Giving up a successful business to engage fulltime in volunteer civic action is a giant step for anyone. That's what Vicky Vergara Wieneke did when she set up Kabisig ng Kalahi, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that started as a feeding program for malnourished children in Batangas and has since expanded as a full-fledged nutrition and livelihood program in various provinces. Kabisig's projects has the support of both the Philippine government and private corporations. PF contributing writer Gia R. Mendoza gives a first-hand report on Kabisig and her sorority sister, Vicky VW.

Collecting trading cards of sports heroes is arguably a rite of passage of young people interested in sports. But for FilAm collector Mark John Sanchez, who teaches Asian American Studies at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, trading cards of 20th century Filipino and FilAm sports personalities are a valuable source of history and nostalgia. He gives us a glimpse of his collection and the historical information it provides.

If you're searching for a meaningful book for children in the first- to fourth grade, here's a highly recommended one: Philip Vera Cruz by Karen Su, a fitting introduction to the Filipino working class hero who was a leading light in the US labor movement.

Stories This Week

Vicky W And Kabisig Ng Kalahi’s Story by Gia R. Mendoza

Filipino Sports History: It’s In The Cards by Mark John Sanchez

A Hero Kids Should Know by Elaine Elinson

[Partner] NVC Foundation, The Little Philippine-Based Foundation That Could

Read Agains:

Pieces Of The (Midnight) Sun: Sketches Of An Alaskero by Oscar Peñaranda

When Lolo’s Debating Team Vanquished America by Liana Romulo

[Cook It Again] The Happy Home Cook: Nora Daza's Humba by Nora V. Daza

[Video of the Week] The Rise of Ube

In The Know

Asians in early America

https://aeon.co/essays/asians-were-visiting-the-west-coast-of-america-in-1587?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=4c4af1c0c4-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_06_16&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-b43a9ed933-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

Uncle Bob’s Place honors activist Bob Santos’ legacy with 12 balcony railing designs

https://iexaminer.org/uncle-bobs-place-honors-activist-bob-santos-legacy-with-12-balcony-railing-designs/?fbclid=IwAR0cFOlbDdC5WewzCFKVraywwvimSYGa2Mayt3M3o0DWLb3UUg_nnWfgFtk

Who helped Ponce De Leon find Luna’s lost painting?

https://tribune.net.ph/2023/06/20/who-helped-ponce-de-leon-find-lunas-lost-painting/?fbclid=IwAR2dtL-sg_3Xlcy0hmZUh6hdTwM84N5lG3QHuB7fdSwYyvJYdQjk6KfP_NE

The Story of the Southern Tagalog 10 by Boni Ilagan

https://bantayogngmgabayani.org/southern-tagalog-10-boni-ilagan/?fbclid=IwAR06aX7ouv6NAMibNtSmLeFs917uk8OZeUwgjuZ-nGiP6St8Wyh5vBkxlrQ

One of the very first books I bought when my children and I immigrated to the US more than 30 years ago is Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen. I knew that they were in for American history from a certain point of view so it was important to prepare for some counter-mythmaking. The book was too complex for my little kids to appreciate at that time but its presence in our bookshelf was a constant and symbolic reminder that stories/lessons (particularly historical ones) passed on as "facts" should be examined before they are believed.

I just reread Loewen's chapter on "The Truth About the First Thanksgiving" because, well, it's Thanksgiving. This "feel-good" holiday is not as pure and innocent (and celebratory) as has been drummed into American schoolchildren through generations. There was another side to the story and it was dark and diabolical, involving, among other things, the slaughter of Native Americans. This ugly side has been exposed by other historians, not just Loewen.

Historical myth-making or revisionism is not limited to long-ago events; some evil souls are even trying to rewrite contemporary history -- events that many still living can easily remember and expose as lies. (I'm looking at you, martial-law-as-golden-age liars.)

"The antidote to feel-good history is not feel-bad history but honest and inclusive history," Loewen says. It means "...allowing students to learn both the 'good' and the 'bad' side...."

It is in this same spirit that we encourage you to read "The Conservation President's Troubling Legacy," our lead story this week about President Theodore Roosevelt whose monumental legacy is the protection of millions of acres of land that we visit and appreciate to this day. Roosevelt, however, was also a hard-core imperialist who considered Filipinos as an inferior specie. First-time PF contributor Mikko Jimenez, a conservation biologist and academic, de-mystifies the 26th US president.

There's nothing mystifying about our Living Legends series which hails the very real achievements of some Filipino Americans. Part 2 of Mona Lisa Yuchengco's compilation features Historians and Archivists, the Academe and the Arts.

Sisig, that crispy, savory pork sensation that has surpassed adobo and lumpia as the Filipino dish of choice, has an interesting -- and accidental -- beginning, as chef and food historian Claude Tayag relates. And to top his delectable story, Claude is sharing his own recipe for this Pampangueño delicacy, for the Happy Home Cook.

Our Video of the Week is a short video documentary on the disappearing art of making Asin Tibuok in Bohol, one of the rarest salt in the world.

Read Again:

We commemorate the 147th birth anniversary of Andres Bonifacio on November 30:
http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/andres-bonifacio-the-other-national-hero