Tram Nguyen on How Virginia Turned Blue

Tram Nguyen, co-director of New Virginia Majority, talks with us about how her work with refugees and disaster survivors led her to electoral organizing, an effort that has transformed the former Confederate state of Virginia into a national leader in voting rights expansion and progressive ideals.

Tram also shares her family’s history of courage and resilience—from fleeing Vietnam to living in a refugee camp in Thailand to their early days as new immigrants facing racism in Virginia in the 1980s. We also discuss Virginia’s upcoming gubernatorial election, who the New Virginia Majority is endorsing and why.

REFERENCES:
Tram Nguyen, New Virginia Majority, Co-Executive Director – @tramNVM

New Virginia Majority – @NewVAMajority

Support New Virginia Majority – https://secure.actblue.com/donate/supportnvm

BPSOS – https://bpsos.org

Virginia’s Movers and Shakers

Jennifer McClellan – @JennMcClellanVA 
Marcia “Cia” Price – @PriceForDel95
Lashrecse Aird – @delegateaird
Kathy Tran – @KathyKLTran

News Articles

NYT//Reid J. Epstein and Nick Corasaniti – Virginia, the Old Confederacy’s Heart, Becomes a Voting Rights Bastion Https://nytimes.com/2021/04/02/us/politics/virginia-voting-rights-northam.html

NYT//Tram Nguyen – Democrats Could Learn a Lot From What Happened In Virginia https://nytimes.com/2019/11/06/opinion/virginia-election-democrats.html

OZY//Sharline Chiang – I Tried It … Being White https://www.ozy.com/true-and-stories/i-tried-it-being-white/38961/

Background

Vietnamese Boat People – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_boat_people

VA State Legislature – SAVE Program https://legiscan.com/VA/bill/SB1077/2013