We're approaching holiday season here and with the pandemic receding (hopefully for good), what better way to prepare for Thanksgiving and Christmas than to check out recipes from the bounties of new cookbooks from Filipino chefs in various countries. Positively Filipino will be hosting a virtual gathering of cookbook authors on Tuesday, November 9 (Wednesday November 10 in the Philippines). Below are the details. To register:

For those who missed -- or want to listen again -- to last week's webinar on the USS Telesforo Trinidad campaign, here's the link to the recording.

"Instagrammable" Cafes

It's not only K-drama that is trending in the Philippines; 2D cafes patterned after South Korea's famous Greem Cafe is sprouting in Philippines cities. Baguio-based PF Correspondent Rene M. Astudillo brings us there.

Reading Centers to Stir Up Filipino Children's Appetite for Learning

With more than a decade of experience running a volunteer reading center for disadvantaged kids, medical technologist Ana Maria Bacudio opens a second one for Mangyan children in Baco, Mindoro. With partial funding from a California-based nonprofit, the project includes a mobile library.

An "Upsetting" Story

We've gotten many book reviews but this one is a stand-out for its raw honesty. Manila-based author George Deoso shows us what good fiction reads like.

For the Happy Home Cook

A recipe using the Cordilleran smoked meat called etag need not faze home cooks thousands of miles away from those mountain communities. Any smoked meat from the supermarket will do.

Video of the Week

Filipino Heritage Night at the Houston Rockets stadium got especially thrilling as two exceptional Fil-Am ball players — Jalen Green of (team) and Jordan Clarkson of (team) face off.

In The Know (Philippine Politics Edition)

A story bigger than Pharmally
https://www.bworldonline.com/a-story-bigger-than-pharmally/?fbclid=IwAR0udlLfmBUYK-2oFr454REKJ-pnPE3wn2_PBbBCl1-VJUsUXJGPs0yjeEo

Mayor Vico Sotto, Commencement Speaker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfVsxmP7CW4

PH, laggard in critical areas, settles for FDI crumbs
https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/10/31/opinion/columns/ph-laggard-in-critical-areas-settles-for-fdi-crumbs/1820392?fbclid=IwAR1zv1nJ09C5BpkKFCVoWFO9XYc11oy8OQlsCEwGaTvAO9SJmdRfNycwRDE

Be vigilant with fact-and-fiction blended content
https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/10/31/business/sunday-business-it/be-vigilant-with-fact-and-fiction-blended-content/1820324?fbclid=IwAR2pQLyUf4FTP44S4lQcad-pZDMSgSZ20r77qEMSYajQ1lgaJFPOROi4JcM

In The Know (Standard Edition)

How the music of Filipino youth continues to rock the regime
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2021-11-01/how-filipino-rock-transcends-the-white-norm?utm_id=41070&sfmc_id=472786

Nearly 3 decades-old FACINE is the longest-running Fil-Am film festival
https://thefilam.net/archives/34932?fbclid=IwAR1vCM46aYRfSl_ttjTuGVGtm16jgfa_w_b-fNaJJj4cyT7KBR1ottWyMrU

In major ocean polluter Philippines, group turns plastic waste into planks
https://news.yahoo.com/major-ocean-polluter-philippines-group-043219267.html

The last of the asinderos: a look at Bohol’s heritage “unbroken” salt
https://mb.com.ph/2021/10/24/the-last-of-the-asinderos-a-look-at-bohols-heritage-unbroken-salt/?fbclid=IwAR2FL5sKI0Mbh5pjRGB1zvegmJCGVESNbyy_rzKSiLsNGp0F6QqzBbU1yEc

A new Tate Gallery installation tells a story of martial law corruption through jewelry
https://cnnphilippines.com/life/Culture/art/2021/10/15/pio-abad-frances-wadsworth-jones-martial-law-jewelry.html?fbcd&fbclid=IwAR1MrGtXDnUZCO4ri-IRURm3yXCb-pWrgZFphtNKbwOQipYskKruQqUDBVU

Flavors of Beijing: Filipino cuisine finds a home in the Chinese capital
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-10-29/Filipino-cuisine-finds-a-home-in-the-Chinese-capital-14KFTaUWlNu/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2z9TLgZfFbUVdnmBa950KZnj5GQOw6l7nppk_GgYjApWUYOg4mgHn410A

Remembering the Thrill of Reading ‘True Philippine Ghost Stories’
https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxdewn/true-philippine-ghost-stories-book-series-nostalgia?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Lit%20Hub%20Daily%3A%20October%2028%2C%202021&utm_term=lithub_master_list&fbclid=IwAR3YwyjwX3e6jIxwtUncwUvGXXPWqY5BbYAC0pDILO_F1FxGyoFpwK6PHGU

On this Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, we Filipino Americans join our brothers, sisters, and forebears, who originally came from across, or within, the Pacific Ocean, in celebrating our presence in our adopted country and our uniqueness from one another. We also stand strongly against the voices of hate who would ignore our contributions and deny us the right to be here.

This year’s heritage month has brought a sharper focus on AAPI achievements in mainstream news media, entertainment, literature, government, and in American society as a whole. Kamala Harris became the first Asian American to be elected vice president. There have been several Asian American appointments, including Filipino Americans, to high national, state, and local offices. These contributions stand in sharp contrast to the racist attacks, including physical violence, against Asian Americans since the pandemic began. By March this year there had been some 3,800 reported incidents of racism directed against Asian Americans. The bigotry has been so appalling that no decent person can remain unmoved.

Asian Americans have not taken these unwarranted attacks lying down. Protests against bigotry and xenophobia are being held across the country. Prominent Asians are speaking out against anti-Asian hate. Webinars are buzzing with discussions on racism, on our place in U.S. history, and with efforts to understand the roots systemic racial prejudice in the evolution of American democracy.

These bracing developments indicate that we Asians are asserting ourselves as fully contributing members of American society, no longer the silent, self-effacing, "model" minority that we have been perceived to be.

But where does the Filipino American fit in the emerging AAPI narrative? Our doctors, nurses, and hospital workers keep America’s health care system running, and our professionals and clerical workers keep corporations humming. Where is the Filipino American in the "best of" lists that have included Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian names?

We are steadily getting there, as our new generations come to their own; but we must still persist in our collective quest to make our voices heard. We need to build comparably strong political muscle that can help bolster that of other Asians. But we also need to rid our consciousness of vestigial colonial mentality, of our own animus against other people of color, of wanting only to fit in. Only then we can become a more visible strand in the fabric of the social construct called Asian America.