Actor from Eastwood's "Gran Torino" Highlights Gang Prevention Forum
California Desk
October 23, 2009
STOCKTON – One of the central actors in Clint Eastwood´s film "Gran Torino" will highlight a free public forum on gang violence within the Southeast Asian American community to be held Saturday at the University of the Pacific.
Actor Bee Vang will give the keynote address for a panel discussion titled, "The Real Gran Torino Story: Stockton´s Secret War on the Streets," on October 24, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM, in the DeRosa University Center´s Grand Ballroom, Stockton, California. After the discussion, internationally-known Khmer-American hip-hop artist PraChy Ly will perform. Ly often addresses gang violence in his music.
Organized by University of the Pacific students, the panel will include State Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), chair of the California Senate Select Committee on Asian Pacific Islander Affairs, as well as a number of other local and state government and law enforcement officials.
"It is imperative that we discuss issues surrounding gang violence and together find ways to prevent it," said Yee. "Clint Eastwood has helped raise significant awareness about this issue; it is now our responsibility to find solutions to this community problem."
The film "Gran Torino" is an Eastwood-directed drama set in Michigan that addresses gang violence in the Hmong community. In the movie, Vang plays Thao, a teenager who is pressured to join a local Hmong gang. He eventually forms a close relationship with his neighbor Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) after attempting to steal his 1972 Gran Torino as part of Thao´s gang initiation. Kowalski, a grumpy, widowed Korean War veteran, steps in to protect Thao and his family from the gang who terrorizes them.
"We would like to use this touching film as an entry point for bringing attention to and hopefully prevention of gang violence in Stockton´s Southeast Asian American community," said Pacific student Minhchau Dinh, the event´s lead organizer. "Asian-American gangs have long terrorized the community with violence. Not only do we want to discuss this rarely talked about issue, we want to find the best ways to address it."
The event is co-sponsored by the University of the Pacific´s Cambodian, Hmong and Vietnamese student associations, Senator Yee´s office, the Asian Pacific Islander Public Affairs Association – Central Valley Chapter, Lao Family Community of Stockton, Lao Khmu Association, United Cambodian Families and the Asian Pacific Islander Self-Development and Resident Association.
Actor Bee Vang will give the keynote address for a panel discussion titled, "The Real Gran Torino Story: Stockton´s Secret War on the Streets," on October 24, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM, in the DeRosa University Center´s Grand Ballroom, Stockton, California. After the discussion, internationally-known Khmer-American hip-hop artist PraChy Ly will perform. Ly often addresses gang violence in his music.
Organized by University of the Pacific students, the panel will include State Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), chair of the California Senate Select Committee on Asian Pacific Islander Affairs, as well as a number of other local and state government and law enforcement officials.
"It is imperative that we discuss issues surrounding gang violence and together find ways to prevent it," said Yee. "Clint Eastwood has helped raise significant awareness about this issue; it is now our responsibility to find solutions to this community problem."
The film "Gran Torino" is an Eastwood-directed drama set in Michigan that addresses gang violence in the Hmong community. In the movie, Vang plays Thao, a teenager who is pressured to join a local Hmong gang. He eventually forms a close relationship with his neighbor Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) after attempting to steal his 1972 Gran Torino as part of Thao´s gang initiation. Kowalski, a grumpy, widowed Korean War veteran, steps in to protect Thao and his family from the gang who terrorizes them.
"We would like to use this touching film as an entry point for bringing attention to and hopefully prevention of gang violence in Stockton´s Southeast Asian American community," said Pacific student Minhchau Dinh, the event´s lead organizer. "Asian-American gangs have long terrorized the community with violence. Not only do we want to discuss this rarely talked about issue, we want to find the best ways to address it."
The event is co-sponsored by the University of the Pacific´s Cambodian, Hmong and Vietnamese student associations, Senator Yee´s office, the Asian Pacific Islander Public Affairs Association – Central Valley Chapter, Lao Family Community of Stockton, Lao Khmu Association, United Cambodian Families and the Asian Pacific Islander Self-Development and Resident Association.
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