By Kai Curry
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
TODAY — Pictured: Vicky Nguyen on Monday, April 1, 2024 — (Photo by: Nathan Congleton/NBC)
NBC news anchor and correspondent Vicky Nguyen has always put herself out there, with full honesty. “Fake it ‘till you make it” has never been part of her vocabulary. Nguyen’s upcoming memoir, “Boat Baby,” is open and honest about her journey and that of her family.
“I always wear my awe and wonder openly,” said Nguyen, referring specifically to her arrival in 2019 at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, the home of NBC. By then, though, Nguyen didn’t need to “act like” she’d been there—she had. She was already experienced in television news. She worked in Orlando, in Reno—where she was “the biggest little reporter in the world,” and she’s won an Emmy. In addition to her personal and family background, “Boat Baby” focuses on that rise to the top, the moment when Nguyen joined NBC as an investigative and consumer correspondent. You will recognize her from the Today Show, 3rd Hour of Today, Nightly News with Lester Holt, and NBC News Now, a vital addition to their diverse crew.
“News you can use” has been one of Nguyen’s mottos. She hopes that readers will find something they can “use” from her memoir. Nguyen told the Northwest Asian Weekly (NWAW) that “if people walk away from the book” having laughed, having “seen their own journeys, their own families in my story,” then “mission accomplished.” As Nguyen emphasized, it’s not necessary to be involved in news or media, or to be Vietnamese, to get something from the universal themes of her book.
“Boat Baby” goes in depth on Nguyen and her family’s journey, starting from when her parents fled Vietnam after the Vietnam War. First, she gives a little bit of background as to why people wanted to leave communist Vietnam in the first place. The lack of jobs and lack of security. The “brainwashing,” as her father said. Her parents, at that early stage—Vicky was only 8 months old—were already showing their consistent grit and determination, regardless of, or because of, their circumstances. They engaged a smuggler (who abandoned them in the jungle), then boarded a boat that would take them to a refugee camp on the island of Pulau Bidong near Malaysia.
“There is no future if there is no freedom,” said Nguyen’s dad. It was a close call there for a while. Their boat was overtaken by Thai pirates, who laughed when her dad offered them U.S. paper money. That laughter, though, got them off of the boat with the family unscathed. Next, it was several months in the camp, holding out for a spot in America. A former job of Nguyen’s mom helped the family secure a sponsorship from Holt International Child Services.
Even in the face of hard times, then and now, Nguyen has never lost her appreciation for the opportunities given to her. “I was born with a ‘sunny side up’ personality,” she told the NWAW. “I had two parents that led with the same overflowing optimism. Life is messy. Bad things happen. But I also know not to take my rights and my life for granted.”
Vicky Nguyen (Credit: Deborah Feingold)
Once in the U.S., the Nguyen family was “too busy trying to make a life in America to dwell on the past.” Due to a family tragedy, they left their first home in Eugene, Oregon and moved to Reno, Nevada. Several other moves came after that, with Nguyen’s parents willing to do whatever it took to support the family.
“My parents didn’t think about the means as much as the ends,” Nguyen explains in the book. “This was work and a way to save money. When the next opportunity arose, they’d make a switch.” Meanwhile, Nguyen was growing up speaking “Vietglish” and not quite fitting in. In fact, she was getting bullied sometimes by other Asian or Vietnamese children.
“What do you think you are…an American white girl?” the kids said to her. “I didn’t think in Vietnamese, I thought in English,” Nguyen recalls in the book.
Whether it was survival mode, the effect of so much uprooting, or a defense mechanism, Nguyen largely “ignored” her race, up until the pandemic in 2020. Yes, she had experienced racism. The usual questions: “what type of Asian are you?” “Where are you really from?” Her philosophy, conscious or not, learned from her parents, was “don’t stress about things I can’t change.” “My parents motto was never complain, never explain,” Nguyen told the NWAW. “I never led with my identity first.” Then came the rise in racist attacks. At NBC, Nguyen was reporting on anti-Asian racism. She was worried about her parents, and at the same time, bolstered by other Asians and Asian Americans who were combatting the racism pandemic: “We had allies.”
Like many, Nguyen hesitated to let her inside show on the outside at her work. Yet, over the following weeks and months, her coworkers began to check in on her. She realized that “accepting support didn’t signify weakness.” She also became even more committed to her mission of telling the stories of those who don’t have the luxury to do it themselves. She created a special report for NBC News Now, “The Racism Virus.” “As journalists,” Nguyen states in the book, “we have a responsibility to use our platforms to combat misinformation and amplify marginalized voices.”
Throughout her career, Nguyen has advocated for those whose voices needed amplifying and has given them a platform. She has learned from those she’s spoken to that the underlying kindness of most Americans is still something she believes in. She has also embraced her whole self.
“I am so glad now, as a 46-year-old, that I can say I’m very proud to be Asian American,” she said. “My culture has shaped who I am and I definitely think diversity is truly what makes America great.”
“Boat Baby” releases April 1.
Kai can be reached at newstips@nwasianweekly.com.