For our first series, we will be focusing on Asians in The Political Field as the general election on November 23rd, 2020, nears in the United States. For this series we will be interviewing different Asians in The Political Field to empower the Asian community to get more involved with politics as well as vote in not just this year's general election but all elections in the future as well.

Representative Sam Park is the first openly gay man and first Asian American Democrat elected to the Georgia State Legislature. He is the grandson of refugees from the Korean War and a son of immigrants. Sam is a native Georgian, born and raised by a single mother. He became the first lawyer in his family, and has a Masters in Law, Politics, and Legislation.  In 2016, Sam unseated a three-term Republican chairwoman running on Medicaid expansion to provide access to healthcare for more than 500,000 Georgians after his mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. After winning by less than 2% as a first-time candidate, Sam won his first reelection in 2018 with more than 18% of the vote. Currently, Sam serves in leadership as a Deputy Whip in the Georgia House Democratic Caucus and the Vice-Chair of the Gwinnett State House Delegation.

We hope you enjoy this meaningful and insightful interview. Sam Park talks about his experiences as a gay and Asian man growing up in the Church in the Deep South. He also shares the importance of telling his story and being rooted in his morals to connect with other people in order to help his community.

Thank you to our listeners for your support, and thank you to the AITS team for making this podcast possible!