Perhaps life really began at 3 for Gordon Quan, the Democrat running for County Judge. That’s how he can square calling himself a lifelong resident of Harris County who wasn’t born here.

The contradiction is in the first two sentences of the bio on his campaign Web site. “Gordon Quan is a lifelong resident of Harris County. While born in China….” Quan said he moved to the United States when he was 3 years old.

Campaign consultant Mike Malaise said in an email that since Quan is in his 60s, coming here at 3 really makes him a lifelong resident of the county. Given Quan’s work on the City Council, a redevelopment board and the business he founded, nitpicking about the use of lifelong “seems like a tediously lame line of attack.”

Quan’s campaign bio is actually a classic tale of immigrant success.

Quan came to the East End of Houston as a child when his family fled the Chinese Revolution. His parents ran a grocery store in the Magnolia Park area. The family lived behind the store, and Gordon and his three younger siblings took turns working in the store while doing their school work.

Quan was the first member of his family to go to college, then taught in a public school in a poor neighborhood, then went to work for a federally funded multicultural program while attending law school at night. He became an attorney and later served on the Houston City Council. His practice has grown into one of the world’s largest immigration law firms.

There is no bio on incumbent Ed Emmett’s campaign Web page (though there is a link to his Facebook page, which has some biographical data on it). Emmett’s bio appears on his County Judge page. No word on where he was born, but he attended Bellaire High School. He also graduated from Rice University . He mentions his alma mater frequently enough on the dais at Commissioners Court meetings that commissioners have taken to teasing him by highlighting the lack of Rice ties of honorees and others appearing before the Court.

As Angry Asian Man would say, that’s racist!

What’s next, Mr. Moran, are you going to pull a Betty Brown and suggest Gordon Quan change his name to make it easier for you? Or will you suggest Quan is making race in issue in the campaign because he has AAA-Fund’s endorsement? Perhaps you will just tell him to go back home (to China).

Gordon Quan may not have been Houston-born, but he is certainly Houston-bred. You know what, Chris Moran? That usage of “breed” is the number four definition in Merriam-Webster. The number two definition of “lifelong” is “long-standing,” and Quan certainly fulfills that meaning.

As Moran pointed out, Quan has lived here from the age of three – as long as Quan can remember. Quan attended elementary, middle, and high school in Houston. After attending college at The University of Texas, he choose to return to Houston, where he attended grad school at the University of Houston and law school at South Texas College of Law.

Quan has worked his entire life in Houston. He has taught in Houston schools. He grew the small law practice he started decades ago into one of the largest and most successful minority-owned businesses in Harris County and the second-largest immigration law firm in the nation. He serves the Houston community through his work on numerous non-profit boards. Quan served three terms on Houston City Council. If not for term limits, he would probably still be Mayor Pro Tempore of Houston.

It’s strange that Moran calls Quan’s bio “a classic tale of immigrant success” when Quan’s parents were born in America. I suppose that should be expected. What is an Asian American if not a perpetual foreigner?

Quan had no say where he was born – no one does. Quan had no choice where he would live as a baby and toddler. If Moran wants to take Quan to task for not being a lifelong Houston resident, he could attack Quan for attending The University of Texas instead of Rice University. Moran, instead, chose to attack Quan for being Asian.

Perhaps Moran would be satisfied if the biography on Quan’s campaign web site did not list a place of birth. Moran’s analysis of Emmett’s background, which excludes Emmett’s birthplace, compares very closely to Quan’s biography. Both Emmett and Quan attended high school in Harris County and attended college and grad school in Texas, Emmett in Houston then Austin and Quan in Austin then Houston. Or would Emmett, in all his whiteness, face the same scrutiny?

Chris Moran’s attack on Gordon is not only ridiculous, it’s racist. There’s no other explanation for a print journalist – a wordsmith – feigning such a misunderstanding. And this racism, this bias calls into question all reporting Chris Moran does on the www.chron.com side of the Chronicle and in print. This includes his comparing mountains to molehills and claiming the molehill is bigger, and blowing minor ethics allegations far out of proportion. If you want to see a serious ethics violation, take a look at those of State Rep. Isett, State Rep. John Davis, or State Senator Estes.

We make no claim to impartiality here at Asian American Action Fund Blog. Chris Moran, however, claims to be a journalist while his bias (and his racism) shines through.

Mr. Moran, will you (i) apologize, (ii) explain away your racism, or (iii) hunker down?

- Justin Gillenwater

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 9, 2010
Contact: Pat Jakopchek
202.225.5464
202.604.7271
Pat.Jakopchek@mail.house.gov

Chu Criticizes Schwarzenegger’s Refusal to Release Emergency Education Funding

“I call on him to stop playing politics with California’s schools, sign the legislation distributing these funds and get our schoolchildren the aid they so desperately deserve”

LOS ANGELES – Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, today issued the following statement in response to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s decision to withhold $1.2 billion in federal school jobs grants for the state of California. Just over one month ago, Rep. Chu and her colleagues passed an emergency $26 billion bill to prevent the layoffs of nearly 300,000 teachers and other state and local government workers across the country.

“Today, I was stunned to learn of Governor Schwarzenegger’s refusal to release $1.2 billion in emergency aid for California’s teachers,” Chu said. “His decision puts the jobs of 16,500 California teachers at risk – right as we begin a new school year. I call on him to stop playing politics with California’s schools, sign the legislation distributing these funds and get our schoolchildren the aid they so desperately deserve.”

Congresswoman Chu’s career in politics spans 24 years. She was elected in July 2009 to the U.S. House of Representatives as the Representative of California’s 32nd District, which includes East Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley. She is a member of the House Judiciary, Government Oversight and Education and Labor Committees. A lifelong educator, Congresswoman Chu taught community college classes in Los Angeles and East Los Angeles for 20 years. She holds a Ph.D. in psychology and a B.A. in mathematics.

AAA-Fund endorses Texas leader Gordon Quan for Harris County County Judge.  If elected, Quan would effectively become the top elected official in the nation’s third largest county (Houston metropolitan area).  More details to come.

– Gautam Dutta

US Rep. Michael Honda: “Congressman Gerlach must apologize for suggesting that political fundraising within an ethnic community is somehow illegitimate. Our great democracy promises many fundamental freedoms, not the least of which are the freedoms of speech and association, coupled with the right to equally participate in our electoral process. American citizens — of all ethnicities, races, and creeds — have the freedom to support those whom we believe will best represent us in the House of Representatives, in which I proudly serve as chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Asian Americans are currently underrepresented in Congress and I am honored to support Manan Trivedi. Manan’s leadership in Congress would strengthen our democracy by making our leaders and policies more reflective of our nation’s true diversity.”

Thursday, September 9:  "Europe’s Social Capitalism vs. America’s Wall Street Capitalism: Which Has the Better Development Model for the 21st Century?"

Speaker:  Steven Hill, political writer, author of Europe’s Promise: Why the European Way Is the Best Hope in an Insecure Age 

Steven Hill contends that a quiet revolution has been occurring in post-World War II Europe. A world power emerging across the Atlantic is rewriting the rules for how a modern society should provide economic security, environmental sustainability and global stability. For a decade Mr. Hill has traveled widely to understand this uniquely European way of life, including its response to the current economic crisis.

Steven Hill’s articles and commentaries have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, Guardian, Financial Times, New York Daily News, The Nation, Salon.com, Hürriyet Daily News (Turkey),Sierra, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee and other leading publications. His previous books include 10 Steps to Repair American Democracy (2006), Fixing Elections: The Failure of America’s Winner Take All Politics (2003) and Whose Vote Counts (with Rob Richie, 2001). Mr. Hill has appeared on national and local radio and television programs, and has lectured widely in the United States and Europe. He has been a leading force for political reform in the United States for many years.

Wine and networking reception 5:30 p.m., program 6 p.m.

$8 for Commonwealth Club members, $20 for non-members, $7 for students with current school ID.

Location: Commonwealth Club headquarters, 595 Market St – Mezzanine, San Francisco (at Montgomery St. BART/Muni station), cross street 2nd St

Reservations are not required but recommended – phone (415) 597-6705 or (800) 847-7730. Tickets can also be purchased at https://tickets.commonwealthclub.org/open.asp?show=1884.

Norma Walden

Chair, International Relations Forum

– Gautam Dutta

– Gautam Dutta

Taking on this internship has been the perfect way to complete my transformative year. I applied for the CASIC program on a whim for the express purpose of having something to do for the summer. There was not much investment on my part in getting the internship, I was perfectly happy with wasting time at home until I flew off to Shanghai. In hindsight, I am glad that I was given this opportunity. Being a CASIC intern has been eye opening and rewarding experience. I cannot imagine having a more life changing eight weeks.

My assignment at Assemblymember Ted Lieu’s office was quite the learning experience. Working with the staffers really allowed me to see what it took to work at a district office. Melissa Ramoso, the intern coordinator for the office, welcomed all the interns with open arms and made sure that we were doing meaningful work. Among the interns, there was a strong feeling of camaraderie, especially since we went to lunch together every single chance we had which made the act of leaving all the more difficult.

In addition to working at the assemblymember’s office, I spent a great deal of my time at the CAUSE office. Throughout my time at CAUSE, the executive director Chris Ige has been nothing short of a great mentor. Chris is chockfull of stories and sage advice that I would have never heard, had I simply stayed at Ted Lieu’s office. In addition, he always took the time to answer my questions, no matter how simple. Through him, I was able to learn the backgrounds of the elected officials that I met, which made it easier for me to talk to them. Most importantly, however, Chris let me have my own projects in the office and asked for input on many of the things that he was working on. In fact, at times it was a bit overwhelming because Chris would ask for my opinions on things that I felt were far too important for me to weigh in on. Every day at the CAUSE office was an experience to be remembered. I am not sure whether it was his union background or just his personality but things in office were always very open. I could always be honest in my opinion around him and if we disagreed, we simply agreed to disagree. There were never any hard feelings. I did not realize the full extent of how much of a mentor Chris was for me until a week before the end of the program, and now that I have, I have come to value my time at the CAUSE office all the more.

The Monday weekly meetings with various famous persons was icing on the cake. In the all star line-up that we met with, John Kobara and Judge Ronald Lew were the standouts. Mr. Kobara’s engaging and high energy speaking style made the whole experience memorable. I took his witty life advice to heart and it was very reassuring to know that some of the advice that he was dishing out, I was already following, especially the part about not listening to your parents. The self help S.W.I.V.E.L. worksheet that he had handed out during his presentation is incredibly helpful, so much so that I have shared it with multiple friends. On the other hand, the meeting with Judge Lew went completely differently. Judge Lew spoke softly and slowly but his words had so much weight that they just stuck to my mind. The judge would often pause before answering a question and during that moment of silence, I could not help but hold my breath. When Judge Lew paused the world stopped and it only resumed once he had found the perfect words to express his thoughts. To me Judge Lew is a real life sage from one of those myths of old. I can imagine him giving advice to a young hero, advice that the hero ignores at his own peril. A large part of what makes the CASIC program so amazing is the fact that we are connected to such amazing people. I doubt I would have been able to meet any of these individuals by myself.

Every week I found myself going to at least one event, often times at the last minute because I would forget that there was even an event that day. The first event I went to was the Lilian Kawasaki fundraiser, which was terribly awkward. It was a very small fundraiser consisting of maybe ten people and all of them were familiar with each other. This made it extremely difficult to strike up a conversation and it did not help that many of them were old white men. However, Lilian tried her best to introduce us to people and facilitate conversation, so all in all it was not a terrible first experience. As I attended more and more events, I became better at networking and so the events became less awkward and more fun. The highlight of all these events occurred at the last event that I attended, at the APALP fundraiser where I found myself having a give and take conversation with LAFD Fire Chief Emile Mack. I ended that night standing next to State Controller John Chiang and just joking with him, completely relaxed and enjoying the moment. I really appreciated the events because it allowed me to see a part of society that I had not seen before. At events, I was finding myself surrounded by the elite of our society. These men and women were the ones who made or broke candidates before the election even started. I stood in awe of their mannerisms and poise, things that I had only seen in fictional television programs.

The greatest irony for me this summer was the fact that this research project was done on social media. After leaving UCSD and working on social media marketing projects for the better half of the year, I was ready to move on and experiment with something else. When my idea for doing the project on examining the relationship between the LAPD and Asian communities received little fanfare from the other interns, I threw my weight behind Kristina’s idea of social media. I gave a direction to the social media project idea by suggesting we make a handbook that taught the basics of social media to small non-profits and politicians. Surprisingly, I was nominated to be leader of the project Kristina and even more surprisingly nobody opposed it. Suddenly, I found myself leading a project on something I had wanted to get away from.

Thankfully, I had a very talented group of people supporting me. I had the vision of the project, but without the help of the other interns, that vision would have never become reality. For the most part everybody worked well together and the team dynamics of the CASIC class were great. Everybody contributed to the project in some way, and some even gave more than was asked or expected of them. To date, I have never worked with a better team.

All the things I learned during my time in CASIC pales in comparison to the friends that I have made. I really bonded with Monica, Kristina and Christian and I think we will be lifelong friends. Christian already tells me that he has my back and to never hesitate to call him if I need help. Even though it has only been eight weeks, graduating from CASIC is a heart breaking experience.

The Asian American Action Fund Blog and CAUSE announce a cross-posting partnership effective immediately in a 3 month pilot. The collaboration aims to further each other’s mission: to politically empower Asian Americans. Both organizations’ blogs will collaborate to crosspost many of each other’s articles.

We are very excited to collaborate to better serve our readers and the cause of Asian Americans advocacy.

— AAA-Fund Blog and CAUSE

The AAA-Fund is a Democratic political action committee whose goal is to increase the voice of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) on every level of local, state and federal government in America. To achieve this goal, we address the chronic under-representation of AAPIs as campaign volunteers, campaign contributors, and candidates for political office. The AAA-Fund has endorsed candidates across the country.

CAUSE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, non-partisan community-based organization with a mission to advance the political empowerment of the Asian Pacific Islander American community through voter registration and education, community outreach and leadership development.

Volume 10, Number 16, September 1, 2010
For more, visit www.aaa-fund.org
Send comments to info@aaa-fund.org.
Subscribe and unsubscribe info below.
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1. Ami Bera
2. Kamala Harris
3. Manan Trivedi
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With your contribution, the AAA-Fund is able to support the political empowerment of the Asian Pacific American community. Please consider donating today.

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1. Ami Bera – Candidate for Congress from California’s 3^rd Congressional District

Ami Bera is a native of California with over fifteen years of dedicated service as a physician, public administrator and visionary leader. The youngest of three boys, Dr. Bera’s parents immigrated to the United States from India in the 1950s. He grew up in a vibrant household, benefitting from the traditional values of hard work, educational discipline and social responsibility.

He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of California Irvine and completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. At age 39, Dr. Bera was appointed Dean of Admissions at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine. He served as an inspirational administrator, policy reformer and beloved teacher and mentor. Today at 44, Ami continues his commitment to servant leadership and is running to represent the 3rd Congressional District of California.

To learn more about Ami, visit:
http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=5107
http://www.beraforcongress.com/

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2. Kamala Harris – Candidate for California Attorney General

In December 2003, Kamala Harris was elected as the first woman District Attorney in San Francisco’s history, and as the first African American woman and South Asian American woman in California to hold the office. She was overwhelmingly reelected to a second term in November 2007.

Born and raised in the East Bay, Kamala’s strong commitment to justice and public service led her to Howard University, America’s oldest historically black university, and then to the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Harris has spent her entire professional life in the trenches as a courtroom prosecutor. After graduating from U.C. Hastings College of the Law, she took a position in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, where she specialized in prosecuting child sexual assault cases. As a Deputy District Attorney she also prosecuted cases for homicide and robbery. She worked at that office from 1990 to 1998 before going on to serve in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.

To learn more about Kamala, visit:
http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=5172
http://www.kamalaharris.org/

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3. Manan Trivedi – Candidate for Congress from Pennsylvania’s 6^th Congressional District

From boots on the battleground to scrubs in the emergency room, Manan Trivedi has been on the frontlines of the most pressing issues that our nation faces. Growing up the son of a plant worker, becoming a physician, a Naval Officer and a decorated Iraq War Veteran has prepared Manan for the frontlines of Congress. A son of immigrants from India, Manan was born and raised in Berks County where his parents worked at the Red Cheek apple juice factory. He grew up in Fleetwood where he and his brother attended public school and graduated from Fleetwood High School. Manan knows his community well and has a long history of service to our country.

Manan Trivedi’s passion for community service began at a very early age. As a young teenager, he won a national contest for launching a healthy eating initiative. In college, he received a community service award for his work with HIV/AIDS patients. After medical school, Manan chose to do his residency at Harbor-UCLA, a safety-net hospital where he treated mostly uninsured and working-poor patients. Manan also took his medical skills to Iraq, where he served as the Battalion Surgeon for the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment Marine Corps Infantry during the invasion of Baghdad.

Manan currently works as a primary care physician and a health reform advocate in Reading, Pa. Besides his clinical work, he focuses on quality improvement and graduate medical education issues.

To learn more about Manan, visit:
http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=5055
http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=4970
http://www.trivediforcongress.com/

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With your contribution, the AAA-Fund is able to support the political empowerment of the Asian Pacific American community. Please consider donating today.

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