The city of Lowell in Massachusetts has appointed the United States’ first Cambodian American mayor. In a unanimous decision Monday, Sokhary Chau—who previously served as a city councilor—was appointed mayor, also becoming the city’s first Asian American leader. Chau came to America as a refugee in the 1970s after surviving the oppressive rule of Cambodia’s Communist Khmer Rouge. During his swearing-in speech Monday, he told the crowd how his father, a Cambodian army captain, was executed by the Khmer Rouge and how his mother fought to keep her children alive in destitute conditions, from living in jungles to avoiding landmines and starvation. “I was a refugee, now I’m mayor of a major city in Massachusetts,” Chau said. “As a proud Cambodian American, I am standing on the shoulders of many immigrants who came before me…We can no longer be just victims. It is our time now to be leaders and to succeed.”