PIVOT Statement on the Supreme Court Decision to Overturn Roe v. Wade

/
PIVOT Statement on the Supreme Court Decision to Overturn Roe v. Wade

The U.S. Supreme Court today issued a ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, eliminating the constitutional right to a safe and legal abortion that has existed for 50 years. This is a momentous ruling that allows each state to decide women’s right to their own body– even as the Court ruled just yesterday to deny individual states the right to decide on gun safety. PIVOT is categorically opposed to this decision and will work tirelessly to right this wrong.

Read More

The Importance of Voting in the 2022 Elections

/
The Importance of Voting in the 2022 Elections

Most Vietnamese Americans are here in the U.S. because they and their families value freedom and democracy. This is why PIVOT believes that the 2022 election is the most important election ever for Vietnamese Americans. Our freedom and democracy are at stake.

Voter turnout tends to dip during midterm elections, so there is a good chance that the results will be determined by an extreme minority. In 2022, Republicans have turned out at twice the number of Democrats in some state races. The consequences of sitting out have never been so dire. For instance, some states are voting for a Secretary of State in November. These are important positions because they are charged with ensuring the proper administration of elections and certifying election results. If extreme Republicans hold these positions, they may be able to undermine legitimate election results in the future and restrict access to voting options. In other words, if we do not vote in 2022, our votes may not matter as much in 2024 and later.

Read More

PIVOT announces hiring of inaugural Executive Director to lead next phase of organization

/
PIVOT announces hiring of inaugural Executive Director to lead next phase of organization

Wednesday, June 1, 2022 - PIVOT announced today the hiring of Dr. Jennifer Kim-Anh Tran as PIVOT’s inaugural Executive Director, effective June 1, 2022. “PIVOT was established five years ago to bring Vietnamese Americans together to respond to threats that marginalized communities were facing under the last Administration. At that time, we did not fully anticipate the overwhelming positive support we received from Vietnamese Americans across the nation and across generations, all of whom were eager to build a movement for social justice beyond any one administration,” said Dr. Tung Nguyen, Co-Founder and Board President of PIVOT. “On behalf of the PIVOT Board, I am excited to welcome Dr. Jennifer Kim-Anh Tran as our first Executive Director. This important step signals PIVOT’s strategic growth and expansion, and demonstrates our unwavering commitment to diversity, equity, cultural roots, and inter-generational strength-building within our Vietnamese American community throughout the United States.”

Read More

PIVOT mourns passing of Beloved Member and Community Leader

/
PIVOT mourns passing of Beloved Member and Community Leader

May 9, 2022

PIVOT mourns the passing of our beloved member and well-respected community leader, Thang Do. He had been instrumental in PIVOT and our national movement from the very beginning.

Thang Do was a friend and a dedicated leader who contributed countless hours toward empowering the Vietnamese American community to understand how public policy and politics affects our lives. He drew strength from his lived experiences as a refugee, a loving husband and father, a community builder and brilliant architect, and a talented linguistic artist, and used it towards volunteering countless hours of his time to write, translate, and speak out on behalf of our PIVOT cause. He put so much heart into everything he did. He enjoyed spirited discourse, connecting and learning from others, and using his superpower of translation.

Among his many accomplishments through his roles as Chair of the City of San Jose Planning Commission and a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) was the revitalization of downtown San Jose, CA, including the SoFa District where he worked. Thang also designed and worked on the construction of the Vietnamese American Service Center, which will provide services not only to Vietnamese Americans but also all underserved communities. He built more than just buildings - he built community, across generations and geography. He taught many about the love of the Vietnamese language and culture. He reminded us through his own actions about what it meant to love family, community, and justice.

“He did not just care so much for so many others, he acted to help them in so many ways, within and outside of PIVOT” said PIVOT President, Dr. Tung Nguyen. In addition to being a co-founder of PIVOT, Thang served as an active Board member who was instrumental in our Vietnamese language strategies, including VietFactCheck, a nationally-recognized effort to fight misinformation.

PIVOT sends our deep condolences to his family, including his wife, children, and siblings. We commit to carrying on his legacy, and honoring his invaluable contributions to our movement. In the coming weeks, we will share more details about the multiple ways in which we will celebrate and honor the life of this extraordinary warrior.

As we grieve his loss, let us keep his family in our hearts, and remember what he stood for. Let us continue the work for a just America in his loving memory.

Read More

PIVOT Condemns Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” bill and Urges Florida’s State Senate and Other State Legislatures to Not Enact or Pass Similar Bills

/
PIVOT Condemns Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” bill and Urges Florida’s State Senate and Other State Legislatures to Not Enact or Pass Similar Bills

On Thursday February 24, Florida House of Representatives passed the “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” bill (HB 1557/SB 1834). If it is passed, teachers would be blocked from talking about LGBTQ+ issues or people, further stigmatizing and isolating LGBTQ+ students. This bill would prevent teachers from providing a safe, inclusive classroom and undermine existing protections and rights of LGBTQ+ students.

Read More

PIVOT denounces Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton for Using the Lives of Transgender Children and their Families as Political Pawns

/
PIVOT denounces Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton for Using the Lives of Transgender Children and their Families as Political Pawns

On Tuesday February 22, Texas Governor Greg Abbott directed the state agencies of Family and Protective Services, Health and Human Services Commission, Texas Medical Board, and the Texas Education Agency to conduct “prompt and thorough” investigations into the use of gender-affirming care for transgender children, a move that follow Ken Paxton’s (the Texas state attorney general) opinion that such treatments are a form of child abuse. This significantly raises the risk that these parents will go to jail and the children will be separated from their parents.

Read More

Celebrating Five Years of PIVOT

/
Celebrating Five Years of PIVOT

February 2022 is the fifth anniversary of the founding of PIVOT. In December 2016, following Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. Presidential Election, a group of Vietnamese Americans met in Virginia to plan how we can stop what we correctly anticipated was a corrupt administration that was a threat to American democracy and minority populations. Other meetings followed in January 2017 in northern and southern California. We discovered that many Vietnamese American organizations were doing great things within their local region and in Viet Nam. However, there was no effective national organization for progressive Vietnamese Americans interested in working on politics in the United States.

On February 1st, 2017, this loose knit group of Vietnamese Americans created a listserv and after some debate, named ourselves “PIVOT-The Progressive Vietnamese American Organization.” Two weeks later we had a logo and a website. We agreed on a mission statement “to engage and empower Vietnamese Americans for a just and diverse America.” PIVOT’s vision is to be a collective voice for progressive Vietnamese Americans, to engage and empower Vietnamese Americans through civic engagement and leadership development, and to support policies and candidates that are aligned with our values. Having a mission and a vision that we all agreed on was important to build a sustainable organization that went beyond fighting the Trump administration. On February 21st, 2017, we submitted our application to be a 501c4 non-profit corporation.

Read More

PIVOT Press Release: One-Year Anniversary of President Biden’s Climate-Related Executive Actions

/

January 27, 2022

PIVOT Celebrates One-Year Anniversary of President Biden’s Climate-Related Executive Actions, Urges Congress to Deliver on Climate Action

(Washington, DC) – Today is the one-year anniversary of President Joe Biden issuing a series of signed a number of climate- and environmental justice-focused executive orders and presidential memorandums, putting the U.S. back on track to address the climate crisis and protecting our health and environment from the catastrophic impacts of climate change. These actions included rejoining the Paris climate agreement and establishing an administration-wide initiative on racial and environmental justice. 

To mark the anniversary, Dr. Tung Nguyen, President of the Progressive Vietnamese American Organization-PIVOT, released the following statement:

“In one of his first acts as president, Joe Biden one year ago today showed he was deeply committed to climate action with a series of ambitious executive actions to tackle this crisis. While PIVOT is grateful for all the progress made by the Biden administration over the past year to act on climate, more work needs to be done to address the climate crisis. Climate can’t wait, and the Biden administration and Congress must take bold climate action, starting with passing the historic Build Back Better Act before Congress right now and its $550 billion in investments that will deliver on climate, justice and jobs.”

PIVOT is Seeking Our Inaugural Executive Director

/
PIVOT is Seeking Our Inaugural Executive Director

PIVOT –– the Progressive Vietnamese American Organization –– is excited to announce that we are seeking our inaugural Executive Director to lead and grow our national organization. Founded in 2017, PIVOT is at a critical growth stage, and this key position will provide instrumental leadership to take the organization to the next level. The position reports directly to the Board of Directors.

Read More