Kent Wong, a champion of nonviolent resistance in the L.A. labor movement, dies at 69

"This is a time that calls for thoughtful, mass action,"

"How could this blatant racial profiling, the terrorizing of the communities of Los Angeles, take place without a direct challenge to this injustice? That's why we came together."

"At the heart of everything Kent did was his unwavering commitment to protecting and uplifting immigrant workers,"

"Embracing people and making people feel comfortable and like they belonged is nonviolence in an interpersonal way, and he practiced that,"

Kent Wong organized extensive nonviolent trainings for more than a thousand workers and union organizers to protest federal immigration enforcement actions in Los Angeles. He taught a doctrine of nonviolent resistance and emphasized thoughtful, mass action in response to racial profiling and community terror. He founded the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance in the 1990s and mentored Asian American labor leaders while building coalitions with other labor organizers. Colleagues and elected officials described his commitment to protecting and uplifting immigrant workers and his interpersonal practice of making people feel welcomed and valued. He died at 69 from cardiopulmonary failure with complications from endocarditis.

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