It's rare that a one-minute piece of public testimony at a Seattle City Council meeting snaps the entire room to attention.

But at a recent meeting to discuss legislation that would reduce homeless encampment sweeps, activist Sonny Nguyen—an organizer of API Food Fight Club, a coalition of young, progressive Asian and Pacific Islander American activists—stood up for their community with a commanding statement.

"It seems like the city only comes to Chinatown when they need to use us and pit us against other disenfranchised communities," Nguyen said. "API Food Fight Club is here to say that we won't be used to justify violence anymore and we will not be your model minority."

The room erupted in applause.

We talked to Nguyen, who is also a Washington Bus engagement coordinator and pho speed-eater, about their work and what they're doing when they're not at City Hall.

What do you see as the path toward changing the way the city treats your community as a "model minority"?

I'm interested in a CID that works to support all members of our community. I'm excited that I'm seeing work in the neighborhood standing in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

What are you reading?

Mostly comic books. I know I'm supposed to be some sort of literati intellectual because I'm a young professional in Seattle, but it's exhausting, the amount of times I've had to pretend I've read Kafka on the Shore.

I bought that [Marie] Kondo book about decluttering just because everyone around me was reading it, but it's probably just going to sit on my bookshelf ironically for years.

What is your go-to karaoke song?

I really can't sing at all, so I try to go for songs that everyone sings along to. "No Scrubs" is a fan favorite.

Which other Seattle activists should everyone know about?

Check out my co-organizers at API Food Fight Club—Tuyen Than, Ryan Catabay, Jintana Lityouvong, and Allen Huang are all big deals in the CID and larger API community, and each are also involved in the arts in different ways. They're my heroes and biggest inspirations.