Honoring RBG

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Honoring RBG

September 18, 2020

On September 18, 2020, PIVOT deeply mourns the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG), who passed at the age of 87 after a long and courageous fight against cancer. While we see the political firestorm that ensued just minutes after her passing, we take a moment of silence to honor this iconic figure for paving the path for so many women and for upholding justice for the most vulnerable. We thank her for holding the weight of the nation on her shoulders for so long, and we vow to honor her legacy by committing to follow the same moral compass of putting humanity before politics.

Justice RBG, please rest with the other great giants, like John Lewis. You have done so much, and we will continue in your name.

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This year’s Lễ Vu Lan was like no other

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This year’s Lễ Vu Lan was like no other

September 15, 2020
Vien Nguyen, PIVOT member

This year’s Lễ Vu Lan was like no other. This most beloved Buddhist celebration of the year is a time of remembrance of parents and ancestors. My mother and I drove to her chùa to visit the nuns and receive gifts of food. We greeted the nuns from the other side of the screen door and bowed with clasped hands, smiling and exchanging Mô Phật, the universal Buddhist greeting. There was no incense filled room crowded with children and young people pinning red, pink and white roses on the lapels and áo dài of their elders. But this year, like all other years since my grandmother passed away sixteen years ago, my mom and I reminisced about her mother.

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DONALD TRUMP IS HONEST BUT HIS SUPPORTERS REFUSE TO LISTEN

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DONALD TRUMP IS HONEST BUT HIS SUPPORTERS REFUSE TO LISTEN

September 7, 2020
Thang Do, PIVOT board member

As a man of paradox, Donald Trump’s lying nature is legendary. The Washington Post Fact Checker has documented his 20,055 lies in 1,267 days in office. He can lie without qualms, from inconsequential matters such as the crowd size at his inauguration ceremony, to intentionally defaming others such as his conspiracy theory of Obama being foreign-born. He can turn black into white, then deny, like when he said he never dismissed the danger of Covid-19 (for many weeks, Trump said it was a hoax and not something to worry about).

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PIVOT Fellow Spotlight - Vinh Dang

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PIVOT Fellow Spotlight - Vinh Dang

Hi my name is Vinh (he/him/his) and I am a first generation Vietnamese American from EHT, NJ currently living in Pittsburgh, PA. I am an avid runner, hiker, movie enthusiast, and I love puns. I also serve as the Director of Communications for the East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU).

My dream is to run a wasabi farm in the future but am currently doing my best to help uplift the Voices of Vietnamese-American communities. My hope as a PIVOT fellow is to help empower those in the Vietnamese and Asian and Pacific Islander American communities to engage with local politics and uplift the needs of these communities at the local and state level. I am super excited and thankful to be a part of this program with PIVOT!

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PIVOT Intern Spotlight - Caroline Cao

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PIVOT Intern Spotlight - Caroline Cao

Hi, I'm Caroline Cao. I'm a Houstonian who's now based in League City, Texas. Joining PIVOT was a great way for me to channel my rage and sadness into action after I graduated from The New School in New York City. Before and now, you might see me get involved in the Disinformation and Election matters at PIVOT. Right now, I'm doing Census phone banking for OCA-Greater Houston. I also loosely disseminate information across Facebook groups. I look forward to evolving my social action pursuits with this PIVOT Internship.

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PIVOT Fellow Spotlight - Minh-Thu Dinh

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PIVOT Fellow Spotlight - Minh-Thu Dinh

Hello! My name is Minh-Thu Dinh (she/her/hers) and I am from Charlotte, North Carolina. I am currently a second-year at NC State University majoring in electrical engineering, with an intended minor of theatre. I've volunteered in the past with voter engagement at North Carolina Asian Americans Together, and I joined PIVOT to further engage the Vietnamese American community. I also want to help distribute and create accessible resources to combat misinformation and language barriers, both of which are prevalent during this election cycle. I hope to learn more about virtual community organizing and working on voter engagement at a national level.

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PIVOT Fellow Spotlight - Vu Anh Nguyen

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PIVOT Fellow Spotlight - Vu Anh Nguyen

Hi everyone, my name is Vu Anh. Despite immigrating to the U.S. at a young age, I have always felt connected to and motivated by my Vietnamese roots. This past May, I graduated from Wesleyan University (CT) with a degree in Government and East Asian Studies. I am passionate about challenging Model Minority narratives and uplifting the voices of Asian Americans who are too often sidelined in politics. I became interested in AAPI advocacy when I interned at the U.S. Dept. of Labor and was on the planning committee for the inaugural AAPI Civil Rights Forum in Boston. I remember that while on my way to attend this very event, I was approached by a stranger who questioned where I was "really from" and told me to leave politics to “real Americans". Instead of deterring me, those discriminatory words led me to conduct research into factors inhibiting AAPI political participation and how to combat them. My experience as an ESL tutor and advocate for survivors of domestic abuse further fueled my commitment to expanding representation for disempowered groups.

Through working with PIVOT and the Asian American Advocacy Fund, I hope to fight misinformation and disengagement within the Vietnamese American community so that we can build political capital and be a force for progressive change. I feel so honored and excited to contribute to this important work!

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DEMOCRATIC CRISIS UNDER THE DONALD TRUMP PRESIDENCY

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DEMOCRATIC CRISIS UNDER THE DONALD TRUMP PRESIDENCY

September 2, 2020
Khai Q. Nguyen

We have long been told that capitalism and democracy are the ideal pillars of freedom and prosperity. The United States has both, but why have we been experiencing a democratic crisis for almost four years?

In fact, the two elements of capitalism (economy) and democracy (politics) have many fundamental differences, and sometimes they are in conflict. Democracy focuses on the power of ordinary people (demos = common people; cracy = power) and advocates the equitable distribution of prosperity to all people. Capitalism pursues self-interest. Its goal is not to share prosperity. The results of profit and loss may eventually overwhelm the ideal of freedom and democracy. That is the disposition of President Trump and the underlying cause of the current democracy crisis in the United States.

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PIVOT Fellow Spotlight - Lillian Trinh

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PIVOT Fellow Spotlight - Lillian Trinh

My name is Lillian Trinh and I am a Vietnamese-Taiwanese American from Tulsa, OK. I graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2017 with a BA in Letters, Constitutional Studies after leaving the business program. This was a pivotal moment for me as it exposed me to many of the issues that face disenfranchised and marginalized populations in America. It was also during college I became more aware and attached to my Vietnamese heritage, there wasn't much representation for Southeast Asians in Tulsa. After I graduated, I moved to Austin, TX where I currently work as an Experience Coordinator at Poly. Furthermore, my renewed interest and passion in learning more about my Vietnamese heritage eventually led me to UVSA South and UNAVSA. I currently serve as the President for UVSA South, and am wrapping up my term as Civic Engagement Core team member for UNAVSA.

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PIVOT Endorses Victor To In His Election for Pflugerville City Council

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PIVOT Endorses Victor To In His Election for Pflugerville City Council

September 2, 2020

PIVOT is pleased to endorse Victor To for Pflugerville City Council. Victor is a Plugerville and Texas native who has spent his whole life in this community. He has served on various Boards and Commissions, including the Pflugerville Budget and Finance Committee as well as being the current Vice Chair of the Board of Adjustments. As Pflugerville becomes a minority-majority city, Victor hopes to increase representation by becoming the first Asian American ever elected to public office in the city, and the only Vietnamese lawmaker in Central Texas.

Please consider donating to Victor’s campaign.

Websites:
facebook.com/votevictorto
www.victorto.com

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