Meet Toan—Foodie, Neighbor, Community Advocate (Story 4/40)

“Food is just one part of what makes City Heights so special,” Toan said.

Ironically, the waiter began passing out some very special-looking plates and bowls of food as Toan said this. He continued: “The Vietnamese community was so strong when I got here almost 20 years ago, but that’s changing. I dunno, you can just sense it. People have to leave with housing being so crazy, and every family that moves out is a loss.”

Around City Heights, we talk a lot about slowing gentrification, but taking a few minutes to just lament and grieve the pain it causes is also important. Toan is grieved to see the Vietnamese-American community struggling against displacement—especially considering many from this historic refugee community have experienced the pain of displacement before!

“What can anyone do, though?” Toan sighed, but then he answered his own question: “You can love this community by being here, being present, listening, and getting involved. Lots of people want to come in and ‘help’ and ‘make change’ and all that, but they want to do it without getting their hands dirty.

They want to help but without the disagreement are messy community engagement, then they leave frustrated when their quick fix idea didn’t pan out. Some even blame City Heights, like it’s our fault they couldn’t ‘fix’ things—but the bigger problem is their mentality, not our community.”

Toan runs a multi-media recording studio specializing in audio recording, photo shoots, and event promotion, particularly among Vietnamese-Americans in the area.

“You could look at the success of the Vietnamese community here and think we’ve arrived. We made it,” Toan said after our bowls were all empty. “We came with nothing and worked our assess off and still do. I know other communities haven’t been around as long as us and haven’t had as much time here, but don’t think for one second that your Vietnamese neighbors aren’t having a hard time right now. The struggle is here and very real, even if you can’t see it. I’m hopeful we can keep working, keep strengthening communities like Little Saigon, but it will take work.”