JOURNEY TO FREEDOM

A Boat People Retrospective Symposium

PRESENTED BY

The Asian Division of the Library of Congress

                                 DATE: Saturday, May 2nd, 2009

                     TIME: 8:30a.m. - 4:30p.m.

                       VENUE: Library of Congress, Jefferson Bldg.,

                                       Room LJ-119

                       LC HOST: Asian Division Friends Society (ADFS)

·        SUMMARY:
The symposium is to commemorate the Vietnamese arrival in the United States; to honor the life they left behind and to recognize their growth as a community in America, and in the Diaspora. There is a need to document their past experiences as refugees who escaped their homeland after the takeover of the North Vietnamese in the late 1970s for the generations born and raised here in America. There is a need to correct the stereotyped images and to "set the record straight" for generations to come. The symposium will also recognize the hospitality of the host countries who welcomed the boat people and walk people, specifically, the Philippines, Thailand and Hong-Kong and the various NGOs who facilitated the refugees' adjustment in relocation centers to prepare them for their eventual life in the United States and to facilitate their assimilation into American mainstream society.

·        SPONSORS:

Library of Congress Asian Division

          Voice of Vietnamese Americans

          Boat People S.O.S.

          National Congress of Vietnamese Americans

The event will feature:
* Talks by scholars, former prisoners, boat people and walk people, authors etc.
* Keynoters: Senator James Webb and / or Congr. Joseph Q. Cao (availability to be confirmed)]
* Book Exhibit at the Asian Reading Room, L-J150
* Photography Exhibit "Waiting Days at Morong, Bataan" LJ 119
* Recognition of Host Countries' Relocation Centers
* Booksigning by authors
* Creation of a Vietnamese American Archives from gifts of primary papers to the LC Asian Pacific American collection

This is a free event OPEN TO THE PUBLIC  but pre-registration is required. Pre-registration deadline is April 15, 2009.
Contact: Reme Grefalda regr@loc.gov. 202 / 707-6096 .

 
* Quý-vị hảo-tâm muốn giúp tài-trợ dự-án “Boat People Retrospective” của Thư-viện Quốc-hội xin gửi ngân-phiếu về cho NCVA (National Congress of Vietnamese Americans, tức Nghị-hội), 6433 Northanna Dr, Springfield, VA 22150 (ĐT: 703 971-9178) và xin ghi rõ trong phần Memo: “LOC Boat People Retro.”  NCVA là một công-hội bất vụ lợi có quy-chế 501(c) (3), tức người cho tiền có quyền tính miễn thuế.

·        PARTICIPANTS:

Dr. Thang Nguyen – Director, Boat People SOS
Prof. Bich Nguyen – Chair, National Congress of Vietnamese Americans
Dr. Can D Le – Former Chair, Vietnamese Canadian Federation
Sister Truong My Hanh, Executive Director, Good Shepherd Services, Atlanta, GA
Mr. Vu Van Loc - Founder and Director of the Viet Museum - Director, IRCC (Immigrant Resettlement & Cultural Center, Inc.) in San Jose.
Mrs. Madalenna Lai  & Mrs. Diep Fintland - Vietnamese Cultural House – Freedom Boat
Mr. Tran Thanh Dong – Van Kho Thuyen Nhan – Vietnamese Boat People Archive
Ms. Le Thuy Lan –  National Alliance of Vietnamese American Sevices Agencies

Mrs. Jackie Bong_Wright – President, Vietnamese American Voters Association.

Miss Linda Nguyên – Director, Alliance for Children and Families

Ms. Liêu Nguyên  -  Board of Directors, Asian Real Estate Association of America , Broker – Westgate Realty Group

Mrs. Luu Le Ngoc – President, Radio Vietnam Hai Ngoai
Mr. Vo Thanh Nhan – Chair of the International Central Committee of Vietnamese Scouting
Mr. Long Nguyen, President of the Mid-Atlantic Union of Vietnamese Students Associations (MAUVSA)
Dr. HaDo Conley, President, Vietnamese Association of Illinois (VAI)
Mrs. Kim Ha, Me Maria Radio Program
Mrs. Hoa Le, Former Chair of Hoi Quang Da
Mr. Vinh Nguyen, President, Westgate Realty
Dr. Amy Trang, University of Virginia

Miss Celine Duong - BPSOS
Ms. Katie Thuc Nhi Đang, Lawyer, Berkeley
Mr. John Duy An Nguyên, VP - IT Department, National Geographic

Mr. Steven Ly - President, Viêtnamese Students Association of New York – Democracy for Vietnam.

Ms. Thuy Huong Evelyn Bui - Television Viêtnam in Hawaii

Mr. Hoan Dang - President -  The Maryland Vietnamese Mutual Association, Inc.

Mr. & Mrs. Lam Dang Chau  - Trung Tam Viet Nam , Germany

Dr. Tai Van Ta – Harvard University – Advisor, Voice of Vietnamese Americans
Dr. Hung Manh Nguyen – George Mason University – Advisor, Voice of Vietnamese Americans
Dr. Quan Xuan Dinh – Advisor, Agriculture Ministry of Liberia – Advisor, Voice of Vietnamese Americans.
Nguyen Thi Ngoc Giao – Voice of Vietnamese Americans

The George Mason University Vietnamese Student Association