Cyndi Munson becomes Oklahoma State Representative
Congress marks Filipino-American History Month Rep. Mike Honda (D-Santa Clara Valley) and Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) each introduced resolutions recognizing October as Filipino American History Month. “Recognizing Filipino American History Month in Congress is a testament to the countless contributions that Filipino Americans have made to our country,” said Senator Hirono. “As we celebrate Filipino American heritage, we must also
renew our commitment to recognizing Filipino World War II veterans for their service to our country, and continue to work toward comprehensive immigration reform that would reunite many Filipino American families.” Currently, there are nearly 3.5 million Filipino Americans. 260,000 WWII Filipino and Filipino American veterans fought under the American flag at the request of President Roosevelt.
Kim Ng in line to be the first woman general manager in Pro Sports The Philadelphia Phillies are interested in baseball executive Kim Ng as their next general manager, reports The Korea Times. Ng has an impressive resume and a 34year career working behind the scenes in Major League Baseball. CBS Sports reports Ng is one of at least three candidates in line for the Phillies job. The others are Cleveland executive Ross Atkins and ex-Marlins GM Larry Beinfest. If hired, she would be the first female general manager in all of professional sports.
ABC Orders Full Season of Dr. Ken ABC has given a full-season order to the new comedy Dr. Ken. The network announced that it is ordering nine more episodes of the med-
ical series starring Ken Jeong as a general practitioner who tries to balance his professional and personal life, and who would benefit from softening his bedside manner. Dr. Ken, the third new show to earn a full season after Blindspot and Quantico, is the No. 1 show in the adults 18-to-49 demographic in its Friday night timeslot. Suzy Nakamura, Albert Tsai and Dave Foley co-star. Jeong, on whose life the show is based, is also an executive producer.
Cyndi Munson is a Democrat in a Republican state. She’s an Asian American in a state that is barely 2 percent Asian American and Pacific Islander. So how did this 30-year-old political newbie become the first Asian-American woman elected to the Oklahoma state legislature? Munson was born in Monterey, California to a military family. Her parents taught her the importance of service to the community. She first learned about state government in high school and became active in voter registration campaigns while attending the University of Central Oklahoma. She joined a sorority for the leadership opportunity there, and to empower other women to take leadership positions. Munson became involved in the Girl Scouts and began tutoring disadvantaged youth. While speaking to a leadership class one day, Cyndi Munson was asked, “Would you ever run for office?” When Munson said no, the student replied, “Why not? You’re passionate about girls and you want to make a difference!” As it turned out, that student was a member of a political consultancy firm, looking to recruit women, minorities and Democrats to run for office. Two weeks later, that firm invited her to a meeting. They asked Munson to run. Munson did run for office in 2014 and lost, but that experience did not deflate her passion. She set up a Political Action Committee to raise money for women to run for office. Five months later, something unforeseen happened that would set up a second run for office. Munson won the special election. Now she is a Democratic member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, representing the 85th district. National News | asian avenue magazine
27