Our commemoration event is sponsored by Asian/Pacific Islander Advocacy Movement.
April 30, 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the war in Southeast Asia.
As a part of our commemoration, AAPI Women Lead invites you to Save the Date for “On Grief, Creative Survival and Fighting for Freedom: A Conversation on the ‘End of the War in Viet Nam” Join us on April 27th in Oakland, CA from 11 AM – 1 PM for an intimate in-person event with AAPI Women Lead’s Executive Director and Co-Founder Dr. Connie Wun and our very special guest, Chef Tu David Phu.
Together, we will explore the impacts and legacies of war, imperialism, and survival. Award-winning chef and author Chef Tu David Phu will be in conversation with Dr. Wun as they highlight what it means to be children of Vietnamese refugees, their creative tools for survival, as well their dedication to creating thriving worlds for all communities. They will talk about grief, mental health injuries and resistance.
Join us on Sunday April 27th for this incredible event to honor the end of the war and its ongoing impacts.
We encourage you to save the date, spread the word and donate or co-sponsor this event. As always, our communities keep us going.
For media and event contact information or to sponsor or partner with us, reach out to us at community@aapiwomenlead.org.
Chef Tu David Phu, a San Francisco Chronicle Rising Star Chef and chef-partner at GiGi’s, a Vietnamese-inspired wine bar in San Francisco, draws from his Oakland upbringing and his family’s artisanal fish sauce legacy from Phu Quoc, Vietnam.
His culinary path began in his mother’s Oakland garden and developed in prestigious kitchens like New York’s Daniel and San Francisco’s Acquerello, where he was surrounded by the team that earned two Michelin stars. This journey inspired his Vietnamese-Californian pop-up Ăn and his Rising Star Chef honor in 2017.
Beyond the kitchen, Chef David Tu shares his family’s story through the Emmy-nominated PBS film Bloodline and his cookbook The Memory of Taste, co-authored with James Beard Award-winner Soleil Ho.
Dr. Connie Wun is a co-founder of AAPI Women Lead, a former sex worker and the daughter of Vietnamese war refugees. She has published in academic books, journals, and mainstream press, including Anti-Blackness, Critical Sociology, and Elle Magazine, and is a co-editor for the anthology, Abolition for the People, with Colin Kaepernick and Christopher Petrella. Among many honors, she is a CA API Legislative Caucus Excellence in Civil Rights and A100 Gold House awardee as well as a former National Science Foundation and Soros Justice Fellow.
Her work has been recognized nationally and featured in various media outlets, including NPR, Democracy Now, and MSNBC. She is a yoga instructor with a daily meditation practice and has trained in Muay Thai and kickboxing.
Both Chef Tu David Phu and Dr. Wun have learned deep lessons from their Vietnamese mothers, including what it means to survive war as well as to build new worlds for our communities. Join two proud children of Vietnamese refugees and devoted Oaklanders for this much-needed conversation in Oakland, CA.
