Join us on April 17th for the official launch of my campaign for Tacoma City Council, District 4. Commemorating 50 years of Cambodian resilience since the Khmer Rouge takeover of Phnom Penh - a day that forever changed the lives of millions of Cambodians, including my family, April 17, 1975 was also a time of Khmer New Year celebration. 

My journey from refugee camp to potentially becoming the first refugee to serve on Tacoma's City Council speaks to the strength of our city and the belief that in community, we can overcome even the most difficult challenges.

The Tacoma-Seattle metro area is home to the third largest Cambodian population in the nation, part of the diversity that makes our Eastside and South End neighborhoods special. For me, this campaign runs deeper than politics - I’m running to ensure the city that first welcomed my family when we had nothing, continues to offer the same hope and opportunities to everyone who calls Tacoma home.

Come celebrate our shared strength and honor the memory of victims and survivors. The evening will feature traditional Khmer dance performances, inspiring guest speakers, and plenty of opportunities to connect with your neighbors and share your vision for our neighborhood. Food will be catered from our friends at Vien Dong, with complimentary drinks provided and delicious food available for purchase from Eastside’s very own Skorpion Grill! 

All are welcome, including children. To help us prepare the perfect amount of food and beverages, kindly RSVP at Silong for District 4 Campaign Launch

Event Details

Thursday, April 17, 2025

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Blanco Tacoma

6302 E McKinley Ave, Tacoma, WA 98404

GUEST SPEAKERS

praCh is an internationally renowned, critically acclaimed, award-winning artist. His debut album is the first #1 rap album in Cambodia, and Newsweek proclaimed him “The First Cambodian Rap Star.” His powerful lyrics not only entertain but also educate, with his music published by multiple publishers and used in Southeast Asian Studies. praCh has scored music for films like Rice Field of Dreams (2010) and Enemies of the People (2010), and produced award-winning films such as Paulina (2013) and Invisible Dance (2015). He’s the writer, producer, director, and performer of Khmeraspora (2023), a Cambodian-American musical experience in collaboration with the Long Beach Symphony.

Silong is an accomplished communications strategist with extensive experience driving multimedia campaigns across government, non-profit, and private sectors. Currently serving as communications specialist at the Washington State Office of Equity, Silong leverages expertise in videography, photography, audio editing, graphic design, and social media to craft compelling narratives. A dedicated community advocate, Silong is co-founder of the Khmer Anti-Deportation Advocacy Group (KhaagWa) and the award-winning SEA Comedy Collective comedy production company.

MEET THE HOSTS

Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel The Sympathizer won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and numerous other awards. His most recent publication is A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial. His other books are the sequel to The Sympathizer, The Committed; a short story collection, The Refugees; Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War (a finalist for the National Book Award in nonfiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award in General Nonfiction); and Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America. He has also published Chicken of the Sea, a children’s book written in collaboration with his son, Ellison. He is a University Professor at the University of Southern California. A recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundations, he is also the editor of The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives, and the forthcoming children’s book Simone illustrated by Minnie Phan

PHILIP NGUYEN is the emcee for ÁCCENTED: Dialogues in Diaspora presented by the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN). He teaches Asian American Studies in the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University, San Jose State University, and is the Executive Director for the Vietnamese American Roundtable, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in California’s South Bay Area. Philip has formerly served as the President of the Union of North American Vietnamese Student Associations (UNAVSA) and as the Co-Chair of the Young Vietnamese Americans (YVA) Committee for PIVOT - The Progressive Vietnamese American Organization.