{"id":599,"date":"2020-08-04T17:19:13","date_gmt":"2020-08-04T21:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/?p=599"},"modified":"2020-08-06T16:37:51","modified_gmt":"2020-08-06T20:37:51","slug":"maryland-state-delegate-lily-qi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maryland-state-delegate-lily-qi\/","title":{"rendered":"Lily Qi is making her voice\u2014and the voices of other immigrants across Montgomery County\u2014heard"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lily
Photo: David Stuck<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI was born in Shanghai during China\u2019s Cultural Revolution, and my mother was forced to change my first name to Hong, which translates as Red,\u201d says Lily Qi<\/a>. \u201cThe name my parents originally chose was considered bourgeois\u2014not revolutionary enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those who know Qi [say: Chee] are amused by the irony; the 56-year-old freshman delegate from Montgomery County is regarded as a highly progressive member of the Maryland General Assembly. Her LinkedIn profile self-referentially declares she\u2019s a \u201crebel.\u201d As the state\u2019s first Chinese-born legislator, elected in 2018, Qi finds herself in the right place at a time when the rights of nonwhites and immigrants are being thrust to the forefront.<\/p>\n

Qi embraces the role of advocate. \u201cYou\u2019re here to be a voice for the people you represent\u2014not just to pass bills,\u201d she says. She often refers to immigrant concerns as \u201cthe missing voice that no one is missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finding her voice<\/strong><\/p>\n

Her own voice was born in the 1960s as a wave of Communist oppression purged the insufficiently compliant, sending millions to so-called \u201cre-education camps,\u201d and persecuted the families of both Qi and her future husband, Yu \u201cPhil\u201d Peng. Qi arrived in the United States on Feb. 22, 1989\u2014George Washington\u2019s birthday\u2014to attend Manchester College in rural Indiana, sponsored by an American professor for whom she worked as a translator when he was visiting Shanghai. (Thirty years later, she was invited to become a member of the Board of Trustees at what is now Manchester University.)<\/p>\n

The couple worked menial jobs\u2014scrubbing toilets, washing dishes\u2014to earn money. Peng, a talented musician, learned English from daytime TV and adopted the first name of a favorite basketball star, Phil Jackson. Years spent at universities in Athens, Ohio, and Morgantown, West Virginia, resulted in more work experience and academic degrees.<\/p>\n

In 1997, they moved to Montgomery County when Qi accepted a position working on multicultural affairs at American University. Her years in the Midwest served them well. \u201cIf we\u2019d come to D.C. first,\u201d she says, \u201cwe would have gotten lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Read More: THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY CELEBRATES 100 YEARS<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Qi became a U.S. citizen in 1999 and earned an MBA while working at AU, eventually moving on to work on economic development for a couple of nonprofit organizations. Peng developed a career in finance. When Isaiah \u201cIke\u201d Leggett was elected in 2006 as county executive, he asked Qi to act as liaison to the Asian community in the county, where the population now was one-third foreign born, including 50,000 Chinese.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview, Leggett praised Qi for her ability to grasp complex issues and, particularly, her skill in mediating a delicate issue when Taiwanese residents objected to the county\u2019s seeming favoritism of the more recent arrivals from mainland China.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got a lot of pushback (from Taiwanese residents), sometimes not so nicely,\u201d says Leggett. But during a trip to Korea, Qi arranged for a side visit to Taiwan so Leggett could reassure his constituents that their concerns were recognized. \u201cShe pulled that off without a hitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diving into politics<\/strong><\/p>\n

Qi was \u201cswimming in the political world,\u201d as she put it, and decided she wanted to dive more deeply. Family discussions on whether to run for office, she recalls, \u201cwere actually many sleepless nights. I thought of myself as a [business] professional, so this was a big shift.\u201d Although she understood the dynamics of campaigning, Qi needed \u201cthe mindset
\nI could do this,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

In 2017, she applied for training offered by Emerge Maryland, an organization created to groom potential female Democratic candidates. Qi said the course gave her the tools and the confidence to run; she already had an edge in fundraising\u2014a task that many classmates found daunting. \u201cMy people (the Chinese community) had never been tapped,\u201d she explains. \u201cOnce they know you they are willing to support.\u201d She also used a popular messaging service called WeChat to focus on Asian voters in the 15th district.<\/p>\n

Now Qi has two priorities for her legislative initiatives. The first is to make Maryland and Montgomery County more competitive. \u201cThis is why people like me came to this country,\u201d she asserts. \u201cWe did not come for diversity; we came for opportunity.\u201d The second is to make the state more inclusive through measures that promote immigrant integration and social justice. One bill would establish a state LGBTQ commission to \u201censure there is a home for their issues.\u201d (Her adult son, Andrew, is gay.)<\/p>\n

Almost from the day she was elected, friends and constituents have been asking Qi what office she\u2019ll next seek. She laughs. \u201cLet me settle in and see if I\u2019m the kind of person right for this position. I just want to do a good job.\u201d And provide that missing voice. Now that would be truly revolutionary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The freshman delegate from District 15, Maryland’s first Chinese-born legislator, is passionate about economic competitiveness and inclusiveness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,61],"tags":[89,91,90],"yoast_head":"\nMaryland State Delegate Lily Qi is Making the Voices of Immigrants Heard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Maryland's first Chinese-born legislator, Lily Qi, from District 15 is passionate about justice and equal opportunity for all.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maryland-state-delegate-lily-qi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" 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