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Letter: Linh Nguyen, candidate for DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder, knows the ‘polling place is where we are all equal.’

When I worked full time as a therapist and a minister, I took care to keep my political opinions to myself. Now retired, I share my convictions.

I support Linh Nguyen for DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder, because of the extraordinary skills she will bring to the job and how her personal history reveals her heart and strength. I interviewed Nguyen as a finalist for the 2022 Athena Award. These stories explain why I find her to be exceptional.

Nguyen was born and raised in Saigon, right after the Vietnam war. Her family fought alongside American troops. Her parents had so little income that her mother would purchase recycled materials by the kilogram, sorting through old papers to find books that their child could read. Her father, due to his great love for Linh and a passionate commitment to education, taught her to be curious rather than make assumptions about people’s lives.

When a child of 7, Linh saw an officer flash his gun to force her father to vote in sham elections. Her father’s sense of justice compelled him to oppose corruption in government. His integrity indelibly marked Linh. She came to the U.S. at 21 barely able to speak English yet earned a degree every two years, Associate’s to a Ph.D. in computational chemistry.

Linh speaks her truth, “I am so grateful each day to wake up in America. My children are life-long residents of DeKalb County and we are part of this community. Democracy is sacred to me. The polling place is where we are all equal. Together we must let go of cynicism. Together we can realize the power in the vote.”

Linda Slabon

DeKalb

Source: The Daily Chronicle

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