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Oakland City Councilmember Sheng Thao Honors Mother as Women’s History Month Closes

My father and mother met in a refugee camp in Thailand before they immigrated to the United States. It was there that my mother changed her name to Chua, which translates to “wind.” They settled in Stockton, California, in 1979. They didn’t have much, but they raised me and my nine siblings with a strong foundation of love, a focus on family values, and a commitment to supporting the community.

Published

2 years ago

April 3, 2022

Oakland Post

Sheng Thao with her mother, Chua Thao, right. Photo courtesy of Sheng Thao.

By Sheng Thao

My mom fled her home country of Laos during the secret war in the early 1970s when genocide was being perpetrated against our people – the Hmong people.

She lost her first husband, a soldier, to the war. And when she finally escaped, she was a widowed mother of a 1-year-old, and also eight months pregnant.

During her escape, my mother was shot in the arm, and being the fighter that she is, she was going to do whatever she could to make sure her children would make it out safe.

My father and mother met in a refugee camp in Thailand before they immigrated to the United States. It was there that my mother changed her name to Chua, which translates to “wind.”

They settled in Stockton, California, in 1979. They didn’t have much, but they raised me and my nine siblings with a strong foundation of love, a focus on family values, and a commitment to supporting the community.

As a mother who is disabled, not able to drive, who didn’t understand the language of her new home, she thrived and persisted and conquered.

The strength of my mother, in fighting back against persecution and injustice inspires me to fight for others to this very day.

My mother has always been the glue that holds our family together.

A woman who still carries a bullet in her arm, a woman who was not given a fair opportunity to succeed in a new world that she did not choose, and yet, she continuously learned how to adapt and survive.

Through her persistence, she ensured that all of her children were given all the opportunities that she was never afforded.

That persistence is why I am able to be here today standing up for those without a voice.

So, this Women’s History Month and every month and every day, I honor Chua Thao as my mother, our family’s matriarch, and the strongest person I will ever meet.

Thank you, Mom, for leading the way.

Love,

Councilmember Sheng Thao

Oakland Post

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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

5 days ago

April 26, 2024

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

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2 weeks ago

April 19, 2024

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Oakland Schools Honor Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties

Every Jan. 30, OUSD commemorates the legacy of Fred Korematsu, an Oakland native, a Castlemont High School graduate, and a national symbol of resistance, resilience, and justice. His defiant stand against racial injustice and his unwavering commitment to civil rights continue to inspire the local community and the nation. Tuesday was “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution” in the state of California and a growing number of states across the country.

Published

2 weeks ago

April 19, 2024

Oakland Post

Fred Korematsu. Courtesy of OUSD.

By Post Staff

Every Jan. 30, OUSD commemorates the legacy of Fred Korematsu, an Oakland native, a Castlemont High School graduate, and a national symbol of resistance, resilience, and justice.

His defiant stand against racial injustice and his unwavering commitment to civil rights continue to inspire the local community and the nation. Tuesday was “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution” in the state of California and a growing number of states across the country.
One OUSD school is named in his honor: Fred T. Korematsu Discovery Academy (KDA) elementary in East Oakland.

Several years ago, founding KDA Principal Charles Wilson, in a video interview with anti-hate organization “Not In Our Town,” said, “We chose the name Fred Korematsu because we really felt like the attributes that he showed in his work are things that the children need to learn … that common people can stand up and make differences in a large number of people’s lives.”

Fred Korematsu was born in Oakland on Jan. 30, 1919. His parents ran a floral nursery business, and his upbringing in Oakland shaped his worldview. His belief in the importance of standing up for your rights and the rights of others, regardless of race or background, was the foundation for his activism against racial prejudice and for the rights of Japanese Americans during World War II.

At the start of the war, Korematsu was turned away from enlisting in the National Guard and the Coast Guard because of his race. He trained as a welder, working at the docks in Oakland, but was fired after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Fear and prejudice led to federal Executive Order 9066, which forced more than 120,000 Japanese Americans out of their homes and neighborhoods and into remote internment camps.

The 23-year-old Korematsu resisted the order. He underwent cosmetic surgery and assumed a false identity, choosing freedom over unjust imprisonment. His later arrest and conviction sparked a legal battle that would challenge the foundation of civil liberties in America.

Korematsu’s fight culminated in the Supreme Court’s initial ruling against him in 1944. He spent years in a Utah internment camp with his family, followed by time living in Salt Lake City where he was dogged by racism.

In 1976, President Gerald Ford overturned Executive Order 9066. Seven years later, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco vacated Korematsu’s conviction. He said in court, “I would like to see the government admit that they were wrong and do something about it so this will never happen again to any American citizen of any race, creed, or color.”

Korematsu’s dedication and determination established him as a national icon of civil rights and social justice. He advocated for justice with Rosa Parks. In 1998, President Bill Clinton gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom saying, “In the long history of our country’s constant search for justice, some names of ordinary citizens stand for millions of souls … To that distinguished list, today we add the name of Fred Korematsu.”

After Sept. 11, 2001, Korematsu spoke out against hatred and discrimination, saying what happened to Japanese Americans should not happen to people of Middle Eastern descent.
Korematsu’s roots in Oakland and his education in OUSD are a source of great pride for the city, according to the school district. His most famous quote, which is on the Korematsu elementary school mural, is as relevant now as ever, “If you have the feeling that something is wrong, don’t be afraid to speak up.”