by Vee Hua 華婷婷
by Friends of Little Sài Gòn Board of Directors
Sound Transit has the power to shape equitable development in neighborhoods south of Seattle’s downtown for generations. The political discourse over where to site a station essential for light rail expansion and potentially other non-car modes of transportation has become another existential battleground, falsely pitting our community’s fears of displacement, gentrification, and desire for transit equity in a city experiencing hyper wealth inequality against the simultaneous and very urgent need for connected, reliable, efficient transportation options that also support climate resilience.
Continue reading OPINION | From the Other Side of I-5: Little Saigon Weighs In on Sound Transit’s Light Rail Expansion in the CIDby Ron Chew
(This article was originally published on the International Examiner and has been reprinted under an agreement.)
Some goodbyes are harder than others. For many, this one was heart-wrenching.
On Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, the Viet-Wah Supermarket, an anchor of Seattle’s Southeast Asian refugee and immigrant population for 41 years, closed its 15,000-square-foot flagship store at 1032 S Jackson St.
Continue reading The Final Day at the Viet-Wah Supermarketby Mimi To and Jasmine Tran
Hi, our names are Mimi and Jasmine. We are members of the ACRS Civic Engagement Youth Organizing Team. ACRS (Asian Counseling and Referral Service) is a nonprofit founded in Seattle that offers community-based multilingual and multicultural services to the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. We are both Vietnamese American women who care deeply for our community and work to serve its goals.
Continue reading OPINION: Centering Compassion in Little Saigonby Johnny Mao
For many in today’s Little Saigon and Chinatown-International District (CID) — if you are hanging out in front of a building, sitting on benches, or at a bus stop — the police can stop and search you with a “stop and frisk.”
Continue reading OPINION: Mayor Bruce Harrell Starts His Own Legacy of Stop-and-Frisk Policing in Seattleby Amanda Ong
On Feb. 6, along 12th Avenue and Jackson Street in Little Saigon, ChuMinh Tofu Vegan Deli hosted a Lunar New Year meal for guests lined down the block. The special menu included rice, vegan BBQ pork, spicy tofu, stir-fried veggies, eggrolls, oranges, and $1,000 distributed to guests in red envelopes. Volunteers served the free food and passed out the envelopes along with warm clothes and supplies to their many guests — not customers per se, but people in need of a warm meal and who may struggle to afford one most days.
Continue reading Lunar New Year and ChuMinh Tofu’s Radical Compassionby Chetanya Robinson
(This article was previously published at International Examiner and has been reprinted with permission.)
The City of Seattle declared April 21 Khoa Pham Day, in honor of his work as a small business owner, activist, and community leader dedicated to caring for Little Saigon and beyond.
Pham passed away at the end of March of a heart attack, said his sister Yenvy Pham. He was 35 years old.
After he graduated from college around 2008, Pham helped his family manage the Pho Bac restaurant business. “Khoa served as the chief financial officer of the Pho Bac Cooperation and was instrumental in the growth of the business in the past 13 years,” wrote Pham’s family in a tribute for his memorial service.
Pham’s family and friends remember him as a passionate advocate for the neighborhood, its people and businesses. A person who put others first, and a warm presence who loved bringing people together.
“He was always in the neighborhood, he was always doing things, he was always hanging out, and naturally was always there to help when things came up,” said his sister Yenvy.
Continue reading Remembering Khoa Pham, Little Saigon Business Owner and Community Championby Mark Van Streefkerk
Vietnam is the world’s second largest coffee-producing country, a fact largely unknown to most consumers, though that is changing for those who visit Hello Em Viet Coffee & Roastery. Hello Em is Seattle’s first Vietnamese coffee roastery. Co-owners Yenvy Pham and Nghia Bui carefully oversee every part of the process from sourcing and importing beans from Kon Tum and Buôn Ma Thuột to roasting in house on a Neuhaus Neotec air roaster. The roasted beans make up their signature coffees: the anh roast, a single origin robusta, and em roast, an arabica blend of coffees from Vietnam, Oaxaca, and Ethiopia.
Continue reading Hello Em Viet Coffee & Roastery Serves Coffee, Pastries, and Bánh Mì in Little Saigonby Kamna Shastri
Even before companies started ordering their employees to work from home and Gov. Jay Inslee proclaimed a mandatory stay-at-home order, Seattle’s Chinatown-International District had already seen a decline in business after news of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan began to make the rounds. Continue reading Small Business Relief Fund Raises $150,000 for Chinatown-International District and Little Saigon
by Rachel Eagan
With signs held high above their heads, 40 plus protesters ascended the steps of Seattle City Hall’s Council Chambers Monday morning to address the City’s failure in engaging the Little Saigon community around the neighborhood’s planned growth and development. Continue reading ‘Done deal’ for Navigation Center Calls Into Question City’s Engagement Process With Little Saigon
