June 4, 2020
Southern California-based fashion designer Thai Nguyen was joined by Ty Ho, Jackie Ho, Thanh Tan, and PIVOT board member Thang Do to discuss and learn more about how the Vietnamese and Black communities intersect and can become allies for justice.
June 3, 2020
Trinh Q. Truong
In Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25th, 2020, police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd. Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes while three other officers stood guard, one of them Hmong American. As horrified bystanders confronted the officers for their actions, and started filming to hold them accountable, Floyd gasped “I can’t breathe.” His dying words were the same ones Eric Garner, another victim of police brutality, uttered while choked to death by a New York police officer in 2014.
Read MoreJune 1, 2020
Thang Do, PIVOT board member
I am writing these lines shortly after hearing that San Jose, the largest city of this region, just announced a curfew from 8:30 pm to the following morning for an entire week, to avoid the protests that have led to the destruction of property and violence.
In the past few days, there have been protests and violence everywhere including San Jose, after a white policeman in Minneapolis killed a black man by holding him down on the street pavement and pressing his knee against the man’s neck. The policeman stayed in this position for 8 minutes, prompting the victim to shout out: “I can’t breathe.” 3 other policemen, one Asian and two whites, were nearby but took no action to rein in their colleague’s excessive use of force.
Read MoreAs of May 29, 2020, there are over 5.6 million people diagnosed with COVID-19 and nearly 346,000 deaths worldwide. In the US, there are over 1.7 million infections and more than 101,000 deaths. To put this in perspective, in 3 months, COVID-19 has killed more Americans than in any wars except World War I, World War II, and the Civil War. The CDC is reporting a forecast that we will have 115,000 deaths by June 20, 2020, which is approximately the number of Americans who died in World War I.
Read MoreMay 22, 2020
We are excited to announce that we are a SUPPORTING ORGANIZATION for the 2020 Project and BTO Collective’s Virtual Music Festival, FRESH OFF THE VOTE to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month and to promote AAPI representation and voter registration! ️
Read MoreMay 22, 2020
As of May 21, 2020, there are over 5 million people diagnosed with COVID-19 and nearly 320,000 deaths worldwide. In the US, there are nearly 1.6 million infections and almost 94,000 deaths. The good news is that the number of new infections and deaths have plateaued or declining slightly, but there are still consistently over 20,000 new cases and 1,000 deaths in the US daily.
Read MoreMay 14, 2020
On May 18, 2020, cities, elected officials, influencers and community groups are commemorating the second annual Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Day Against Bullying and Hate, led by anti-bullying nonprofit Act To Change. PIVOT is committed to ending bullying and hate in the AAPI community and is proud to join this movement.
Read MoreMay 9, 2020
PIVOT - the Progressive Vietnamese American Organization - has great concerns with California Governor Gavin Newsom’s statement that the first known Covid-19 community spread was from a nail salon. We acknowledge the need for accurate information for public health concerns and the importance of pointing out the risks to workers and customers. However, singling out a particular type of business, one with a large number of Asian American owners and workers, may further increase the pandemic’s economic effects on minority-owned businesses, inflame the already heightened level of anti-Asian American racism, and threaten the livelihood of nail salon owners and workers.
Read MoreMay 1, 2020
As of May 1, 2020, there are over 3.3 million people infected with COVID-19 and over 222,000 deaths worldwide. In the US, there are nearly 1.1 million infections and almost 63,000 deaths, accounting for 1/3 of all infections and 28% of deaths worldwide. There are still consistently over 20,000 new cases and 2,000 deaths in the US daily.
Read MoreMay 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.”
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