Filipinos have been in the United States since the 16th century, yet many of their stories remain untold. For the past months, Positively Filipino has been running a series on notable Filipino Americans who have made their marks in this country. There are hundreds, or maybe even thousands more, that need to be added to this story, and we need your help. If you know of a Filipino American who deserves to be included in this line-up, please send us their names and any supporting documents you may have to pfpublisher@yahoo.com. For now, we are including only those who are currently active and visible in the media and the community, regardless of their religious, sexual or political orientation. Thank you.

Lee Kiefer, Olympics Gold Medalist

Kiefer just won the gold medal for fencing at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo in 2021, the first American to win the gold medal in Olympic individual foil. Kiefer was born in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in Lexington, Kentucky. Her mother Teresa, a psychiatrist, was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the U.S .as a child, and her father Steve, a neurosurgeon, once captained the Duke University fencing team. She graduated from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in 2012 and attended the University of Notre Dame, where she fenced for the Fighting Irish and graduated in 2017. She is now a medical student at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. Kiefer earned a bronze medal in Women's foil at the 2011 World Fencing Championships. She placed 5th at the 2012 London Olympic Games, after losing to eventual silver medalist Arianna Errigo in the quarter final, 15–10. In the 2014–15 season she climbed her first World Cup podium with a silver medal in Saint-Maur. She went on to win the Algiers World Cup in early 2015 after defeating world No.1 Arianna Errigo, who had prevailed over her in Saint-Maur. Following her win at the Long Beach Grand Prix on March 18, 2017, she moved into #1 in FIE world rankings, becoming the first American woman to hold the #1 position.

Jalen Green. Basketball Player

Nineteen-year old and 6-foot-6, Green got picked by the Houston Rockets in the 2021 NBA Draft on July 29, 2021. His mother, Bree Purganan, hails from Ilocos Sur and his maternal grandfather is a full-blooded Filipino. In a press conference in December 2020, Green said, “I know for myself how big that is and how much I’m representing the Philippines.” Green played for the FilAm Sports USA team in the Philippines in 2018 and 2019. He won the FIBA U17 World Cup MVP after leading Team USA to its fifth straight world title in 2018. He joined the NBA G League Ignite in 2020 despite receiving offers to play for the Auburn Tigers and the Memphis Tigers in the US NCAA. Green is only the third player with Filipino heritage to be drafted in the NBA after Raymond Townsend in 1978 and Jordan Clarkson in 2014.

Ananias C. Diokno, M.D., Doctor and Professor

Diokno has dual appointments as professor of Urology at the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine and the University of Central Florida College of Medicine. In 2013, he retired as the Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Michigan’s Beaumont Health System where he integrated the entire organization into a system rather than three separate hospital divisions and ambulatory care, organized the medical staff and was instrumental in the creation of the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila and completed his urologic training at the University of Michigan under Jack Lapides. Diokno has published four books and more than 250 journal articles and book chapters. He is the co-editor-in-chief of the International Urology & Nephrology Journal. The annual prestigious international essay contest in Neurology and Urodynamics is now named Diokno-Lapides Essay Contest.

Steven Raga, Youth Leader

Raga currently serves as the New York State Chairman for the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) as well as a member of its National Board of Governors. He is the Founder and current Board Member of Pilipino American Unity for Progress (UniPro), and Vice President of the Filipino American Democratic Club of New York. He also sits on the Board of Asian Women for Health, Woodside On The Move, and serves on the Community Engagement Subcommittee for the United Way Young Leaders Council of New York City. He is also a Queens County Democratic Committeeman For 34th Assembly District in the State of New York, a member of the NY State Advisory Council for the US Federal Civil Rights Commission and appointed to Queens Community Board 2. He is also currently a New American Leaders Fellow. Raga is a recipient of the Jaycees’ Young Icon of Impact Award for Government Affairs, the Outstanding Filipino Americans (TOFA) award in Community Service & Advocacy, the Pan-American Concerned Citizens Action League (PACCAL)’s award for Community Service, the Most Outstanding Graduate Student Award by Cornell University’s Asian & Asian American Center (A3C), the Youth Leadership Award by Filipinas Magazine, and the Jesse Tepper Award for Social Leadership.

Dr. Stephen Acabado, UCLA Professor

Dr. Stephen Acabado (Source: seameo.spafa.org)

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) recently announced the appointment of Dr. Stephen Acabado, associate professor of the Department of Anthropology, as the new director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) of UCLA International Institute. An archaeological anthropologist interested in human environment interaction and indigenous responses to colonialism, Acabado's research focused on the archaeology of highland agricultural systems in Southeast Asia, specifically on the Ifugao rice terraces in Northern Philippines. He currently has active research programs in Indigenous Taiwan, and in Bicol and Ifugao in the Philippines. In addition to his archaeological research, the professor is also actively engaged in the ethnographic study of the Ifugao agricultural system as a living cultural landscape. His research among the Ifugao and their rice terraces, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site, forced a rethinking of long-held assumptions about indigenous peoples as passive observers in history. Originally from Bicol, he graduated B.A. in Anthropology from UP Diliman and subsequently earned his Masters and Doctorate degrees at the University of Hawaii and has been a professor and lecturer at UP Diliman and Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines and at University of Hawaii, University of Guam and UCLA in the U.S. Acabado is also a published author, having written or co-written articles in leading archaeological and anthropological journals and periodicals, as well as several books, including the most recent, a picture book for children, "Bahay Kubo," in the Philippines.

Bella Poarch, Tik Tok Star

Born in the Philippines, Poarch is a social media influencer in Tik Tok. She is known for her lip-syncing videos. She has been averaging nearly one million new followers every day on Tik Tok and now has 39 million followers, despite joining Tik Tok only in April 2020, according to YouTuber Def Noodles, who tracks influencer trends. She claims to have served in the U.S. Navy and was stationed in Japan in 2017. A user asked Poarch why she had so many tattoos, and she replied, “I had a rough childhood. My scars from abuse made me insecure. And so I had to cover up my scars with tattoos.” She was criticized for having a tattoo of Imperial Japan’s war flag from 1870 until the end of WW II, to which she apologized, “I didn’t know the history. But when I found out, I immediately had it covered and scheduled for removal. I am ashamed of myself for not doing my research.”

Leo Albea, Creator of One Down

As a Filipino American director and producer, Albea crafts stories that add diversity to the digital world. His website says he has “over 900 million views under his belt as a filmmaker and have a demonstrated track record of producing viral content.” Currently he works at First Media as producer for the channel Blossom, where he creates videos to over 70 million millennial women followers. He is also the creative director and co-founder for One Down, a Filipino-centered media platform, to advance Filipino visibility in multiple industries, that recently launched “The Chismis” web series in partnership with kumu. There are two main show formats that are streamed on @onedown in the kumu app: “The Chismis” show airs Fridays at 12 noon PST and is hosted by actor, writer and Filharmonics member, Trace Gaynor. “Chismis: The Gameshow,” hosted by Tessa Albea, spotlights Filipino pop culture and airs on Wednesday at 7 pm PST.

Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan, Restaurateurs

Romy Dorotan and Amy Besa (Source: ediblebrooklyn.com)

Besa and Dorotan immigrated separately to the U.S. from the Philippines in the ‘70s, met and married, and opened their first restaurant, Cendrillon, (meaning “Cinderella” in French) in Soho, New York. Dorotan was the chef while Besa hosted the guests. They felt it was time to bring Filipino food out in the open, into mainstream. In an interview with ANC, Besa said, “It wasn’t easy, a lot of people would walk in and ask if we were Japanese, if we were Thai because those were the accepted cuisines. And a lot of people would walk out if we said no, this is Filipino. But then, you just have to make friends. The moment people get to know you personally, then they’ll accept everything, then they’ll look at the food, they’ll look at it from your point of view and they will love it because it’s good. That’s part of the process.” In 2006, the couple published the award-winning book, Memories of Philippine Kitchens. When they moved to Brooklyn in 2009, they closed Cendrillon as the landlord demanded more rent and opened Purple Yam in Brooklyn and in Malate, Manila in Besa’s family home. Purple Yam in Brooklyn is still open, serving the community comfort food, making them feel like they’re home.

Jim Maliksi, Architect

Maliksi’s residential architectural firm provides home restoration, remodeling, new custom homes, interior architecture, whole house remodel, additions, kitchen and bath design to high-end homes in the Peninsula area in the San Francisco Bay Area. His firm, Jim Maliksi and Associates, was established in 1989. It has four architects and an interior designer. Its size allows it to offer a more personalized and more focused approach to each project. Maliksi’s firm was included among the 13 Best Residential Architects in Menlo Park, California. In 2010 he was the president of the United Architects of the Philippines. In his speech, he said it was time to “give back” to the Motherland.

Belinda Allyn, Broadway actress

Belinda Allyn (Source: belindaallyn.com)

Allyn was born in Kansas and survived a heart failure when she was 2 years old. Her first theatrical experience was when she was cast as one of the many children in The King & I. She moved to Arkansas and received scholarship money to play oboe. In high school, she was the colorguard captain in the marching band for 2 years. Her next theatrical experience was playing Eponine in Les Miserables. Allyn graduated from Oklahoma City University with a degree in Music Theater. She was salutatorian in high school and graduated summa cum laude in college. Her credits include Maria in West Side Story, Allegiance with George Takei, The Radio City Christmas Spectacular and Beauty and the Beast among others.

Conrad Benedicto, Kulintang Musician, Teacher and Author

Benedicto immigrated to San Francisco from the Philippines as a teenager and is an alumnus of Woodrow Wilson High School. He began teaching social studies at Balboa High School in 1994. He coordinated the Unity Club, a multi-ethnic organization that used the wilderness and outdoor experience as tools to help build community across cultures. In 1998, he founded WALC (Wilderness Arts and Literacy Collaborative) Club which became the academic environmental education program in 2000 at two inner-city high schools in San Francisco, serving primarily low-income youth of color who have been historically underserved. Benedicto was also the apprentice of master Kulintang artist, Danongan Kalanduyan, from 1997 to 2016. In 2018, he wrote his first novel, Musalaya’s Gift. Author Lenny Mendoza Strobel’s review of the book said, “Musalaya’s Gift may fall under the genre of fantasy novel but it’s more than this. I would file this under ‘indigenous futurism’ because it returns the reader to the Filipino indigenous mythic world that is being reclaimed in this novel by Conrad Benedicto. The sound of the Kulintang gongs in the hands of a young warrior, Alad, and in the context of a communal ceremony, becomes the Medicine that exorcises the evil that has descended upon the Lukat and restores the people to the Wholeness.”

Vincent Gotti, Fashion and Editorial Photographer

Born and raised in Cebu City, Philippines, Gotti immigrated to the U.S. in 1984. He joined the US Air Force in 1986. In 2010 in Fremont, California, he launched his photography studio that specializes in fashion, beauty, glamour and lifestyle. He was nominated as one of the Best Fashion Photographers in 2011 for the San Francisco Fashion Week Awards. He co-founded GEV Magazine, a Food and Fashion Magazine in San Francisco and is currently the Chief Contributing Photographer and Business Development Executive (Asia, Pacific and Australia) for Publicom Latina Publishing Group, a publishing company based in South America with 35 magazines worldwide. “With his keen eye, precision and master of his skill, Vincent continues to evolve in photographing fashion and lifestyle editorials for numerous publications in San Francisco and Los Angeles. With his exuberant personality, compassion and passion, Vincent Gotti sets to travel the world searching for his next inspiration and aims to bring out the best in people one click at a time.”

Deirdre de La Cruz, Professor

De La Cruz is Associate Professor of Southeast Asian Studies and Associate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. She received her Ph.D. at the Columbia University. An historian and cultural anthropologist from the Philippines, with interest in the “transformation of religious sensibilities, beliefs, and phenomena in modernity.” Her work examines different varieties of Filipino Christianity as a means to develop innovative approaches to researching and writing about religion. Her first book, Mother Figured: Marian Apparitions and the Making of a Filipino Universal, is a “study of the efflorescence of apparitions and miracles of the Virgin Mary in the Philippines, from the mid-nineteenth century to the turn of the millennium.” A recent book, Spirits of a New Age, investigates “alternative spiritual and religious movement in the Philippines as they intersect with and influence occult and new age discourses and practices worldwide.” Her teaching interests include history of Christian conversion in Asia, gender and sexuality in Southeast Asia and graduate-level seminar on the Philippines, courses that she hopes will teach graduate students theory and method in the study of religion, and how to write across the disciplines.

Source: Google and Wikipedia

The Magazine

Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 24