What Happened in August 2011: Some News and Events

Although we’re still in the beta phase of this new site, we’ll publish new content periodically. Now it’s September, Tháng 9, and contributor Julie Nguyễn offers a recap of August happenings in the general interest of a Vietnamese American. She most likely missed a few things, Vietnamese and not, so if you come across something you think should be shared, please send them to Julie via this email: ngujle [at] gmail [dot] com.

[Before we begin: have you heard about the subscriber drive? Win an iPod and other prizes!]

This is a short one. August saw riots in London, Libyan rebels in Tripoli, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Dedication in DC, and Hurricane Irene, to name a few.

Vietnamese in the News

Ma Thi Mi was sold for marriage in China. She now works with Vang Thi Mai's co-op in Hop Tien making crafts to be sold to tourists

Rescued victims of human trafficking from the Việt Nam-China border has forced some communities to question their rigid mores and the ‘value’ of their women. And one woman making that happen, one thread at a time. NYT

A pro-democracy French-Vietnamese dissident journalist was jailed in Việt Nam on account of subversion. He’s been given a ‘lenient’ sentence of 3 years for being a Frenchman. BBC

Profile: Tuyet Le working against the Model Minority Myth and organizing the Asian American communities of Chicago. Chicago Tribune

Nam Phan

Nam Phan is the first Vietnamese-American athlete in the UFC, and it sounds like he’ll be in Houston for a fight on Oct. 8th. Philly[dot]com

And apparently it’s Agent Orange’s 50th anniversary after its first use in Viet Nam in 1961. Saigon-GP Daily

And I should just mention that in the helicopter crash over Afghanistan, where 30 US troops were killed, among them was a fellow SEAsian, a Laotian-American. Sioux City Journal

(thx VTN for many news items! ^_^)

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