Khanh Nguyen, a Vietnamese American immigrant, launched Zalat Pizza in 2015 despite no experience in the restaurant business. He quickly distinguished his restaurant by incorporate Vietnamese flavors. Nguyen’s restaurant is proud to place an emphasis on holistic employee welfare and on a sense of community. He credits food as having guided him by saving his life and his family’s life in Vietnam and by setting his restaurant apart from the others.
In early March, California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Commissioner Grace A Kim as Judge in the Los Angeles County Superior Court and Senior Deputy District Attorney Sophia Choi as a Judge in the Riverside County Superior Court. Kim has experience as a clerk in the Los Angeles Superior Court from 2006-2007 and has served in the U.S. Department of Labor. Choi was Deputy Counsel at the Riverside County Office from 2007 to 2020.
Corky Lee, a prominent figure and photographer in the Asian American community, passed away from COVID-19 during the pandemic. He was passionate about utilizing photography to memorialize everyday struggles of the Asian American community and to raise awareness of the history of social justice movements. His upcoming book, “Corky Lee’s Asian American,” will be released on April 9 and will include 100 photos personally selected by Lee to further shine a light on AAPI social justice history.
75-year-old Bing Goei was unanimously selected to fill the Grand Rapids Third Ward commission position in Michigan. Goei is an Asian American businessman who has lived in Grand Rapids for 64 years and has been an active member of the community. He will now serve the Third Ward alongside Kelsey Perdue until his seat opens back up next fall.
A new study highlights the comparison between Asian American and white applicants for admission to prestigious schools in the U.S. Asian American applicants have odds of 28% lower of attending the schools compared with white applicants. For East and Southeast Asian applicants, the odds were 17%. The study suggests that a determining factor could be legacy admissions.
In 1939, Gus and Emma Thompson, a Black couple in California, rented a home in Coronado to a Chinese American family, defying Anti-Asian segregation. 80 years later, Ron Dong and Lloyd Dong Jr., the sons of the Chinese American family, are donating a portion of the proceeds of the sale of the house to support Black college students at San Diego State University. In honor of the Thompsons, the university’s Black Resource Center will be renamed.
Michael Lee was welcomed as the new president last week of the Museum of Chinese in America in New York. The museum hopes that with Lee’s strong background in working in the Asian community and non-profit sector, Lee can help rebuild trust with the community.
Jason Kim of Blank Rome LLP, Nary Kim of Kendall Brill & Kelly (KBK) LLP, and Daniel Ahn of Reed Smith LLP were recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal as among the top 84 most influential minority attorneys in Los Angeles County in 2024. The three Koreans American attorneys have extensive experience in their specific fields and have led prominent cases.
At the border near San Diego, California, the number of Chinese migrants who are detained has increased by 500% according to a new report. U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained 37,000 Chinese citizens in 2023, which is 50 times more than 2021. Chinese migrants are the fastest growing immigrant group who cross the southern border from Mexico into the United States, with many seeking asylum as one of the reasons.
The Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment announced the honorees of its Radiance Gala that celebrates the achievements of Asian and Pacific Islander Women and Non-Binary artists, artisans and leaders in entertainment. Among the honorees in the second set are actress Sandra Oh for the Luminary Award and Melinda Hsu for the Mentor honoree.