California is home to an estimated 30,000 Burmese, the largest concentration of the Myanmar diaspora in the United States. Although many have resettled in the US to escape the political situation at home, the Californian Burmese are not known for their activism. This was evident in 2007 during a campaign outside Los Angeles City Hall to gather signatures for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest, and other political prisoners.
“At that time, even though there are about 10,000 Burmese in Los Angeles how many do you think came to the demonstration? Only about 20 people,” recalled Ma Swe Swe, 38, editor of Myanmar Gazette, a Burmese-language monthly newspaper published in Los Angeles.
Ma Swe Swe, a medical graduate and part-time journalist who used the pen name Nyo Khet Kyaw when she was writing for publications in Myanmar, arrived in Los Angeles in 2005 to help care for her aunt. She soon married another Myanmar journalist, U Gyi Soe, and together with a financial backer they launched the Mandalay Gazette in July 2006. It was renamed the Myanmar Gazette in October 2013, when their former backer pulled out. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
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