Title
Honoring and remembering the life and contributions of Saint Paul Public School Board of Education Chair Marny Xiong.
Body
WHEREAS Marny Xiong was born on March 23, 1989 in the City of St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood, and she was the fourth oldest child of eight to Zahoua Xiong and See Yang Xiong; and
WHEREAS, Marny went to Longfellow Elementary School, Washington Middle School, and graduated from Arlington Senior High School in 2007; and
WHEREAS, Marny graduated from the University of MN, Duluth with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and minor in African and African American Studies in 2012;
WHEREAS, Marny fought alongside with the Black Student Association in college to successfully create the minor for African and African American Studies in which she minored; and
WHEREAS, When KDWB, a radio station owned by Clear Channel created a racist parody on Hmong people titled, “30 Hmong in a House,” Marny led students to join the protest at the headquarters and demanded Clear Channel to apologize; and
WHEREAS, As a result of the direct action, Clear Channel apologized and created culturally relevant trainings for their employees; and
WHEREAS, Marny started her career working at E-Democracy as an organizer promoting the community online forum; and
WHEREAS, Marny then went to work at TakeAction MN as a field organizer helping to build the program Organizing a New Economy, where they led and won an increase in the State’s minimum wage to $9.50 per hour, indexed to inflation and where she also led political organizing in 6 key swing house districts in 2012; and
WHEREAS, Marny worked at the Food Group MN in 2014-2016 to fight hunger and nourish the community in an equitable and culturally relevant way; and
WHEREAS, Marny was appointed to serve on the City of Saint Paul’s Neighborhood STAR Board in 2015; and
WHEREAS, Marny was elected to the Saint Paul District 5 Neighborhood Council Board in 2016; and
WHEREAS, Marny worked for SEIU as a homecare organizer in 2016 and then transitioned to work at Minneapolis Public Schools District as the School Administrator Manager for Hmong International Academy; and
WHEREAS, In 2017, Marny ran a city-wide campaign for school board in Saint Paul and successfully won the race leading all the candidates with over 36,000 votes; and
WHEREAS, In 2018, Marny was the treasurer for the Vote Yes for St. Paul Kids Referendum campaign, and it won successfully.
WHEREAS, In 2020, Marny became Chair of the St. Paul Public School Board and led the district to end a four-day strike; and
WHEREAS, Marny volunteered on various successful campaigns in the last decade, in particular, Councilmember Amy Brendmoen, Councilmember Dai Thao, Councilmember Susan Pha, Councilmember Nelsie Yang, Commissioner Trista MatisCastillo, State Representative John Lesch, State Representative Rena Moran, John Thompson for 67A State Representative and so many more; and now therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, The Saint Paul City Council honors and commemorates the life of Chair Marny Xiong on the Saint Paul Public Schools Board of Education; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, The Saint Paul Council proclaims June as Marny Xiong Month to remember the leadership of Marny Xiong’s and her contributions to the City of Saint Paul as someone who united the residents of Saint Paul, the Twin Cities, and across MN.