June Is (Almost) Bustin' Out All Over

We're already halfway through 2021 and we (meaning most of humankind) are in a much better place now than we were this time last year. Though we are not completely out of the woods yet with the pandemic, the fully vaccinated in the US are now able to do "normal" things like visit with people we love, eat in our favorite restaurants and get on flights, albeit with masks, sanitizers and just the right amount of squeamishness to keep us on alert.

This breathe of freedom that we hope is permanent, is not the only reason we celebrate this summer solstice month. There's Philippine Independence Day (June 12), Jose Rizal's birth anniversary (June 19), LGBT Pride (we expect those most awaited parades, cancelled last year, will resume this year) and Father's Day (June 20), which Positively Filipino will mark with a webinar on June 16 featuring famous fathers being honored by their children (much like how we honored mothers last month). 

Best of all, we shall be bringing you travel stories -- some held back from last year -- that will hopefully transport you to places that can make you dream of traveling again. Here's one of them, a story that will set any biker's heart a-flutter: "Reflections of a Long-Distance Motorcyclist" by James Sobredo. 

H. Arlo Nimmo may not be a familiar name for most Filipinos but this American writer/ethnographer wrote some of the most beautiful stories of Tawi-Tawi and Jolo, and the lives of the Badjao people with whom he lived during his research stint as a young man. Two of his books, The Songs of Salanda and A Very Far Place, are must-reads for those who dream of exotic isles in the Philippine archipelago. PF Correspondent Criselda Yabes pays tribute to this gentle man, her friend, who passed recently.

And here's another installment of Fil-Ams Among the Remarkable and Famous. This is already Part 20 and our publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco's list continues. Just proves that Fil-Ams are making it big in this country.

To bookend the month of May, our Partner post comes from the Fil-Am Veterans Research Project as they honor some outstanding Filipino veterans. 

There's nothing like a refreshing cocktail drink to welcome the warmth of June. How about savoring this recipe again from Elizabeth Ann Quirino. http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/the-happy-home-cook-mango-tango-cocktail-drink

This Week’s Stories

Reflections Of A Long-Distance Motorcyclist By James Sobredo

H. Arlo Nimmo’s Very Far But Special Place By Criselda Yabes

Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 20 By Mona Lisa Yuchengco

[PARTNER] Reflecting On Our Nation’s Past: The Story Of The Filipino Veterans Of World War II

By Jon Melegrito

[Mix It Again] The Happy Home Cook: Mango Tango Cocktail Drink By Elizabeth Ann Quirino

[Video of the Week] 1954 Student Exchange

In The Know

The perpetual foreigner: What it's like to be Filipino American in a time of hate
https://www.rappler.com/moveph/what-it-is-like-filipino-american-time-hate-united-states?utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR1-7mqW30fpZeZcFe09DyIZsXW-7R8P1KqRuxwg4UvdmmiabkK33mXjnh0#Echobox=1622506002

From AIDS to COVID-19, America’s Medical System Has a Long History of Relying on Filipino Nurses to Fight on the Frontlines
https://news.yahoo.com/aids-covid-19-america-medical-110030334.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma

The Three Kings of Biscuits – M.Y. San, M.P. San and Pacific
https://industrialhistoryhk.org/the-three-kings-of-biscuits-m-y-san-m-p-san-and-pacific/?fbclid=IwAR1-M4XYKsM0lI6MQQPsUBI-at2DODo3RgJAhkDqeN6MXzBorZV7vY5jMZ4

Magical Manila: This hobbyist takes enchanting shots of the city
https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/24/magical-manila-this-hobbyist-takes-enchanting-shots-of-the-city/?fbclid=IwAR1A5x6_rlAyVL1UpDzGUu1Izil-hRZaqSvqhwhRd73VhrGVrb6-fZxstSA 

PH ‘Prehistory’: 500 years of Indigenous erasure
https://usa.inquirer.net/72363/ph-prehistory-500-years-of-indigenous-erasure?fbclid=IwAR2HOEb_No-z1VS3sq6u3Ee-Sn9y3rCE7-wiNyqfqYqWGgWyy3FhHE8TZos


Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino

Shaken or Stirred? Just Sit Back.

As we move towards a vastly different Thanksgiving holiday this year, let's use this post-election, surging-pandemic week to take a break from high emotions, and to sit back. It's interesting to watch how traditions and institutions work toward resolving the current political uncertainty being spearheaded by a stubborn incumbent and fanned by his spineless ilk. If you need some reading to quell, or enable, your anxiety, I suggest Gabriel Garcia Marquez's book, Autumn of the Patriarch. The title itself is an apt metaphor for this time, along with "the winter of our discontent".

Nevertheless the world continues to turn, with or without our participation. In Positively Filipino this week, James Bond dies, a young Fil-Am comic rises and, as our Motherland heaves from yet another hurricane, regular people carry on the best way they can amidst the pandemic.

Our Stories This Week

Pinoys Love James Bond, And Vice Versa By Men Sta. Ana

[PARTNER] The Typhoon Victims Need Your Help

JR De Guzman Shows Filipinos Are Truly Funny By Anthony Maddela

Covid Guys By Criselda Yabes

The Happy Home Cook: Oriental Beef With Fried Noodles By Nora V. Daza and Nina Daza Puyat

Video of the Week: Fides Enriquez and Chef Cocoy Ventura’s new documentary series, Ilocandia, which features the Ilocos region’s rich culinary tradition.

In The Know

[ANALYSIS] What will a Biden presidency bring to China, Manila, and the Asia Pacific? 
https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/analysis-what-will-biden-presidency-bring-china-manila-asia-pacific?fbclid=IwAR3PRlgwNNjI2Ce1_h-ICVvfsgkMq3RKGdxicT_eD6J3CZMszo-9bjlick0

Things May Get Worse Before They Get Better for the U.S. 
https://fpif.org/things-may-get-worse-before-they-get-better-for-the-u-s/?fbclid=IwAR0DKLpWGt1SIJhski9RPlbDwPcj7b_sXj7hK6N48arU1Zc_gCA2BlIaTdQ

12 Exceptional Filipino Restaurants in SF and the East Bay
https://sf.eater.com/maps/best-filipino-restaurants-food-san-francisco-bay-area-east-bay-oakland

A New ‘Blue’s Clues’ Episode Will Feature Filipino Family Traditions
https://www.vice.com/en/article/7k9bpd/blues-clues-nickelodeon-filipino-family-traditions-lola-grandmother?fbclid=IwAR1vwyhD_b16Y2oWbPaiK30OVkUtjfyrjweNSEKt7w-YP30eU6Y6zUYdc34

Their neighbor allegedly painted a swastika on their driveway. Now they’re getting bullets in the mail.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/13/louisville-harassment-couple-swastikas-racial-slurs/

A Whirl Through the Philippines with Jeepney’s Meal Kits
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/11/16/a-whirl-through-the-philippines-with-jeepneys-meal-kits?fbclid=IwAR0gsstldoTVp66WzDELSaIAsqXcCniSD2Q_65KZw2TMhCbKQUhIzInnTgc


Immigrants, Racial Unrest, and the Pandemic

The US is a country of immigrants. People originally from other nations who have settled here have, through the centuries, powered this country, enabled it to soar to new heights in innovation and creativity, and continue to push it forward through inventions and new, progressive thinking.

Yet, when the going gets rough, when an economic downturn or a pandemic occurs, immigrants (in this particular time, Asian immigrants) bear the brunt of ignorant tirades brought about by anxiety and fear. And yes, by racism. 

Tomorrow, July 23, the third of Positively Filipino's webinar on Racism and the Filipino American (see flyer below) will feature immigration activist/Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and filmmaker Jose Antonio Vargas, in conversation with immigration lawyer Lourdes Tancinco about the very real issues of immigration under the immigrant-unfriendly Trump administration. 

It promises to be a stimulating and enlightening discussion so I hope you'll join us. To register, click on this link: bit.ly/ImmigrantsRacialUnrest

This Week’s Stories

ABS-CBN Shutdown: Shadier The Second Time Around By Ernesto M. Hilario

Cooking For The Cause By Jennifer Fergesen

A Childhood In Pila, Laguna By Maria Clarissa Palileo

Tell My Parents I’ll Be Late By Katherine Doctolero-Bandanwal

The Happy Home Cook: Vegan Ginataang Munggo Guisado By Chef Richgail Enriquez

Video of the Week: Al Jazeera features New York’s Filipino Nurses. 

In The Know Stories

As Philippines fights coronavirus, some fear involvement of the police
https://news.yahoo.com/philippines-fights-coronavirus-fear-involvement-101748878.html

Bongbong Marcos asked Cambridge Analytica to ‘rebrand’ family image
https://rappler.com/nation/bongbong-marcos-cambridge-analytica-rebrand-family-image?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=notification&utm_campaign=notificationFormer&fbclid=IwAR1K9vhDqWfU3bd3egwTP3Js-vZLPVkUKkx7rmQ8zFWJtPnHrb4emi1330o

Nicole Ponseca: We Need To Push The Value And Worth Of Ethnic Cuisine
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nicole-ponseca-voices-in-food_l_5f05cc2ec5b63a72c33b8e7e?ncid=newsltushpmgnews

The American Tour Guide Who Knows Manila Better Than Most Manileños
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/this-american-tour-guide-knows-manila-better-than-most-manilenos-a1729-20180302-lfrm?utm_source=Facebook-EsquireMoney&utm_medium=Siteshare&utm_campaign=20200714-american&fbclid=IwAR1Rt7rXgsWvOKHejCad43psjZ1V3s1pZ671lnw11JM4-2R3YSYjV3uh16g

How Do You Tell Your Child He Is Undocumented?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/07/books/review/lysley-tenorio-the-son-of-good-fortune.html?campaign_id=69&emc=edit_bk_20200717&instance_id=20422&nl=books&regi_id=47563992&segment_id=33710&te=1&user_id=a6813a01d20d50942afadad6c6f1e549

Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino