2025 President Michael Trung Nguyen’s Inaugural Presidential Address
(L-R) Priya Purandare, NAPABA Executive Director, Michael Nguyen, NCVAA President, Thy Bui, NAPABA President at the Watergate Hotel for the NCVAA 2025 Gala
Thank you Judge Duong!
My name is Michael Trung Nguyen and I’m here to recruit you!
As I give my remarks, I want to share some quotes that I want you to think about. Martin Luther King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
John F. kennedy said, “My fellow Americans, Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
Harvey Milk said, “Hope will never be silent. You gotta give ‘em hope!”
A Vietnamese proverb says, “Đời cha ăn mặn, đời con khát nước.”
“When the father’s generation eats salt, the child’s generation thirsts for water.”
Most of our parents came from South Vietnam and on Black April, we commemorated the loss of that country with the Fall of Saigon, 50 years ago this week. The end of the war sent 3 million people from Southeast Asia all across the world as refugees, including Hmong people, folks from Laos and Cambodia.
The theme of this conference is 50 Years Forward. It is hard to grasp what the world will be like in 50 years, 2075. 50 years ago, 2 days before the fall, my mom was one of the lucky who escaped Saigon from the top of the US embassy building and made her way onto the USS Hancock, then Guam, at just 27 years old. She would meet my dad at a refugee camp at Eglin Air Force Base near Pensacola in Florida. My dad, a helicopter pilot in the South Vietnamese airforce, escaped at just age 24. With that swoopy 70s hair, my dad was quite the catch! But it was his generous spirit and sense of community that caught the attention of my mom.
I am the product of their American Dreams. We are the product of our parents’ American Dreams. I know that each of us have similar stories of resilience and determination to overcome unthinkable challenges for the chance to live and work, freely, in America. They say you have to remember where you come from… well, we come from the salty tears of fleeing an authoritarian regime, the grief of separated families, the painful sadness of a lost country, and the ongoing struggle of living in a country whose leaders now detain, disappear, and deport anyone who they feel opposes their unprecedented power grabs. Thank you Kim Luu Ng for reminding all of us to get more involved to help the 15K SEA residents at risk of deportation to certain torture.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere.”
Due process, equal justice under law, freedoms of speech, to assemble, and to exist under Lady Liberty — these are not just performative slogans to sell like bumper stickers on the 4th of July. No! These are foundational ideas that
are the genius of American democracy. As Congressman Tran said tonight, we Lawyers are the guardians of these freedoms and rights we enjoy. We must fight any and all attacks on our freedoms and rights, with vigor! The Rule of Law shall only persist if and when we fight for it. Thank you Judge Duong for reminding us that the independent judiciary will only persist with the courage of our judicial officers.
That’s right, we are all freedom fighters now. Freedom, tự do, is what we all are fighting for—what our parents and elders sacrificed so much for. NCVAA can and should be a strong advocate and bring our people together to uplift all those fighting for our rights as well as everyday folks in our community who can defend our country through small acts of resistance. As the first and only National Vietnamese Bar Association, I believe we each have a duty to stand up against tyranny and oppression. That’s why I am proud that NCVAA has joined the amicus brief that NAPABA has organized in opposition to the current administration’s attacks on Birthright Citizenship.
And yet, even fighters must learn to heal our intergenerational trauma.
As President of NCVAA, I make this promise to you— we shall hold space for healing in the midst of all the fights ahead.
How do we heal? Healing is meeting the moment we are in, unshackled by our parents’ expectations and forging a new path forward, together.
What will this country look like in 50 years? Will we continue to be divided and fractured? Or will we find peace in fully appreciating our cultural differences, embrace new ways of living with fast changing technological advances, and heal the wounds that have been inflicted by totalitarianism.
Now, we can co-create the next 50 years of Vietnamese American identity, and lawyers have a special responsibility to the community to 1) connect our folks to the abundant resources of our Nation; 2) guide our clients to navigate the American legal system; and 3) show moral leadership in a time when fundamental values of our country—diversity, equity & inclusion— are being questioned, challenged, and attacked.
Only then can our fragile democracy survive. My ask of you all here is to work with me to build a bar association we can be proud of. What will NCVAA look like in 50 years? We are all stewards of this group, and I will call on each of you in the next year to do what you can to ensure our next 50 years are full of peace and prosperity, progress and partnership, as well as personal and political power for our community.
“My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
I believe that we are at an inflection point in this organization. With NCVAA returning to San Francisco next year, we have an opportunity to strengthen the ties that bind us together. I’m excited to announce we will move to an expanded program with the conference starting on a Thursday evening welcome reception, a Friday one day CLE conference, new Friday evening receptions to gather with the different parts of our community, including an in house counsel reception, a rainbow caucus reception, and a public interest / public law reception, among others! But wait, there’s more! We will head up to wine country on Saturday for a lovely excursion, with time in the schedule for those traveling to the Bay Area to reconnect with old friends and family. Then, we’ll gather for our 20th Anniversary Gala on Saturday night and finish with a farewell brunch and community service event on Sunday. Save the Date: May 14-17th, 2026!