Mike Eng

Mike Eng

Template:TOCnestleft 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.

Stewart Kwoh

While studying law at UCLA from 1971 to 1974,Stewart Kwoh opened a legal-aid office aimed at low-income youth in Los Angeles' Chinatown. His partner was classmate Mike Eng, who is now a legislator in the California Assembly and the husband of US Representative Judy Chu, the first Chinese-American woman elected to Congress.

"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 Willner,Jose Calderon, and Fred Rivera.

"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.

California Asian Pacific Island Legislative Caucus

The California Asian Pacific Island Legislative Caucus formed in January 2001, consisted, in the 2011 - 12 session, of Assembly Members Mike Eng, Paul Fong, Warren Furutani, Mary Hayashi, Ted Lieu, Fiona Ma, Alberto Torrico, and Mariko Yamada and Senators Leland Yee and Carol Liu. State Controller John Chiang and State Board of Equalization Member Betty Yee served as honorary members of the Caucus.

APALA "Rising American Electorate" event

The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance , AFL-CIO, hosted “The Rising American Electorate: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders at the Forefront of Political Action,” a briefing and dinner reception, on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2011, at 6 p.m. at the UCLA Downtown Labor Center, 675 S. Park View St. (at Wilshire Boulevard), Los Angeles.

The event, which recognizes the growth of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and highlights the history of AAPIs in politics, is being held in conjunction with the APALA National Executive Board meeting that is taking place Oct. 6 to 8.

“AAPIs, especially in Los Angeles, have played instrumental roles in electing candidates that support working family and immigrant issues, while running for office as well,” APALA said in a statement. “In Los Angeles alone, AAPIs now number over 1.34 million, and deserve a chance to make their voices heard on key issues, including the budget, jobs, health care, and education.”

Speakers included:

• State Controller John Chiang
• Rep. Judy Chu (D-El Monte), chair of Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
• State Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance)
• Assemblymembers Warren Furutani (D-Long Beach) and Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park)
• APALA President Johanna Hester
• APALA Los Angeles Chair Raahi Reddy
• Kent Wong, UCLA Labor Center

White House guest

On October 13, 2011, Congresswoman Judy Chu, her husband Mike Eng, and Kent Wong and Jai Lee Wong, were guests at a White House dinner to honor South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

References

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