May 1, 2020

PIVOT member Minh-Thu shares her experience living in NYC during the COVID-19 pandemic and reminds us to hold our leaders accountable this November.

“What’s most troubling to me is that this president doesn’t value the advice of experts, of scientists, and of medical professionals. He’s actually made it harder for them to do their jobs. I hope that we’ll all take a moment and think about the impact that the lack of political leadership has had on our lives. The failure to act, the failure to lead, the failure to listen to the experts. And this November, I hope that we’ll hold our leaders accountable when we vote. Our lives are literally on the line.”

May 1, 2020

PIVOT is excited to endorse Thai Viet Phan for Santa Ana, California City Council in a special recall all-mail election on May 19th. Like many first-generation refugees, Thai was the first in her family to go to college. She currently works as a local government attorney at Rutan & Tucker, LLP, where she provides legal advice and counsel to cities throughout Southern California. She also serves as a Santa Ana Planning Commission and sits on the Board of Directors of the Vietnamese American Bar Association of Southern California.

Though Santa Ana is ¼ of the Little Saigon community and has tens of thousands of Vietnamese-American residents, if Thai wins this election, she would be the first and only Vietnamese-American to serve on the Santa Ana City Council. Santa Ana has long neglected its Vietnamese-American residents by failing to have in-language outreach for important issues such as the Census and failing to involve the community in City-sponsored events such as the 150th Anniversary Celebration. Thai’s platform focuses on housing affordability, holding the Orange County Board of Supervisors accountable for the homelessness crisis which inequitably impacts Santa Ana’s low-income residents, improving responsibility community policing, and helping mom and pop shops survive and thrive in the city. Thai has the experience and commitment we need to bring a progressive Vietnamese voice to the Santa Ana City Council.

Please consider signing up to phone or text bank (English, Vietnamese, Spanish) and/or make a contribution. Any amount will really go a long way in this grassroots campaign!

April 30, 2020

A message from PIVOT president Tung Nguyen for Vietnamese American Roundtable's 45th Black April Commemoration. We hope to (virtually) see you tonight at VAR’s event: https://www.facebook.com/events/232708514463225

April 30, 2020
Tung Nguyen, PIVOT president

On the occasion of the 45th anniversary of April 30th, 1975, the end of the Viet Nam war and the beginning of the Vietnamese refugee diaspora, I would like to share a few words about our resiliency as Vietnamese Americans, as refugees and children of refugees.

How does it feel to have the foundation of the world we live in so shaken that we no longer know where we stand or how to move forward? Before 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic, only those who have suffered great tragedies could answer this question. Now we are all living it.

April 27, 2020
Thang Do, PIVOT board member

The U.S. has by now about 50,000 deaths from COVID19. The pandemic arrived on our shore later, but we quickly became the nation with the highest number of infected cases and deaths in the world.

Who is at fault? Was it because China concealed critical information that put the U.S. and the world in danger, as Trump has been loudly charging? Was it the weakness in the American response? Or both? We need to ask these questions when the number of deaths has reached this level and continues to rise.

Surveying the major developments of the pandemic in the past several months reveals the story.

April 26, 2020

Community clinics, serving the most disadvantaged members of our society, including low-income, minority populations, are overburdened by COVID-19 and often are without critical supplies and equipment, especially personal protective equipment (PPE), needed to protect health workers at the frontline serving patients.

connectNgive.org, built by volunteers who are PIVOT members, connect donors with resources to clinics and community organizations with needs. Since its launch last week, the site has connected donors with a number of clinics in Northern California. The connectNgive.org team welcomes health clinics across the US to register their needs, and donors to use the site to direct their resources to those they are most able to help. Instructions for how to use the site: https://youtu.be/Q4mgBjD6vTM.

VANGO Network, the Vietnamese American Non-Governmental Organization Network, a nonprofit organization, has been using the site to distribute PPE to those in need. We encourage other potential donors to leverage the platform to do the same. More information about connectNgive.org.

April 13, 2020
Thang Do, PIVOT board member

A friend asked me for help in responding in Vietnamese to an email being circulated among her Vietnamese acquaintance, which repeats false arguments often seen among Vietnamese Americans. I thought that I turned the response I wrote for my friend into an article, with the hope of helping others understand the issues better.

I want to avoid writing through partisan lens. No political party is completely right or good, and none is completely wrong or bad. Even so, facts are facts, and we must base all arguments on real data, rather than just on our own belief or what others tell us, without vetting the information.

The Vietnamese American community is victim to many faked news. I don’t truly understand all the reasons, but Vietnamese Americans often believe in wrong or even faked information, yet they remain unaware.

April 8, 2020

As of 4/8/20, there are currently over 1.4 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 83,000 deaths reported in 184 countries around the world. The US continues to lead the world in the total numbers of infections with over 400,000 cases reported and over 13,000 deaths. New York continues to be hardest hit, with over 140,000 cases and 5,400 deaths statewide.

March 29, 2020

The vast majority of Americans believe that women should receive equal pay when performing the same work as men. The idea of equality for women is given a lot of lip service, in that candidates say they support women, but once in office, not all candidates will actually take action to ensure that women are being treated fairly. When you go to the voting polls in November, remember to vote for candidates who value women's equality and will ensure fair treatment and that there are real consequences for unfair treatment. Vote for equality!

March 28, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic makes it very clear that not all Americans have the proper healthcare coverage needed for testing and treatment. In this video, PIVOT president Dr. Tung Nguyen, talks about how Democratic candidates want more people on health insurance, while Donald Trump and the current administration want to reduce insurance coverage for Americans.

When you go to the voting polls this November, remember to vote for candidates that value human life and will fight for more healthcare coverage for Americans. Vote for a healthy America.