Latest news with #Vietnamese-American
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Federal lawsuit claims California's labor code discriminates against Vietnamese nail techs, salon owners
A federal civil lawsuit against California alleges that the state's Labor Code discriminates against Vietnamese-American manicurists and salon owners, following the passage of a 2020 law that changed how employees and independent contractors are classified. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana on Saturday, argues that only nail technicians are excluded from being classified as independent contractors due to a California law enacted in 2020. Nail technicians, many of whom are Vietnamese-American, were also considered independent contractors before the law's passage. According to the suit, 'in California, approximately 82% of all nail manicurists/ pedicurists ('nail technicians') are Vietnamese American, and 85% of these are women.' 'The penalties for misclassifying a worker as an independent contractor are severe, and when the defendants, as heads of their enforcement agencies, enforce the new rule prohibiting nail technicians from being independent contractors, the damage to the plaintiffs will be severe and irreparable. In this regard, the salon plaintiffs will be forced out of business and will be forced to close their doors. In addition, the salon plaintiffs will be subject to significant assessments and financial penalties that will be impossible to pay,' the suit added. California Assemblyman Tri Ta (R-Westminster) stated that he has introduced legislation, Assembly Bill 504, to restore equal rights to manicurists. The labor law switch occurred in 2020, when AB 5, a law that altered the classification of workers as employees or independent contractors, took effect. Before its passage, in 2018, the California Supreme Court changed the requirements companies must use to label their workers as independent contractors. At the time, companies that opposed the bill waged a campaign to prevent its passage. The businesses that filed the suit include multiple locations of Happy Nails & Spa, Holly and Hudson, and Blu Nail Bar. 'Since January, Vietnamese American manicurists have faced blatant discrimination under California's labor laws, stripped of the same rights and freedoms afforded to others in their industry,' Scott Wellman, attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. 'If the State of California refuses to fix this injustice, we are prepared to hold them accountable in federal court.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Pope names bishop of San Diego, marking first Vietnamese-American bishop in US
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — On Thursday, Pope Leo XIV appointed Auxiliary Bishop Michael Pham as the new bishop of San Diego, making him the first Vietnamese-American bishop in the United States. The announcement was a historic moment for both the Diocese of San Diego and the broader Catholic community. Born on Jan. 27, 1967, in Da Nang, Vietnam, Bishop Pham fled the country with his family in 1980, seeking refuge in Malaysia. After being sponsored by an American family, they settled in Blue Earth, Minnesota, in 1981. The Pham family relocated to San Diego in 1985, Bishop Pham completed his education and eventually entered the priesthood. He was ordained in 1999 for the Diocese of San Diego. Throughout his ministry, Bishop Pham has held various roles, including pastor, diocesan vocations director, and vicar general. In 2017, he was appointed as episcopal vicar for ethnic and intercultural communities, a position that allowed him to foster unity among the diverse cultural groups within the diocese. VIDEO: Fireball erupts as plane crashes in San Diego Bishop Pham's appointment as Bishop of San Diego is a significant milestone in the Catholic Church's history in the U.S. His ascension to this role reflects the church's recognition of the contributions of immigrant communities and the importance of diverse leadership. The Diocese of San Diego, serving approximately 1.3 million Catholics, is hoping for continued growth and unity under his guidance. The installation ceremony for Bishop Pham is scheduled for July 17, 2025, at the Cathedral Catholic Church in San Diego. The community eagerly anticipates this momentous occasion, celebrating a new chapter in diocesan 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hindu
21-04-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Who is St. Francis of Assisi? Why did the Pope chose to go by his name?
When Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was anointed as the Pope, he chose to rename himself as Francis after St. Francis of Assisi, the medieval saint who founded the Franciscans, one of the largest orders in the Catholic Church. St. Francis' tomb is situated at the hilltop town on Assisi in Italy, where the saint was born here more than 840 years ago. 'The life of St. Francis teaches the way to holiness is giving up yourself, getting rid of things that hold us back in our life here, and just offer ourselves to the Lord,' said the Rev. Paul Vu, who was visiting in early March with a group of 50 Vietnamese-American parishioners from Santa Ana, California. In 1182, St. Francis was born to a wealthy family in Assisi, which rises above a fertile valley in central Italy. Praying in front of a crucifix, he is said to have heard a call to reform the church. He aspired to strip everything down to the essentials in the service of God. The Santuario della Spogliazione, which literally means stripping, is a sober stone church on the hillside. It marks the spot where he gave up even his clothes in front of his father, who disinherited him. St. Francis was accepted into the church by the bishop as an advocate of the poor and went on to found a religious order that's still active globally today, the Franciscans. For Assisi's current bishop, the Rev. Domenico Sorrentino, St. Francis' renunciation of material encumbrances also signaled his love of creation and of peace. 'Francis, stripping himself, came back to nature in some sense. So we must receive nature as a gift of God, and respect this gift,' Sorrentino told The Associated Press. During the Crusades, St. Francis befriended a Muslim sultan — their exchanges are still seen as an example of the kind of interfaith dialogue that St. John Paul II promoted by gathering leaders of the major global religions in Assisi during his papacy. On why Pope Francis chose the name, Rev. Enzo Fortunato, who spent 30 years in Assisi and now leads the Vatican's committee on World Children's Day, says: 'He explained it in a very simple way, that he chose Francis' name because he's the man of peace, of the poor, of brotherhood. The man who loves and respects creation.' 'It's a name that contains a life programme,' he says. Several of the pope's encyclicals — teaching documents for the church — pulled from Franciscan themes and quotes, including one about building a more inclusive church. This year will mark the 800th anniversary of St. Francis' celebrated 'canticle of creatures,' where he praises God for the sun, the moon and other natural elements he refers to as brothers and sisters. Pope Francis used its title for an encyclical highlighting the importance of taking care of the environment because it's a gift from God that humankind only gets to protect, not exploit. The basilica is Assisi contains a cycle of more than two dozen frescoes illustrating crucial moments in St. Francis' life — including the 'spogliazione.' Painted by Giotto at the end of the 13th century, they marked a turning point in Western art. Their realism and careful rendering of space and depth went far beyond what was common in the Middle Ages and presaged the Renaissance. They were spared destruction in the 1997 earthquake that hit the region, killing four people in the basilica itself. Across town is the Basilica di Santa Chiara, dedicated to St. Clare, who embraced radical poverty to imitate St. Francis. He made available to her and the growing group of women following her a local church — the beginning of the Poor Clares order, now present in 70 countries with 20,000 sisters. In between the two churches, in the Santuario della Spogliazione, lies the Blessed Carlo Acutis, an Italian teen who died in 2006 and will become the church's first millennial saint when canonized in April.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
50 years forward: Meet the Vietnamese-American entrepreneurs turning food into legacy
After Duke Pham and his family landed in the United States in 1975, his mother knew what she needed to do next: start a business. "My mom decided we were opening a restaurant, and somehow she did it," Pham told Shopify. His family had fled Vietnam in 1975 after the fall of Saigon, determined to start over in Seattle. "I remember rolling egg rolls in the middle of the night after school, hauling ingredients into our truck, setting up booths at farmers markets on weekends. That was my childhood." Inspired by his mother's entrepreneurship, Pham grew up to launch six popular pho restaurants, which eventually became the launchpad for Pho'nomenal Foods, an award-winning instant pho noodle brand sold nationally. And he's not alone. As the U.S. prepares to observe the landmark 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War on April 30, 2025, the effects of the Vietnamese diaspora are palpable. Over 125,000 Vietnamese refugees sought new beginnings while striving to stay connected to their heritage. They started businesses out of passion but also necessity—entrepreneurship was a way to gain a foothold in a foreign land and drive their communities forward. Today, there are over 300,000 Vietnamese-American-owned businesses that stand as testament to that ethos. Now, the next wave of Vietnamese-American founders—many of them children of refugees—are carrying on the tradition. And many are starting food brands as a way to combine their entrepreneurial mindset with a passion for their culinary heritage. From introducing ingredients like fish sauce to spotlighting the time-honored way to make Vietnamese coffee, founders are leveraging products as both a reclamation of legacy and an invitation for others to join the experience. In doing so, brands like Red Boat Fish Sauce, Nguyen Coffee Supply, Socola Chocolatier, and Pho'nomenal Foods are showing the transformative power of food. For sisters Tracy and Tiffany Pham (pictured above with their family), the entrepreneurial journey began when their father, Cuong, rediscovered the superior quality of authentic, locally sourced fish sauce during a visit to his hometown in Vietnam in 2005. "He returned with a bottle of fish sauce, and it brought my grandmother to tears because it had been decades since she had it," Tiffany Pham says. "Fish sauce is so quintessential to Vietnamese cuisine. You can't have Vietnamese food without it. And when they moved to the U.S., Vietnamese products were not available." This moment planted the idea for Red Boat Fish Sauce. This Bay Area brand launched in 2011, dedicated to the traditional methods of making pure fish sauce from just anchovies and sea salt. Cuong quit his job as a software engineer, and the family began taking sourcing trips to the Phú Quốc region of Vietnam to produce their original fish sauce. "The process we use is something that has been used in Vietnam for centuries. It's the highest quality, the highest concentration. It's not diluted with water, sugar, or extracts," says Tracy Pham. Prior to the rise of Red Boat, Vietnamese fish sauce was scarce in national chains. They realized there was a gap in the market for a high-quality version, and they wanted to fill it. Now Red Boat is available on grocery shelves across the country from Whole Foods to Walmart. For Nguyen Coffee Supply founder Sahra Nguyen (pictured above), the mission of her brand is also about honoring ancient tradition. Despite being the second-largest coffee producer in the world after Brazil, Vietnam's coffee was often overlooked in the U.S. Nguyen's journey began with frustration—frustration at the way Vietnamese coffee was misrepresented in American coffee culture. "I remember visiting coffee shops and asking what was in their Vietnamese coffee, because it didn't taste like the iced coffee I had growing up," she says. She realized they were all using arabica beans and not the robusta beans used in the authentic Vietnamese beverage. Robusta beans, grown in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, have long been labeled as low-quality beans in the West. Because of this misconception, robusta was rarely found in the U.S. "Vietnamese coffee is synonymous with robusta coffee. But there's this strong bias in the coffee industry that arabica is good and robusta is bad. I wanted to challenge that and expand the conversation." By establishing direct trade relationships with Vietnamese farmers, Nguyen ensures her coffee is not only of the highest quality but also ethically sourced. The brand hosts tastings and workshops, where Nguyen ventures beyond the coffee itself to share the rich history behind it. Her work has helped shift the myths around robusta, bringing an aspect of Vietnamese culture to kitchens across America. "I go to these events and now everyone is talking about robusta coffee. Things have changed so much, and the industry is excited about the possibilities." Similarly, Duke Pham of Pho'nomenal Foods reimagined classic Vietnamese flavors through the development of instant pho products. As he expanded from restaurant owner to food product innovator, he quickly realized the potential for an instant version of pho that would respect the dish's authenticity while appealing to modern consumers looking for a quick meal. His breakthrough came when he collaborated with food scientists to develop a pho broth powder that retained the full flavor profile of the traditional broth—something that typically takes 10 hours of preparation. People without the time to brew a pho broth could still enjoy a hot, delicious bowl at home within minutes. "Pho is a staple item of our culture. It's breakfast, dinner, a late night snack—a good meal at pretty much any time of the day," says Pham. "It's just been great to be able to bring that part of our culture here and make it more of a mainstream item." Each packet of Pho'nomenal's broth uses high-quality, natural ingredients, avoiding the artificial additives found in other instant products on the market. By fusing tradition and convenience, he's pushing traditional Vietnamese cuisine into new territories. While some founders are filling market gaps for more traditional products, others are using their backgrounds as the catalyst for something wholly new. In the heart of San Francisco, Wendy Lieu's artisanal chocolate brand, Socola Chocolatier (pictured above), is blending the traditional with the modern. As a teenager, Lieu and her sister worked at her parents' nail salon. On their breaks, they'd go to the mall to get free chocolate samples. It's where she fell in love with truffles, and she began experimenting with chocolate recipes at home—making her own fresh from scratch. Eventually, she landed a coveted spot at the local farmers market and began to build a following. However, she felt her brand was missing something. "In the chocolate industry, we were spending a lot of time trying to fit in. I decided we needed to stand out," says Lieu. "A lesson I learned is that if you're too broad in your business, you're going to be competing against all these people doing the same thing you are." When she looked at popular chocolates, she saw they often followed tried-and-true formulas with no experimentation. Determined to fill that void, Lieu began taking risks with innovative ingredients like sriracha and durian, infusing Socola chocolates with the bold flavors of Vietnam. She even made pho-flavored chocolate. The result was a collection of truffles that celebrated her heritage and made Socola stand out in a saturated market. "By being so specific about my Vietnamese culture, we started attracting more customers than I ever thought we could," Lieu says. "Now whenever I travel, I'm looking for more Asian flavors that can translate into chocolate." Fifty years on, the stories of brands like these reveal the power of different backgrounds, perspectives, and of course, tastes. These entrepreneurs successfully tapped into a market opportunity because they had a deep understanding of their culture and its culinary traditions. Their growth is a loud and clear signal—consumers are hungry for real flavors that take them on a journey. "What I see now is that more people want to find those authentic products that come directly from Vietnam. Whereas before there was hesitation, there's now curiosity," says Tracy Pham of Red Boat. Food is a powerful storyteller. Each bite, each sip carries the weight of memory, history, and culture. Through their work, these entrepreneurs forge connections that transcend borders and generations. Ultimately, they create a world where food connects us all. "It's not so long ago that my parents literally lived through war and escaped Vietnam on a boat," says Sahra Nguyen of Nguyen Coffee Supply. "I'm so proud of what this community has achieved in such a short time. If the community came this far in just 50 years, what will they achieve in the next fifty?" This story was produced by Shopify and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
South China Morning Post
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
The Joy Luck Club star Kieu Chinh, 87, on her rocky road to stardom and new roles
Kieu Chinh is a little pressed for time. Advertisement It is a Sunday afternoon and the 87-year-old Vietnamese-American actress is preparing for a trip the next day from her home in Huntington Beach in California to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. There she would be doing filming for Chrysalis, a feature film based on the life of the Vietnamese-American artist and sculptor Daniel K Winn. 'I wish we had more time,' Chinh says. 'There is so much to talk about.' The past several months have been a whirlwind for the actress, during which she has come off production on the TV series Dope Thief , on Apple TV+, and the film Control Freak, which debuted on Hulu and is now streaming on Disney+. Both came out in mid-March, a day apart. Chinh is a still from Control Freak (2025). Photo: Hulu Directed by Ridley Scott, Dope Thief is a crime drama starring Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura as two friends in Philadelphia who pose as federal agents to rob drug dealers. Chinh plays the criminal-matriarch grandma of a character named Pham (played by Dustin Nguyen), a drug trafficker. Advertisement In Shal Ngo's body horror thriller Control Freak, she plays the aunt of Valerie (Kelly Marie Tran), a motivational speaker who develops a demonic body itch. Chinh sports over-the-top make-up and exaggerated lashes, and constantly has a cigarette in hand.
