1989 KEYNOTE SPEECH TO THE VIETNAMESE STUDIES INSTITUTE IN MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

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KEYNOTE SPEECH FOR THE VIETNAMESE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

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ANTI-HUMAN TRAFFICKING SPEECH ADDRESSING VIETNAMESE AMERICANS

With the Vietnamese community in Denver, Colorado:  

Fund-raising activities for services to victims of human trafficking in Southeast Asia

A copy of the speech above was also shared with selected Asian American law professors to seek support for 

the anti-human trafficking legal proposal project.  

The 1980's: MEDIA COVERAGE OF KEYNOTE SPEECH IN CHICAGO

Note from Wendy N. Duong:  The first speech I gave to Vietnamese Americans was in Houston, Texas, for the annual conference of The National Association of Vietnamese American Educators (NVAE) in 1982.  I chose the topic of cultural and professional identity crisis for working woman immigrants: "The Vietnamese Woman in America: Between Two Worlds."  But it was not until I traveled to Chicago at the invitation of Le Thi Ngoan, Asia-Pacific Assistant to the mayor, that I received media attention from the mainstream.  Ngoan later accompanied the entourage of President and Mrs. Clinton to visit Vietnam.  I wish I had been part of that historic event, but missed out on such an opportunity --  I had decided to forgo a career in politics or public service, hoping to serve the public interest as a writer instead.

KEYNOTE SPEECH FOR THE VIETNAMESE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

http://www.vabaw.com/2006/12/31/2006-raising-the-bar/

2006 Theme: Raising the Bar

Categories: Annual Report
In 2006, VABAW celebrated two cultural membership events: Tet (the lunar new year) and Tet Trung Thu (the moon autumn festival). We also implemented our attorney-law student mentoring program. VABAW also participated in the 16th Annual “Walk for Rice” sponsored by the Asian Counseling and Referral Service.

The highlight of 2006 was our second annual banquet. Almost 200 guests were in attendance, including 40 dignitaries comprised of WSBA Board of Governors, judges, representatives of each minority bar association, leaders from local organizations throughout King County, and representation from Seattle University, University of Washington, Gonzaga University, and Lewis & Clark. Our event was mentioned in 4 local newspapers in both English and Vietnamese, together totaling a circulation of nearly 75,000. Professor Wendy Duong, our keynote speaker, gave a passionate speech reminding Vietnamese American attorneys of the need to overcome stereotypes, to always remember where we come from, and most importantly to use the law profession as a means to “supply ourselves with the podium in life from which we can speak” to make a difference in our profession, communities, and global society. [emphasis added]

Author: VABAW Communications

LISTING ON WEBSITE:  Our 2006 banquet was a memorable one, incorporating many cultural elements. Our theme was “Raising the Bar.”  One of the highlights of the evening was University of Denver College of Law Professor Wendy Duong’s passionate speech...

REPRINT OF SPEECH: 

[to be posted]

SPEECH BY PROFESSOR WENDY N. DUONG TO VIETNAMESE AMERICAN VALEDICTORIANS IN THE HOUSTON METROPOLITAN AREA, SUMMER 2011

Delivered in Houston, Summer 2011, event organized by the Vietnamese Culture and Science Association; Law Professor Wendy N. Duong, U.S. Core Program Fulbright Scholar, as keynote speaker (bilingual, 20 minutes): 

Distinguished guests, parents and the graduates:

Thanks for having me here today, a very meaningful occasion for me. 

I want to start by telling you my personal story.  In 1972, in Vietnam, I was 13 and wrote an essay about my dreams. I wanted to go abroad to tell people about the beauty of the Vietnamese culture. My homeroom teacher made me stand before the whole class to defend my dreams because she thought the girl was just too ambitious for her own good.  

Little did I know then that only 3 years later, under very sad circumstances, I did go abroad.  I was on a cargo plane for a one-way trip, definitely not as a cultural ambassador, but as a refugee.  

Came the fall of 1980, I was working full time for the Houston Independent School District and attending law school at night. There was no Vietnamese at U of H law school then.  Five years earlier, in 1975, roughly speaking, only U.S. citizens could attend law school in Texas.  

On the first day of the semester, I received a call from Memorial Hospital.  That day, my mother had gone to the hospital for a test.  Like many Vietnamese mothers, she went by herself and did not tell anyone.  (In 1975, like many Vietnamese parents, my mother, a small woman of 85 pounds and a former schoolteacher, worked in a factory to support all of us.)

My mother's medical test in 1980 led immediately to a major operation, because my mothers had signed all the consent papers by herself. When they called me, she was in intensive care.  I was 21.  

That night, after the first class meeting, I went to the hospital and slept on the floor next to my mother’s recovery bed.  My law textbook was my pillow.  The following day, I met with my mother’s surgeon and then her treating physician.  They told me that since my mother’s illness was in the third of the 4 stages, the chance of survival was 25%.  

That was how life was for my 4 years of law school as an evening student working full time.  

Many, many years later, my mother was on Harvard Yard to attend my graduation for my post-JD degree.  I stayed in the cheap dorm room (no air conditioning!),  but I booked her a suite at the Sheraton Commodore in Boston. Guess what? She complained.  "What a waste of money!"  She said. 

I told you this story because today is not only your day, but it is also the day to celebrate your relationship with your parents. Family values to me are the same as the bond to your home culture.  Studies have shown that truly bilingual children do better academically, even if some of them may be economically or socially disadvantaged. This is due to the positive and stimulating aspects of a multicultural, multilingual environment.