Lynn Ta is a 1.5-generation refugee and an attorney, scholar, and educator. She previously served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Harry Pregerson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and has worked to enforce workers’ rights as a civil prosecutor with the National Labor Relations Board and the California Department of Industrial Relations. She has also served as court-appointed counsel to indigent defendants in their criminal appeals and pro bono counsel for victims of sex and labor trafficking. She was an attorney fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties, and was part of a litigation team that represented genocide survivors at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, a United Nations hybrid tribunal prosecuting the war crimes of Khmer Rouge officials. Recently, she served as a legal observer at the military commissions at Guantánamo Bay.
As a scholar, Lynn has published articles on human rights accountability in World Bank development projects, Constitutional rights at the U.S.-Mexico border, and gender and cultural theory. She has taught classes on diversity, Constitutional law, Asian American literature, and international relations at the University of California, San Diego and the University of Southern California. She has a Ph.D. in literature from the University of California, San Diego, and a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.
Ratha Chuon Kim is a 1.5 generation Cambodian American. Raised in San Francisco, she is a designer that is passionate about the arts and culture. She recently founded Rajana Threads, a Khmer clothing brand that aims to showcase the eclectic beauty of traditional textiles through contemporary fashion while supporting a collaborative of women artisans in Cambodia.
Prior to starting her own brand, Ratha is highly involved with her community. Through a volunteer collaborative, Samaki Project, she provides support and continues to look for opportunities to engage artists and performers.
Ratha holds a BA in Asian American Studies and a Master’s in Public Administration. She currently sits on the steering committee of the Southeast Asian Arts and Culture Coalition and is a proud co- founder of the Khmer Women’s Alliance that has inspired and created a strong support network of Khmer women. When Ratha is not sketching or working on her next design, she and her family love to explore the hidden gems of the Bay Area.
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This interview is part of a two-part series featuring Ratha and her sister Krystal. To read Krystal’s interview, please click here.
Son of Kim and Leth Hong, and brother to Jenny, Ty, and Sarah
Senior Consultant at Deloitte & Touche
President of Spam FC Scholarship Foundation
A lover of people, culture, and soccer
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If you can, help support the amazing work that Spam FC is doing for students in Hennepin County, Minnesota by making a donation:
Vĩ Sơn Trinh is a documentarian and a nursing student based in Portland, OR. He spends his downtime over coffee, a good book, or chasing stray cats on the streets. You can see more of his work at http://www.visontrinh.com and follow him on Instagram @visontrinh.
Nancy Phu is 1.5 generation, someone who is born is one country and later immigrates to another country before or during his or her teenage years. Nancy herself was born in Vietnam, and immigrated to the United States when she was around 13 years old. Below is our interview with her in which she talks about her memories of Vietnam, and her experiences as a Vietnamese Boat Person and a new immigrant in America. She currently resides in California with her family.
***This interview was conducted in Cantonese, Vietnamese, and English, and was later transcribed into English by PYD.
