In 1925, as Black porters of the Pullman Company were organizing the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP), the train company hired 400 Filipinos as scabs against the nascent labor union. It didn't take long for the Filipino porters to realize that they had more in common with the Black workers; while management praised them for their "natty appearance" and their work ethic, they were just as discriminated against as their union counterparts. Led by Cipriano Samonte, an Ilocano from Laoag, the Filipino porters switched sides in this labor conflict and became part of BSCP. First-time Positively Filipino contributor Don Villar, a civil rights lawyer and Chicago labor leader, writes this compelling and inspiring story of "How Black and Filipino Unity Was Forged in the Pullman Workers Union."

There are numerous historical accounts of Filipinos in America but so far, there is no centralized depository that can preserve them for future generations to access. This lack is what Eliza Lafferty, another first-time PF contributor, wants to solve with her Pakinggan! Archive project, which she describes in "Pakinggan! A Case for Filipino Community Archives."

In Baguio City, meanwhile, the traditional summer treat for many Filipino kids -- horseback riding in Wright Park -- is slowly becoming a thing of the past as a disease kills off most of the horses. Baguio-based PF Correspondent Rene M. Astudillo reports on "The Fallen Horses of Baguio City."

Insider stories about the revolution of the Philippine Left have been coming out and one of the most pointed in its criticism of the treatment of women is Maria Virginia Yap Morales' recently published memoir, Ascending the Fourth Mountain: A Personal Account of the Marcos Years. Dr. Patricio N. Abinales, himself a chronicler of sex and Philippine communists (he wrote a book on this topic), writes a review.

For this week's Happy Home Cook, here's another video demo by Chef Sandy Daza, for three recipes: Authentic Italian Carbonara, Chicken Caesar Sandwich and Croque Monsieur. It's over 20 minutes long for all three but it's a fascinating watch. Sandy always makes cooking look simple and attainable for home cooks.

Our Stories This Week

How Black And Filipino Unity Was Forged In The Pullman Workers Union by Don Villar

Pakinggan! A Case For Filipino Community Archives by Eliza Lafferty

The Fallen Horses Of Baguio City By Rene Astudillo

The Party’s Over By Patricio Abinales

The Happy Home Cook: Authentic Italian Carbonara, Chicken Caesar Sandwich And Croque Monsieur By Chef Sandy Daza

Video of the Week: Gold by Ella Jay Basco featuring Ruby Ibarra

[PARTNER] ALLICE Kumares And Kumpares "Our 13th Our Family, Our Future" By Cherie M. Querol Moreno

In The Know

We speak about Asian Americans as a single block. Here's how incredibly complex they are
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/06/us/demographics-asian-americans-diversity/index.html?fbclid=IwAR38CkTl55IQNrekduxMZarlN61_7e9eSgTsP9THFCKokQg4KCG6DcMq8z0

Searching for a Taste of the Philippines in Jersey City
https://theclick.news/searching-for-a-taste-of-the-philippines-in-jersey-city/?fbclid=IwAR1tJR-qiyijM_9rJ3987RpA8mBmX72x1nrNtFu2GWPo-HRqkoRCOo0DGj0

Former students of shuttered Catholic school in Derry delve into dark chapter of military history
https://www.unionleader.com/student-history-club-delves-into-century-old-war-mystery/article_be8cb1e7-0c5a-5321-a4ff-c6a1a3d43542.html?fbclid=IwAR3FYzst7SHYiH6qYFl8Fn9WDpQyFvoAjm078a7K49MiG_NhQP9YrB9P3lA

Wealthy and Educated: A Look at Manila's First Beauty Queens
https://www.esquiremag.ph/the-good-life/what-she-wants/evolution-of-beauty-pageant-titles-in-the-philippines-a00208-20171213-lfrm?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20210517-fbnp-the-good-life-evolution-of-beauty-pageant-titles-in-the-philippines-a00208-20171213-lfrm-fbold&fbclid=IwAR3nuYBoREAmxVqiIP2OqrQU555twtZ9I7MkaiHFZ7SMYuszfF11ElkJzsc

Looking Back at the Filipino Pioneers of Navy Medicine
https://www.dvidshub.net/news/395831/looking-back-filipino-pioneers-navy-medicine?fbclid=IwAR1BHTD0aNUqy5UDSIvE-zVDZ5G4uv1NrC3LnVaMq2eXpxB_wK5-UuMaSoc

At the beginning of 2020, our world was still what we had known it to be. Our daily routines were simple: work; play; love; travel; enjoy.

Two weeks into the year, the Philippines suffered its first major tragedy, but it was localized. Taal Volcano erupted, spewing tons and tons of ashes that turned some parts of Batangas and Cavite gray, forcing large-scale evacuations and rendering farms and orchards dead.

And then Covid-19 happened towards the end of January and, just like that, the world as we knew it was completely upended. Within a few weeks, lockdowns would be imposed in almost all countries, businesses destroyed, international travel banned, and mass deaths became the norm.

We're now on the 8th month of the pandemic and the end is nowhere in sight. In the Philippines, 80 health care groups representing 80,000 doctors and a million nurses have petitioned the government for a "timeout" to recalibrate its strategy (or the lack of it) in fighting the virus because the entire health care system is now in danger of complete collapse, its frontliners exhausted to their human limits.

The US is not doing any better. The country is on top of the list in covid infections in the entire world and every day, records are broken for new cases. Toiling at the forefront, side by side with the doctors and other health care workers are the 150,000-strong Filipino nurses scattered in most states but mainly in California and New York, where they make up about 20 percent of the labor force caring for coronavirus patients. Do a Google search and you'll see many reports on how Fil-Am nurses have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Watch our Video of the Week -- a CBS news report by Fil-Am journalist Elaine Quijano on precisely this topic.

Our story this week on Zenei Cortez, the president of the California Nurses Association and co-president of National Nurses United, the US' largest nurses' union, is both a call to action and a tribute to these heroes of the moment, many of whom are our kababayans. PF Correspondent Cherie Querol Moreno reports.

Writer and long-time activist Bonifacio P. Ilagan gives us a capsule post-mortem on the real state of the nation, following President Duterte's address last July 27.

And, if you haven't yet, register for Positively Filipino's webinar on "Immigrants in the Time of Racial Unrest, the Pandemic and Trump" featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Jose Antonio Vargas and veteran immigration lawyer Lourdes Tancinco. The webinar happens on Monday August 10, 6pm PST/ 9pm EST (Tuesday 9 am Manila time). Here's the link: bit.ly/ImmigrantsRacialUnrest.