Mike Eng

Mike Eng

Mike Eng represents the California 49th Assembly District, which is located within eastern Los Angeles County and includes the cities of Alhambra, El Monte, Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Gabriel, San Marino, and South El Monte. He chairs the Assembly Committee on Banking & Finance. Prior to serving in the State Assembly, he served as Mayor and City Councilmember of Monterey Park and as a Monterey Park Library Board Trustee. Assemblymember Eng earned his law degree from the University of California at Los Angeles after completing his Bachelors and Masters degrees at the University of Hawaii. He is also a part-time community college instructor. He is the husband of Judy Chu.

"Vincent Who?"

In 1982, Vincent Chin was brutally murdered in Detroit "at the height of anti-Japanese sentiment". The judge ruled it a case of manslaughter and the two killers, both autoworkers, never served a day in jail.

The case became a cause celebre for the Communist Workers Party.

A film about the case "Vincent Who?" was released in 2008, dealing with impact the case had had on activists at the time.

More than twenty-five years later, that case remains a touchstone in the struggle for civil rights and the advancement of the Asian American community. In this new documentary, VINCENT WHO?, we take a quick look back at the case, but more importantly we examine the effects the case had on the leading community activists of today and the future leaders of tomorrow.

Interviewees and speakers included Helen Zia (leading activist during the Chin case), Stewart Kwoh (Founder & Executive Director, Asian Pacific American Legal Center), Judy Chu (Chair, California State Board of Equalization), Mike Eng (California State Assemblyman), Renee Tajima-Pena (Producer & Director, WHO KILLED VINCENT CHIN?), Frank Wu (Dean, Wayne State University Law School), Janet Yang (Producer, THE JOY LUCK CLUB), Justin Lin (Director, BETTER LUCK TOMORROW), Robin Toma (Executive Director, Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations), Nhung Truong (District Representative, Office of Congressman Adam Schiff), Sejal Patel (Activist, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy), Ben de Guzman (National Campaign Coordinator, National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity).

CHAMP

Residents of the heavily Asian Los Angeles suburb of Monterey Park gott to vote spring 1986, on whether to make English the city's official language.

Petitions for a ballot measure to make it the official language were submitted to the city council Tuesday. At the same meeting, the council voted for a ballot measure that would have the opposite effect - it calls for a multi-ethnic and multicultural heritage for the city.

Monterey Park is turning into another Chinatown, complained photographer Frank Arcuri, who spearheaded the English-only drive.

The opposition tries to make us into something racist. It isn't. It's language, he said.

But Michael Eng, a spokesman for the Coalition for Harmony in Monterey Park, said, If we want a civil war, the likes of which no one has ever seen, which pits neighbor against neighbor, citizen against immigrant and race against race ... vote for English only. The coalition pushed the ballot measure calling for a multicultural city.

It was very painful… the reason I felt pain was when we moved to Monterey Park, I had been through the civil rights movement, seen what happened during the antiwar demonstrations… but I was totally unprepared for what I saw in Monterey Park,” he said.

CHAMP members included co-founder Ruth Wilner, and Jose Calderon.

"A conversation with Judy Chu and Jean Quan"

This event was held Sunday July 10, 2011, Empress Pavilion, LA Chinatown.

The Host Committee consisted of

• Rep. Judy Chu, US Congresswoman
• Mike Eng, California Assemblymember
• Stewart Kwoh
• Kent Wong
• Jose Zapata Calderon
• Jai Lee

AACRE Bill

Legislation that will require two key state agencies to collect and disaggregate data on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) was signed by Governor Jerry Brown on October 11, 2011.

Assembly Bill 1088 was introduced by Assemblymember Mike Eng, who worked closely with Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE) to sponsor the bill and mobilize yearlong community support for passage. Over 1,200 individuals and 100 organizations representing the AANHPI and broader California community signed petitions and submitted letters, urging passage of the bill.

References

Template:Reflist