Don’t underestimate the power of educators, especially with Dr. Jennifer Tran on the ballot. As a professor of ethnic studies at California State University, she’s vying for U.S. Congress Rep. Barbara Lee’s House seat come November 5th.
Lee, a beloved social worker, has been representing California’s 12th Congressional District since 1998, and Dr. Tran believes the state needs more than just another career politician to fill her shoes.
“Our communities can’t wait,” Dr. Tran told the press regarding her campaign. “We are in crisis.”
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The queer professor was born and raised in Oakland and is the daughter of Vietnamese parents. She knows firsthand the issues plaguing the community and minorities.
“My parents were Vietnamese war refugees, who came here with just the clothes on their backs and their hearts full of hope to get a chance at the American dream,” she said in her campaign video.
She earned degrees in urban studies, planning, and ethnic Studies at the University of California at San Diego and her doctorate degree from the University of Southern California.
At 34 years old, boss energy permeates her entire career, including serving as an urban planner and a Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce board member.
Dr. Tran also leads inclusive community development initiatives that center the needs and leadership expertise of refugees, immigrants, and people of color in her hometown.
“These politicians spend their entire careers trying to outsmart the truth, but it’s time to let the truth have its day,” added Dr. Tran. “And the truth is, we’re too smart to fall for it again.”
In a realm quickly losing credibility regarding who is deemed capable of running for office, at least within the Republican party, Tran believes the goal should be to elect community leaders to federal office.
After all, the best way to represent the interests of the people at the top level is to understand what’s happening on the ground.
Her competition is stiff, including frontrunner Lateefah A. Simon, a 25-year veteran organizer and nationally recognized civil rights and social justice advocate.
However, the election outcome doesn’t eradicate what Dr. Tran’s candidacy means at the polls. Even having her as a nominee is the first time many queer Asian Americans will be seeing themselves on the ballot.
Whether emceeing a vigil for the victims of recent acts of violence against the Asian community or encouraging readers to reconsider intergenerational refugee relations, she embodies the essence and spirit of the grassroots movement.
She has advocated for national issues like reproductive rights in the aftermath of the overturn of Roe vs. Wade and local concerns like the slaying of a community dentist. In other words, Tran has a voice and is not afraid to use it.
But, more importantly, she also has a plan.
Her platform focuses on supporting “working families and ends systemic East Bay problems such as, among others, safety.”
On her campaign website, she writes, “In my first 100 days in Congress, I’m going to introduce a bipartisan bill called the Modern Cities Act.”
She believes she has what it takes to “take our American cities into the 21st century we all deserve,” including modernizing police departments, improving homelessness, saving small businesses, and reviving commercial districts.
“These problems are solvable,” said Dr. Tran, “and we have tangible solutions. But we need your support.”
Whatever the outcome in November, Dr. Tran has forged a bright path making a difference in people’s lives.
