Audacious Women

A woman baker who's making it in New York with her silvanas and chocolate cake. A woman academic who authored a memoir in poetry. A group of  women journalists who didn't let dictatorship or harassment faze them. Stories about women by women marks our Women's Month celebration this week:

Agatha Verdadero profiles Ann Casimiro of New York, whose sweet delights has put a restaurant called Tsismis on the city's very competitive culinary map. ["Ann Casimiro's Sweet Success"

PF Correspondent Lisa Suguitan-Melnick focuses on recently retired academic Leny Mendoza Strobel who has come out with a poetic memoir entitled "Glimpses." ["The Scholar Unplugged”]

And from our Manila-based correspondent Criselda Yabes, her tribute to the Women Writers in Media Now (WOMEN), the group of journalists who never stopped fighting authoritarianism. Full disclosure: this is a self-serving feature. ["WOMEN, on the Verge of Another Breakdown"]

From a well-known woman foodie and PF Correspondent Elizabeth Ann Quirino, our Happy Home Cook recipe for Tuna Pasta.

Our In The Know links this week:

How Has the Philippines Managed to Contain the COVID-19 Outbreak?https://www.esquiremag.ph/life/health-and-fitness/how-has-the-philippines-managed-to-contain-the-covid-19-outbreak-a2099-20200306-lfrm?fbclid=IwAR2qp_2Im3A_biihwFUl4TYxjmxrvaDJjy2Fcyw9DtLy10-oToxzCCxo4dQ

11 Empowering Female Scientists Who Paved the Way for Filipino Women in Science
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/women-scientists-in-the-philippines-a00304-20200308-lfrm?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20200308-fbnp-long-reads-women-scientists-in-the-philippines-a00304-20200308-lfrm-fbfirst&fbclid=IwAR21zvzVKzePOgjqiplQwL3OFN1koK3u48CIZHqmVhcFQkB2xIPgcDJQgT0

No matter the weather: Life as a solo mother
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1238287/no-matter-the-weather-life-as-a-solo-mother?fbclid=IwAR2TwLb2Tb1Xm-6YgBAhIZEtWknWdVsLuza5WbxBzL0z9VjHvELCuFwhwTM#/

Why Doreen Fernandez’s Tikim is still THE book on Filipino food, 20 years after it was first published
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/books/03/03/20/why-doreen-fernandezs-tikim-is-still-the-book-on-filipino-food-20-years-after-its-publishing?fbclid=IwAR1SAP1uspssUPLu3TwTvhiAVmwG_3m_UUbOTQp8W7Ldht_Mn8e6pWKDMlc

Fried Chicken King of Asia Loses $2.9 Billion on U.S. Gamble
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/fried-chicken-king-asia-loses-210000270.html

This 'Tagalog Scrabble' May Help Improve Your Child's Filipino Vocabulary
https://www.smartparenting.com.ph/life/family-fun/salitaan-tagalog-scrabble-a00061-20200305?fbclid=IwAR1tL2HQi2I80zsYGBIViJexn1bNHVyR19iVUqiwBkdZDgG6DcRCJfZsrsw

For our Video of the Week, Youtube personality Mikey Bustos presents his latest cover “Stupid Cough,” a COVID-19 parody and safety reminder video set to Lady Gaga’s new song “Stupid Love.”

Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino

Are You Woke?

Hear it from a millennial. Manila-based writer Joanna Ligon gives us a reason to hope as she explains the what, the how and the why her generation is more "woke." You'll have to read her piece to understand the full meaning of the term. (Read "A Brief History of Woke")

From Hong Kong, Daisy CL Mandap, editor of The Sun Hong Kong, shares with us her heartwarming story about an OFW caregiver and her elderly employer. It's a story that speaks of devotion and dedication, but it's also, to me, a bit sad. (Read "Bhelle and Eye: A Love That Binds")

 A visit to Papua New Guinea is an adventure in itself, but meeting some interesting Filipinos along the way makes it memorable. Globetrotter Rey de la Cruz brings us his Pinoyspotting report. (Read "Filipinos? In Papua New Guinea?")

In case you missed them, here are links to stories from other publications:

Overlooked No More: Ralph Lazo, Who Voluntarily Lived in an Internment Camp
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/03/obituaries/ralph-lazo-overlooked.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR0Ec_SVzCOfAybYiTmgbTgD_XLXWdWWfRsrOFdj_O_ALpB3TXq6jsZdbWY

Fashion website’s ‘reimagining’ of former First Lady Imelda Marcos draws flak online
https://ph.news.yahoo.com/fashion-website-reimagining-former-first-092427229.html

Pinoy of the Sea
https://philippinesgraphic.net/pinoy-of-the-sea/?fbclid=IwAR0mR9fDJCOumBFjN3WwNy4TPokAqzYGeFnppDp_xoXxgebEUvXSVhPU2Is

How To Wear Philippine Indigenous Textiles Responsibly, According To A Textile Expert
https://metro.style/fashion/style-inspirations/8035/cultural-appropriation-indigenous-textiles?fbclid=iwar0zethrdacm4v0s1l1wubaipr4sppycreuf3np3rqciwo0mmifzk1fzkes

Here's another summer dish from our resident foodie Elizabeth Ann Quirino for the Happy Home Cook: Pasta with Crab Paste - Taba ng Talangka.

For our video week, Youtube star Mikey Bustos pays tribute to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino

Poultry in Motion

What happens when twelve inebriated teenage boys get exceedingly hungry at 10 o'clock on a hot and humid night? They get into mischief, of course. In this lengthy but laugh-out-loud funny piece "Which Comes First, the Chicken, or the Scruples?", first-time contributor Albert J. Lesaca provides the lurid details of a prank that exploded out of control and eventually entered the annals of UP (University of the Philippines) campus lore in the '60s. He was one of them so he knows whereof he speaks.

A powerful book by E.J.R. David titled "We Have Not Stopped Trembling Yet: Letters to My Filipino-Athabascan Family" is reviewed by Jen Soriano, writing it as a letter to her four-year-old son. The book is one of the very few that focuses on the life of an "Eskipino" (a mix of Eskimo and Filipino) family and the historical trauma and oppressive colonization that accompany a minority community in America. 

And speaking of colonization, here's a fitting Read Again from poet/author/academic Oscar Penaranda who writes about how he was reconciled with an authentic flag from the Philippine-American War, a long-lost flag that had his grandfather's name literally on it. Florentino Peñaranda, the grandfather, was one of the last combatants of the war for Philippine Independence to surrender to the Americans at the turn of the 20th century. 

Some stories you may have missed from other publications:

Filipino natives forced out of their ancestral lands by Chinese capital
https://www.efe.com/efe/english/destacada/filipino-natives-forced-out-of-their-ancestral-lands-by-chinese-capital/50000261-3984140?fbclid=IwAR0o_NRKD1RHynuH8SsMkAcVn5ij1FbVu6yCDVmlc2B5MsWVeLX7l3e8dkY

Duterte Opposes Gay Marriage in the Philippines, Reversing Campaign Pledge
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/20/world/asia/duterte-same-sex-marriage-philippines.html?fbclid=IwAR0OXHwoB7f19Cqk0MB5oRKjqW36yGCKlTZ8QiXsWSJRi3uWukGKRu3yBvA

The 19th Century African-American Soldier Who Fought For Filipino Liberation
https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2019/04/16/19th-century-african-american-solider-fought-filipino-liberation/ideas/essay/?fbclid=IwAR0o_NRKD1RHynuH8SsMkAcVn5ij1FbVu6yCDVmlc2B5MsWVeLX7l3e8dkY

Fil-Am screenwriter Michael Golamco on new Netflix film ‘Always Be My Maybe,’ and on seeing ourselves on screen
https://www.asianjournal.com/entertainment/showbiz/fil-am-screenwriter-michael-golamco-on-new-netflix-film-always-be-my-maybe-and-on-seeing-ourselves-on-screen/?fbclid=IwAR0om-j8qKYXO8QWgZVOKfUgfP-3XicSbaKrW2nb6co7H8cRVUMlnTiY8N0

A Letter to My Daughter: The Things in Life You Shouldn't Forget
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/notes-and-essays/a-letter-to-my-daughter-the-things-in-life-you-shouldn-t-forget-a1515-20170614-lfrm?fbclid=IwAR3EqLhL2RBeVpzpx7awljtUv3HEHhnUTELEZIeTiYXp3lZDPAuuv_VeteM

To prepare for Father's Day, here's a recipe you can make ahead from writer/author Cecilia Manguerra-Brainard, Leche Flan Vietnamese Style.

And for another touch of levity, a funny and clever Video of the Week from Canadian Filipino singer/comedian Mickey Bustos: If Freddie Mercury was Filipino...

Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino