lời phát biểu cuả Dương Như Nguyện cho sinh viên học sinh gốc Việ̣t, Orlando, FL

 

about my past speech for the VietAm Bar in Seattle

 

I found myself on the internet again from a speech 14 years ago at NIU's Foreign Languages Department

 

http://www.wiu.edu/provost/accomplishments/internationalization.php

past activities: keynote speech for the Vietnamese American Bar, Northwest Region

https://iexaminer.org/first-vietnamese-american-judge-to-speak-at-vabaw-banquet/ 
First Vietnamese American judge to speak at VABAW Banquet
 The International Examiner
October 18, 2006  

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BY DENISE TRAN
VABAW

The Vietnamese American Bar Association of Washington (VABAW) is honored to have professor Wendy N. Duong of the Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver serve as the keynote speaker at its Second Annual Banquet on Nov. 1. The theme for the Banquet is “Raising the Bar” and Duong has been doing just that all her life. She escaped to the United States after the fall of Saigon at the age of 16 and has been living the American Dream ever since. She is a pioneer and hers is a success story marked by many firsts.

Duong is devoted to her native country, fellow Americans and to the legal profession. Regarding her career path, she states, “To me, law is a beautiful end in itself – containing notions of freedom, liberty and justice for all. I will never give up working with the law. It is not just a day job.”

She graduated summa cum laude from Southern Illinois University and began her career in the public education sector. She quickly became the first Asian American woman appointed by the Houston Independent School District to an executive position at the age of 24. She later went on to receive a J.D. from the University of Houston Law School and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School. She has over 18 years of experience in corporate law and worked as a special trial attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission Office of General Counsel and as senior legal advisor for Mobil-Asia Pacific. She also served as an associate municipal judge and magistrate for the State of Texas and was honored by the American Bar Association in 1992 as the first Vietnamese American judge in the United States. She is currently teaching corporate law at the Sturm College of Law and is only one of a handful of Vietnamese Americans in the profession.

Apart from the law, Duong’s other passion is art. She is a talented painter and published author always in search of the right balance between law and literature. Duong’s first published novel, “Daughters of a River Huong,” is an epic fiction about a Vietnamese royal concubine and four generations of her descendents told behind a backdrop stretching from ancient Hue to Paris to Manhattan. It was selected as part of the recommended reading for Vietnamese Studies at Yale University.

Duong has also donated much of her time and resources for charitable causes in support of women, minorities, children and the poor. She founded a charity to help the underprivileged in Vietnam and has donated her art to help raise money for Katrina victims. She embodies the strength, character, wisdom and devotion of a Vietnamese American woman and VABAW is proud to welcome her to the banquet and to Seattle.

VABAW is pleased to present, for the first time, its Community Service Award recognizing an individual who has given time and talent generously in service to the community and has made a significant contribution in the lives of Vietnamese Americans in Washington. This year’s recipient of the award is Thao Tran of the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund. Formerly founding member of the Vietnamese American Economic Development Association (VAEDA), Tran has tirelessly worked to educate and ensure that the interests of Vietnamese Americans, especially the small business owner, are protected. He is passionate, dedicated and fearless. We are honored to recognize his achievements.

Thank you to our generous sponsors for making this Banquet possible: Cairncross & Hempelmann P.S., Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Cohen & Iaria, Perkins Coie LLP, Aoki Sakamoto Grant LLP, Helsell Fetterman LLP, and Preston Gates & Ellis LLP.

For tickets to VABAW’s Banquet on Nov. 1 at Women’s University Club of Seattle, 1105 Sixth Avenue at 5:30 p.m., please contact Thuy Nguyen Leeper at (206) 903-5462 or leeper.thuy.nguyen@dorsey.com. www.vabaw.com.

ONE LOOK AT AMERICA: ask not....

"Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You"

John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961

We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom — symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning — signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago.

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe — the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans — born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage — and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

This much we pledge — and more.

To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do — for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.

To those new States whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom — and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.

To those peoples in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required — not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge — to convert our good words into good deeds — in a new alliance for progress — to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbours know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this Hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house.

To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support — to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective — to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak — and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.

Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.

We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.

But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course — both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.

So let us begin anew — remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belabouring those problems which divide us.

Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms — and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.

Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.

Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah — to "undo the heavy burdens -. and to let the oppressed go free."

And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavour, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.

All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.

In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.

Now the trumpet summons us again — not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are — but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation" — a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.

Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility — I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavour will light our country and all who serve it — and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.

http://www.ushistory.org/documents/ask-not.htm

JFK's speech

JFK might have been an imperfect man (to Jackie, who loved him and protected his legacy), but he was the one who uttered these words, to the American Press, in the era of Cold War, before he lost his life in such a gruesome, tragic way.  There was a time when national leadership meant elegance and wit, with messages that have held and rung true, in rhetoric as well as in time.   

THE YOUNG LAWYER THAT I WAS IN THE 1980S....WILMER CUTLER & PICKERING AND ITS PRO BONO PROGRAM -- TURNING DOWN TED BUNDY

My first law firm and the people who trained me in the law:

https://en.wikipedia.org/…/Wilmer_Cutler_Pickering_Hale_and…

Unlike many academic's who detest the practice of law, I actually liked it, although I did resent the long hours, the pressure, and the competition...

I googled the colleagues of the past (1980s) with so much nostalgia: everybody I worked with then is now listed as retired partner.

I could still see myself, back then: the girl from Vietnam that I was...product of the historic year 1975, who became a big-firm lawyer, with so many unrealistic dreams about America I didn't know what to do with them...Then came 1990 and the selection for the White House Fellowship, yet I left Washington D.C. ...(the rest would have to be for the memoir I still have to write)...

The description below on the web does not completely describe Wilmer: In 1986 when it hired me, the firm was Wilmer Cutler & Pickering, known as a "spin-off" of NYC's Cravath Swaine & Moore. Wilmer was regarded as the "lawyer's lawyer," famous nationally for its pro bono docket as a way to train young lawyers. When I got there, I was put in the "securities litigation" group to handle the settlement between Ivan Boesky and the SEC, and then in the middle of all that intensive work, I was asked by Polly Nelson to join her in the pro bono representation of Ted Bundy. I said No (...all for my yet-to-be-written memoir, again). Polly Nelson went on to become the ex-lawyer who wrote a book about that experience.

Back then, during my time (the 1980s), Wilmer had a few hundred lawyers. Today, it has about 1,000.

It was/is a unique place. Like no other law firm. 

One example of some of the unpopular pro bono representation undertaken by Wilmer follows: 

Polly Nelson, my former colleague/friend, at Wilmer, graduate of University of Minnesota undergrad and law. She represented the infamous Ted Bundy until his execution, under Wilmer's pro bono litigation program.. In 1986, she asked me to join her in the defense team, and I said No.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polly_Nelson

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr - Wikipedia

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP (known as WilmerHale) is a large American law firm with offices across the United States, Europe and Asia. It was created in 2004, through the merger of the Boston-based firm, Hale and Dorr and the Washington-based firm Wilmer Cutler & Pickering; and employs...

EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

END OF YEAR: REMINISCING OF MY TEACHING CAREER -- SPEECH AND INTERACTION WITH MY ETHNIC COMMUNITY, Xứ Quảng":

NN ung khau noi chuyen voi phu huynh gioi tre Dai Hoi Lien Truong Quang Da to chuc tai Houston Galleria nam 2006, chu de "Bridge to the Future, voi tu cach la GS luat tai dai hoc Denver.

Tom tat cac diem chinh:

--the significance of identity: bond to the birthplace "Xu Quang"

--ethnocentrism: negative vs. positive

--new generation versus the old culture: the importance of expressing oneself frankly, directly, and honestly

--generation gap

--bridging the cultural gap: a personal responsibility

--facing an imperfect world