Leila Tran Oral History

Leila Tran is a proud owner of a Vietnamese restaurant in Downtown Oakland. She was able to get a chance to sit down and talk about her family history in San Jose, her transition to Oakland, factors of being an immigrant in America and current issues surrounding Oakland involving Covid-19. She has 3 boys and discusses in what her role in continuing her parent’s shop means to her, especially working under circumstances when she is at high risk. The interviewer had the opportunity to speak to Leila through Jenn Tran at the Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and their role in shaping their community to present an opportunity to speak up about ongoing issues such as parking, police and theft. This interview was conducted specifically through phone call during the Covid quarantine by Geetika Sharma, a third year Cognitive Science major and Ethnic Studies minor on the behalf of the Race and Oral History Course at UCSD.