Have a Joyous Holiday Season!

/

The Positively Filipino team -- Lisa, Rene, Gemma and Raymond -- wishes all of you, our constant readers, a joyous holiday season. May the coming year be safe, healthy and peaceful for everyone.

Happy Holidays from Positively Filipino! (L-R) Raymond Virata, Gemma Nemenzo, Mona Lisa Yuchengco and Rene Ciria-Cruz

Our special thanks to our contributing writers whose stories have made PF a worthy chronicler of the Filipino diaspora. And to Titchie Carandang who not only wrote consequential articles but is also now helping us with our social media outreach, our gratitude.

This year, PF was also awarded a California State Grant to help inform the public, especially Fil-Ams, about the realities of anti-Asian hate, hate crimes and support services for victims. For this, we have Gail Kong as adviser and we thank her for her guidance.

As is our wont at yearend, we tally our readership numbers and come up with this list of the Most-Read Stories of 2023.  We say that they're also Must Read stories.

But beyond the numbers, Read Again these stories from this year's collection that you might have missed but you're sure to enjoy. They're a merry mix of thrills, nostalgia and historic heft.

A septuagenarian's daring feat:
Paragliding, Sky Jumping And Dying Over San Francisco by Bella Bonner

Remembering Lahaina before the fire:
Tears For Lahaina by Odette Foronda

Behind the walls of girls' convent schools: 
Girls’ School Confidential by Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz

A beautiful flower farm in Benguet: 
A Matriarch’s Legacy Flowers In The Mountains by Ian Layugan

A harrowing escape from a war zone, an OFW nightmare: 
Escape From Sudan by Lawrence Espinosa

An all-female Fil-Am rock band of the '60s makes a comeback: 
Fanny And Their Ongoing Legacy In Redefining Rock by Lauren Lola

An eloquent testimony on success and social inequity: 
Why My Success Is Philippine Society’s Failure by Leo Jaminola

A Filipino Sesame Street muppet: 
A Muppet For All Reasons by Anthony Maddela

/ /
, , , , , , , ,

Staff

History In Our Hearts

/

Happy Thanksgiving Day to our US-based readers. We have a lot to be grateful for, foremost of which is that we're still around. Quite a blessing after three years of living through a raging pandemic. 

In the California Museum of Sacramento, an exhibit called "California is in the Heart" recognizes and celebrates the history and contributions of FilAms in this state where our presence is biggest. The exhibit, a joint project of UC Davis' Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies and the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) Museum, runs until April 9, 2023 so it's a good reason to plan a trip to the state capital.

A FilAm carving her place in the theater arts, Alexandra Palting created and performed her one-woman musical 0874: A Filipino-American Love Story on social media and is now preparing for its full theater production with a grant from the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Why 874? That was the number of love letters Alex's lolo and lola wrote to each other when they were separated by the Pacific Ocean between 1958-1963.

And if you've ever craved lanzones, here's something that will trigger your nostalgia some more.

As the days get nippier and the holiday emotions heat up (ok, it's already in full throttle in the Philippines), it's a good time to reacquaint ourselves with Jose Mari Chan, long-time purveyor of sentimental OPM Christmas songs. http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/joe-mari-chans-enduring-heart-songs

In The Know

The school with 18,000 students: educating the Philippines’ booming population

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/17/the-school-with-18000-students-educating-the-philippines-booming-population?utm_term=6376305611f213bda61335b9cd8de38f&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUS_email

40 Other Important Filipino Visual Artists Who Are Not Yet National Artists

https://www.tatlerasia.com/culture/arts/filipino-visual-artists-not-yet-national-artists?tool=addthis&fbclid=IwAR03-cSx1nUJOUc6eMy7T0Pj9t1uLqNY3oll4GOfJkTP0O1-HuiaBkGzzo4#.Y3PQPyDgFzs.facebook

Kapos sa budget, batang Pinoy na chess champion sa Thailand, 3 days natulog sa airport

https://www.pep.ph/lifestyle/extraordinary/169710/bince-rafael-operiano-chess-thailand-a4888-20221116?utm_source=Facebook-PEP&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20221116-fbnp-lifestyle-bince-rafael-operiano-chess-thailand-a4888-20221116-fbfirst&fbclid=IwAR2adH9g9GynsBULHhxyzX3OwVDf2oSIWwAKyPwqd2ZeHsISygItxb9iI6s

SB19, a boy band with a K-pop connection, wants fans ‘immersed in Filipino culture’

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/music/sb19-a-boy-band-with-a-k-pop-connection-wants-fans-immersed-in-filipino-culture?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=headlines&utm_campaign=sfc_datebook&sid=53bb0669fdd5ac0b52000049

How a Philosophy Graduate From Ateneo Became Bohol's Premium Blademaker

https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/bohol-blades-a00289-20221114-lfrm?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare-Photo&utm_campaign=20221115-fbnp-long-reads-bohol-blades-a00289-20221114-lfrm-fbnew&fbclid=IwAR0McqOxmx9-o770oGNv5vUGhoTiEGUkZxcIItb3T9PK9AbBJoT1n9AohfA

The Wheel contestant 'speechless' as he wins show's biggest ever jackpot

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/tv/the-wheel-contestant-speechless-as-he-wins-show-s-biggest-ever-jackpot/ar-AA14kjAK?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=6dc096a0561640cc82cdafdffa9b5aaa

/ /
, , , , , , ,

Staff

Critical Myth Theory

/

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

/ /
, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino