At my office, they curate an incredibly supportive and open atmosphere. I’ve eaten with the entire AD-63 district office staff multiple times, and each time, I’ve gotten to know each of their histories, aspirations, and values in very personable ways. I truly feel that I’ve built up a relationship with them, and this week, I’m happy to say that I continued this relationship-building.
This week, I went to a restaurant for the staff’s routine meal with Assembly Speaker Emeritus Anthony Rendon. On the way there, one of the staff members began recounting her lengthy experience working up to her position as a field director. She started as an intern with Rendon, and stuck with him through his tenure as speaker and beyond. She feels like she’s incredibly lucky, and she told me how her commitment to Rendon allowed her to grow exponentially as a professional.
At the restaurant, aside from the incredible food (the juiciest chicken breast I’ve ever eaten and an empanada-shaped rhubarb pie crusted in sugar), I had the opportunity to converse and get to know Assemblymember Rendon, and we had more similarities than I could have imagined.
Our first topic of conversation was about CAUSE. The Assemblymember told me about his long relationship with CAUSE. After chattering about my personal backstory and why I decided to join CAUSE, we began discussing the various speakers CLA has brought to us. Being the former assembly speaker, he knew many of the guests we had interacted with and recounted many interesting stories about his many interactions with local, state, and private governmental actors. Then, we got to talking about philosophy!
Yes, philosophy: Professor Anthony Rendon used to teach philosophy at Cal State University, Fullerton. After taking an Asian American studies class with a professor whose background was in Literary Criticism, I became entrenched in a quite foreign academic world than I was used to. I read incredibly dense and complex works about helicopter hierarchies, drag in South Asian nightclubs, and Asian American students hiring hitmen to murder their parents, all analyzed through dense theories rooted in philosophy. So, I began talking to him about Asian American studies and its political and philosophical underpinnings, and we had a lot to talk about, especially considering that he taught critical theory.
Assemblymember Rendon began describing his dissertation that used Foucault’s play-making theories on aesthetics and architecture, and he talked to me about his wife and her experience studying Asian American Studies at UC Davis. For around 20 minutes, I asked him questions to get to the heart of what I wanted to understand: what is the relationship between my college education and change-making? To him, his constant grappling with philosophical questions surrounding justice and equity has guided him throughout his political career.
Though I didn’t get to fully explore that question, in the back of my mind, I was so curious as to his transition to running for Assembly after his stint as a professor. It’s a completely different world than philosophy, and far more intense. It’s something I hope to fully explore with him over the rest of my internship.
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not reflect the views or positions of CAUSE or the CAUSE network.
Written by Kenny Lê, Leadership Academy 2023 Intern.
The CAUSE Leadership Academy (CLA) for students is a nine-week, paid, internship program that prepares college undergraduates to lead and advocate for the Asian Pacific Islander community on their campuses and beyond.