Earthquake in the Visayas: How Fil-Ams can help out!

I was in my final hours of my latest visit to Japan when I received news of the earthquake that struck the Visayas. I started off that trip at the city of Sendai in Tohoku, the region that took the brunt of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. As I watched the crowds clamoring for the latest game releases at the Tohoku Pokemon Center, I tried to picture what those kids must've experienced just a couple years earlier. Fast forward a couple days and the Tohoku quake came to mind again just as footage from Bohol and Cebu started trickling into CNN and NHK. But instead of imagining the victims I began to recall the heroes, the faces of those who - no matter how big or small their contributions were - answered in solidarity the calls of doing their part in the relief and rebuilding effort. As Filipino-American History Month draws to a close, let's end it strong by showing our own solidarity with our kababayan in Bohol and Cebu by helping them recover from the recent earthquake. Coming off the MNLF siege in Zamboanga that ended a couple weeks prior and Typhoon Santi which struck Luzon just days earlier, beleaguered relief groups need help more than ever and even the United Nations has made a call additional funds to help compliment existing efforts.

So how can I help out?

You have two options. First is attending a local fundraiser! I'm currently compiling a master list of events from small towns to big cities across the US and I'm hoping to eventually expand this through any shout-outs from fellow Fil-Ams! Check these out:

New York City

November 1

• Lani Misalucha will be having a benefit concert at Kalayaan Hall in the Philippine Consulate from 8PM. Tickets are $45.
• Pinoy Pride Sa America and GK USA will be hosting Pinoy Spooky Night at Payag Restaurant in Queens starting at 8:30PM.

November 3

• NYC Hiking and Outdoor Adventure Group and Pinoy Pride sa America will have Help the Philippines: Fundraiser for Earthquake Victims at EVR Restaurant near Times Square from 11AM to 7PM.

Los Angeles

November 3

• Catalyst Group, Blare Productions, Chryzwin Kreations, and Red Garage Productions will have Bayanihan III at Josephine's Bistro in Cerritos from 7 to 10PM.

Baltimore

November 5

• FASA of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County will be hosting a Earthquake Relief Bake Sale from 11AM to 2PM at Commons Main Street.

And for those that want to have a more personal event with friends and family, why not try what Armand Frasco had in mind by inviting friends for a night of karaoke at your home and chip in some change as you sing in Karaoke for a Cause!

But what if there's no fundraising event nearby and I'd rather not have to go through another one of my tita's renditions of Dancing Queen?

Thankfully several groups both big and small are taking donations online!

• Bangka Journey
• GK USA 
• National Alliance for Filipino Concerns
• Philippine Red Cross

We also have some Fil-Ams taking to crowdfunding sites! Here's a couple examples:

• Tagbilaran Association of Southern California's Helping Hands for Bohol
• Maricel Yunque's campaign to help residents in her parents' hometown

Unfortunately I missed out on some epic fundraisers by the time I compiled this list. However, I wish to share some of the spotlight to the likes of the Philippine Cultural Foundation of Tampa who hosted Operation Tulong at October 27, the Lomboc Association of California's GoFundMe campaign, and even a group up in the San Francisco Bay Area who hosted Zumba for a Cause! But hopefully there will be more to come! Who knows... maybe you might feel compelled to start one yourself!

Photos are courtesy of and used with permission from  Berniemack Arelláno of HabagatCentral, a sojourner based in Cebu who provided coverage of the earthquake's hard-hit areas. Check out his blog!

FAHM: Labor Movement Leader Philip Vera Cruz

Note from the Editor: Aaron Alcana is one of UniPro’s interns for the fall. As part of Fil-Am History Month, interns explored California's new law to include history on Fil-Am farm workers and their efforts in the state's education curriculum. Read on to see Aaron's thoughts on labor leader, Philip Vera Cruz. By Aaron Alcana, guest contributor

In present day America, the Filipino community is finally gaining the recognition it deserves for its invaluable involvement in the American labor movement. Early in the month of October 2013, Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that requires that the California academic curriculum include the contributions of Filipino-Americans during the farm labor movement. This gigantic step for Fil-Ams was a great way to start off October, which is also Filipino American History Month. A key leader during this time period was Philip Vera Cruz, and the Californian Department of Education believes his contributions to the movement are important enough to be included in the education of young students.

Philip Vera Cruz was instrumental in the founding of the United Farm Workers Union. He was born in Ilocos Sur in the Philippines in 1904. At a young age Vera Cruz began working on the farms in his town. Vera Cruz would later described his work in Ilocos Sur to be much easier than the work he would endure in California. This statement goes to show how difficult it was for him to gain his fair share in America. In 1926 he moved to the United States and worked a variety of positions, including working in a restaurant and a box factory. He would eventually settle in California, where he began working as a farmer to support himself. In the 1950’s, Vera Cruz joined the National Farm Labor Union and with this organization he helped bring together groups of Filipino farm workers. When all these groups combined, they called themselves the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC). The AWOC led the Delano Grape Strike, during which the farm workers demanded that grape growers pay their workers’ wages equal to the federal minimum wage.  The Filipinos were the majority of the AWOC. Eventually the Mexican population, led by Cesar Chavez, joined the Filipino workers on strike. When the Filipinos and Mexicans joined together, they became the United Farm Workers (UFW). The Delano Grape Strike comprised of around 10,000 workers and it lasted about 5 years. This movement was a peaceful one, as it utilized boycotts, marches, strikes, and other organized events. By 1970, the UFW were able to reach an agreement with the grape growers they worked for. The companies that sold the grapes grown in Delano felt pressured by the boycotts and strikes because now they couldn’t make money selling their products. Without the farm laborers, there was no one to grow and harvest the grapes that the companies wanted to sell.

In the UFW, Philip Vera Cruz served as the Vice President and as a member of the managing board. In 1977, he resigned from the union because he had differences with Cesar Chavez. Chavez was the same person who Vera Cruz worked hand in hand with to bring rights to the farmers in California. The reason he stopped seeing eye to eye with Chavez was because Chavez traveled to the Philippines and befriended Ferdinand Marcos. Vera Cruz saw Marcos as a brutal dictator and he didn’t want to be associated with him and his regime in any way. In 1987, Vera Cruz traveled back to his home country for the first time in 50 years to accept the Ninoy Aquino Award. He was awarded with this honor because of his involvement in the advancement of the Filipino population.

Young Filipinos in today’s society should respect and appreciate Philip Vera Cruz and his work. He succeeded in his goals by using hard work and patience; Vera Cruz never used violent tactics when leading the Delano Grape Strike. He gained positive results for all the farm workers who put their belief in him. Academics, particularly in California, are finally giving Vera Cruz the recognition he deserves by adding his accomplishments to the educational curriculum. The next step should be adding his peer’s accomplishments to the education programs across the country.

In present day America, the Fil-Am youth are searching for a person that they can look up to for inspiration in American history. By adding the accomplishments of Philip Vera Cruz and his peers to the textbooks, the Fil-Am youth will realize that people like them have been contributing to the advancements of America for a long time. Hopefully, after learning about the accomplishments of previous Fil-Ams, the youth will be inspired to do something they believe in.

Photo credit: Pinoy Life

"Tagalogue" and the Filipino Arts Renaissance

The second showing of "Tagalogue Vol 3: Within Us A Tribute to Our Ancestors" had attendees walking up a narrow staircase into a dimly lit, small white room packed with people shoulder to shoulder, and barely any distance between the performers and the front row. It was intimate. As the night commenced I soon realized the proximity mimicked the material. With every personal story of history, struggle, and identity, heads from the audience nodded in recognition like a silent chorus of "me too"s. There was no question: "Tagalogue" was going to hit home, and whether you knew it or not, sitting there made you a partner of its prose.

History certainly loomed overhead with each story. But, even if the performers were years removed from their tale their words felt immediate, stinging like fresh wounds. There was loss: Larry Tantay wrote "Mary Lou Tantay," a beautiful piece on the last days with his mother, played impeccably by Renee Rises, who succumbed to cancer. There was connection: Jana-Lynne Umipig's excerpt from her original work "Journey of a Brown Girl" summoned women of Philippine past to the present. There was conflict: J. Gabriel Tungol's "Another One of These Type Dudes" raised questions of authenticity in Fil-Am identity. There was even humor: RJ Mendoza's "My Main Man" had everyone guffawing over his endearing relationship with his lolo. In every performance, there was love. There was the 14-person cast's love for their craft, love for each other, and from every corner of the room–a love for our culture's past.

After the show there was a talk-back with the cast and directors, Andre Ignacio Dimapilis and Precious Sipin, and they took questions from the audience about their piece. In the same space, there were experienced Broadway performers, and others were first-time actors. At one point, Andre announced:

"We are experiencing a Filipino arts renaissance!" and I immediately wrote the phrase down. The words resonated in the room: Filipino. Arts. Renaissance. Up to now, it's nothing new that the Pilipino population is abundantly blessed with singers, dancers, and writers, but seeing a Pilipino artist in the performing arts was always an exception (think of the national worship over Lea Salonga). "Tagalogue" introduced a time for change, and now I'm looking forward to seeing a rise of productions for and by our community.

The Pilipino/Fil-Am experience has yet to be in the public spotlight, but if that small white room was any indication of what's to come... we're definitely getting closer.

Photo: Kristina Rodulfo

Fondue and the Future of Fil-Ams

By Sherina Ong, guest contributor A few weeks ago, I was sitting in a Korean restaurant with my boyfriend’s family. As I eagerly waited for the bulgogi beef to finish searing on the grill in front of us, I glanced around at the six of us and suddenly noticed the rainbow of ethnic representation sitting there at our table. First, there was my boyfriend’s father, a Pilipino immigrant, seated next to his part French-Algerian and Nicaraguan wife. That interesting genetic combination produced my boyfriend and his brother; the two are no stranger to frequently selecting “Other” on box-checking race surveys. Then, there were the added on members of the already eclectic clan: his brother’s half white and half Korean girlfriend and my Pilipino-Chinese hybrid self.

Even though I was struck by how exceptionally diverse our little family unit was, I don’t believe that having such an ethnic medley within one family will be atypical for very long.  Looking around that dinner table was like looking at the picture of the new America - a country filled with Wasians, Blasians, Blaxicans, and all sorts of mash ups that defy current racial and ethnic categories.  In the melting pot that is the United States, the color profile will no longer be black and white, but probably orange or something of the sort.

But if so many different cultures are slowly diluting into one big American fondue, what does that mean for the future of Fil-Ams? Even though I grew up with the abundant smells of adobo in my home kitchen and the sounds of TFC in my living room, I was born and raised in suburban Virginia. When I envision the daily life of my future family there is no Tagalog spoken in the house because I was never taught the language. My children might not call each other Kuya or Ate because I rarely used those names as an only child. Yes, I will try and learn to cook the occasional sinigang, but there will also be many Korean barbecue and taco nights.

Identity is anchored down by our everyday habits, the food we eat, the words we speak, and the choices we make based on the values we hold.  What will happen to my family’s identity if the customs my parents brought over from the Philippines trickle away generation after generation?

The reality is that the Pilipino traditions of my parents won’t stick around unchanged, especially in America. The nature of culture is dynamic. I do believe, however, that Fil-Ams are the agents of their own distinctive culture. We listen to the rhythms of both the Philippines and the United States and put our own idiosyncratic spin on them. It’s the culture that has both turkey and lumpia at Thanksgiving, and likes to mash hip-hop with Tinikling at college culture night performances. It’s the culture that endeavors to find its own voice by uniting passionate and conscientious members of the community through organizations like UniPro.

Twenty or fifty years from now, I can’t say in what different shapes the Fil-Am identity will take form, but I do know that we have the power to sculpt that identity here and now. I intend to educate myself more about the Philippines and weave the cherished traditions of my parents into my life in the United States.  That way, I can proudly pass on to the next generation a cultural palette in which both the flavors of America and the Philippines pop.

Photo credit: Joanne Tanap

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Sherina Ong is a 23-year-old trying to figure out how she is supposed to appropriately define herself in the limbo between college and hopefully attending graduate school. She has a BA in Anthropology from the College of William and Mary and is currently working as a substitute teacher in Charlottesville, VA. Her interests include education, Asian Pacific American issues, playing guitar, and singing very loudly.

Tagalogue - Final Show this Friday, Oct 25th!

This Friday, be sure to come out to Tagalogue, Vol. 3 - Within Us: A Tribute to Our Ancestors. Directed by Andre Ignacio Dimapilis, and assistant directed and produced by Precious Sipin, Friday's performance is the third and final performance for this year.

Tagalogue, Vol. 3 Friday, October 25, 2013 @ 7:00PM The Directors Studio 311 W. 43rd Street

Space is limited, so be sure to RSVP soon!

Tagalogue is a movement set to empower, unite, and celebrate the Filipino and Filipino-American people. We are the Filipino experience of living and struggling in our skin. OUR voices and OUR stories need to be heard and told to educate, inspire and remind us that we are connected, not alone.

Photo credit: Tagalogue