Estoy Soy Boy

In 1988, two French-Vietnamese black guys, Roger and Stewart Nguyen visited the California State Capital to denounce the misuse of various soy sauces on steamed white rice in the state's "Chinese" restaurants.

The two men, brothers by marriage and by blood, happened to be identical twins with distinguishing features: Roger had a patch over his left eye, Stewart, a patch over his right. "Ol' Lefty," as Roger, the brother with the patch over his left eye was aptly named, was, naturally, left behind in a hotel-turned-bunker when their parents evacuated Ho Chi Minh City in 1976 when the Communist Party ousted the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

How the two brothers became reunited is a heart-warming tale involving an American Marine, a dozen fragrant nosegays, and a down-and-out vampire/bat. It is also a tale to be told at another time. Specifically, when there are no sharp objects in the immediate vicinity.

The Nguyen Bros. (that's "bruthas" not "brothers") petitioned for an opportunity to address the State Assembly in an upcoming general meeting but their petitions were consistently filibustered and filed to the bottom of the stack. This went on until the summer of 1993, the same year that foreign soy sauces were banned from import into California and a new social movement whose slogan was "foreign soy sauce brings no joy, boss" and backed largely by California's agricultural workers was taking place.

The coincidence was not lost on the Nguyen Bros. It was clear that the Assembly took this opportunity to hear the Nguyen Bros. because their message would sound impotent and downright anti-Californian in light of the fact that only California-grown soy sauces were being used in the state. But this did not deter the Nguyen Bros. from speaking their mind because California soy sauce trees produce sauces that are notoriously light in flavor and always require thawing before use – also not good for steamed rice.

When the Nguyen Bros. were finally invited to the General Assembly to make their proposition on August 9, 1993 they were greeted with stern boos and hisses and not a trace of a mildly enthusiastic hazzah was to be heard within 20 miles. Although the American Society for International Chants Hazzah and More was holding their bi-monthly potluck in the nearby southwardly city, Stockton, just 21 miles away and their shouts of hazzah could be heard and ironically served as a distraction more than a spirit-lifting encouragement.

It is well-documented history, what happened to the Nguyen Bros. after the speech they gave that fateful Monday and it would be redundant to repeat it here. Obviously, the results of the Assembly meeting and subsequent Proposition 789 have affected every Californian's life since the legislation was penned. Soy sauce trees and vampires/bats have never been viewed in the same way since.

I suppose we can all look high into the heavens and reflect on the Nguyen Bros. and their absence from said heavens every time we eat soy sauce on anything other than the bitterest of bitter melon and exclaim the sweetest of Sweet Jeezus's! from now on until the passage of eternity.