadly Sins:
1. Wealth without work
2. Pleasure without conscience
3. Knowledge without character
4. Business without ethics
5. Science without humanity
6. Religion without sacrifice
7. Politics without principles

Fun facts:

• I used to be a cheerleader.
• I am a huge foodie (thanks to my mom)
• I love geeking out with my family playing board games.