Our Past Revisited

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Since Positively Filipino comes out with a new issue on Wednesdays, this is our last issue for 2023's Fil-Am History Month. Which doesn't mean we'll no longer post stories that will document the stories of our people in the US. Positively Filipino will continue to be the repository of information and narratives about Filipinos, not just in the US or the Philippines, but also in the almost 200 countries where our kababayans are living. 

We are also committed to providing information about anti-Asian hate and the efforts to stem it, especially in California. This week, our publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco talked to three Fil-Am officials in heavily Fil-Am-populated cities about their local governments' moves to mitigate the current tensions against Asians. ["Fil-Am Local Officials Act Against Hate"] Additionally, we are reposting a story from Ethnic Media Services, "We Are Not Terrorists." Then there's our Hate Watch links to related stories from other publications.

But going back to the past, we have author Gayle Romasanta's article, first posted in the Smithsonian Magazine, on "Why It is Important to Know the Story of Filipino-American Larry Itliong" which includes a video teaser for the forthcoming theater production of "Larry the Musical."

For educators, parents and those who want a comprehensive guide to Fil-Am history, here's a link to a valuable resource from the San Francisco Unified School District:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WAVfSOs4kEnQ5cQD98KUVEV5hbbV5KgjU_a_HA9RxTU/preview 

While most Fil-Am history materials focus on the West Coast and Hawaii, let's not forget the significant role Washington DC played not only in defining policy but in hosting Filipino government officials making history. A book by "amateur historian" and professor Erwin R. Tiongson titled "Philippine-American Heritage in Washington DC," reviewed here by another professor, Patricio N. Abinales, tells the story from that side of America.

To round up our FAHM coverage, we are also posting below some stories from our archives.

Read Agains

‘Positively No Filipinos Allowed’ by M.T. Ojeda

We Stand On Their Shoulders, Part 3 by Mona Lisa Yuchengco

We Stand On Their Shoulders, Part 4 by Mona Lisa Yuchengco

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Staff

Our Fil-Am History, Ourselves

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From the time the Luzones Indios set foot on American land on October 18, 1587 to today's officially designated (by the US Congress) Filipino American History Month celebration, Filipinos and Americans have had a rich but tangled relationship. Bloodied by colonization, smoothed over by education, enhanced by immigration and bound together inextricably by the significant and rapidly growing presence of Filipinos in all aspects of life in the US, the FilAm -- and everything that it implies -- is already an integral part of the American tapestry. 

Positively Filipino's Timeline of Filipino American History, updated to include this year's markers, provides the most comprehensive overview of this complicated relationship. Save it for yourself and share it with your family and your community. It's an important document to assert your rightful place in the US.

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We celebrate the lives of two significant Filipinos who recently left this earth: Greg Macabenta, the multimedia icon and community leader, lovingly honored by his friend, Rodel Rodis; and the poet/revolutionary and passionate Christian, Mila D. Aguilar, by her friend, Cecilia M. Brainard.

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The heartbreaking news of three Filipino caregivers, victims of the current Hamas/Israel war, prompted us to dig up a 2004 Filipinas Magazine feature story on Filipinos in Israel. Written by Israeli freelance writer Inacio Steinhardt, the article is timeless in its spotlight on our modern-day heroes, Filipino caregivers.

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Here's a fun story to break the grimness: Alex Fox, a 23-year-old budding entrepreneur in New York, who organizes rave parties for the young and the restless. Veteran journalist Cristina DC Pastor of The FilAm writes about this son of two journalists in "Rave Against the Dying of the Night."

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For our Video of the Week, here's a technologically vintage film (made in 1978) by Linda Mabalot that presents a significant record of the lives of Filipino manongs, a perfect watch for FilAm History Month. 

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Staff

October Rhymes With Remember

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This month marks the 31st year our FilAm community is celebrating Filipino American History Month (FAHM). October was the month chosen in 1992 by the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS), as initiated by the Seattle-based historians Fred and Dorothy Cordova [read about her in our In The Know links below].

Why October? The first recorded landing of Filipinos (then called "Luzones Indios") happened on October 18, 1587 in or around Morro Bay, California via the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Buena Esperanza. For more information about this, read again Abraham Ignacio Jr.'s story. https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/where-exactly-did-filipinos-first-land-in-california

Since 1992, FANHS chapters and FilAm community organizations in various cities and states in the US have commemorated the month with events and activities to mark the presence of Filipinos in the US. And what a presence we have! Already, the Philippine national language is the dominant household language in 15 US cities, and the third most spoken (next to English and Spanish) in the state of Nevada [See "Tagalog Spoken Here"].

Finally in 2009, the US Congress made it official: October is FAHM, a designation that is recognized in all 50 states. In 2015, the Obama administration celebrated the first FAHM in the White House.

How to celebrate FAHM this year? Check out your local libraries and community centers; many of them have cultural presentations, film showings and exhibits on FilAms. [See our Community News section for information.] If you're in Northern California, visit Stockton, where the FANHS Museum is located. Gather friends and family for a Filipino meal or two in restaurants serving Filipino food. Watch films and read books that tell our people's stories. The Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. is about to come out with "The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American History, Art, and Culture in 101 Objects" [Read Titchie Carandang's "Historical Memories Are Made of These"]

Positively Filipino has, through the years, compiled real stories -- good and bad-- about our FilAm communities, including those that pay tribute to those who came before us and on whose shoulders we stand on as we navigate our way through this idea called America. [Read Again "We Stand On Their Shoulders, Part 1 and 2].

It's not always pretty, our stories in this land. The past three years have been particularly fraught with the increasing incidents of hate directed against Asians. Veteran journalist Cristina Pastor visits Noel Quintana, our kababayan in New York City whose face was slashed when he was in the subway on his way to work one morning in 2021. Despite his trauma, he soldiers on, speaking out against racism wherever and whenever he can. Determination and resilience, that's what he's demonstrating.

And that, in essence, is what our community is celebrating this eventful month of October 2023. 

Our Stories This Week

Historical Memories Are Made Of These by Titchie Carandang

Tagalog Spoken Here by Taylor Tomita

[Act Against Hate] His Slashed Face Is A Vivid Indictment Of Racist Hate by Cristina DC Pastor

Remembering Joyce Juan-Manalo by Allan S. Manalo

Catch A Rising Star: Amaya Braganza by Anthony Maddela

Read Agains:

We Stand On Their Shoulders, Part 1 by Mona Lisa Yuchengco

We Stand On Their Shoulders, Part 2 by Mona Lisa Yuchengco

[Video of the Week] Profits Enslave The World: A Song Across Generations

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Staff