Todos Los Santos

Growing up in the Philippines, I never experienced the fun and hassle of clan reunions and feasts in cemeteries on All Saints Day because our dead relatives were all buried in Cebu while we lived in Quezon City. Thus my take of Todos los Santos was  more geared towards the supernatural: the onset of darkness on October 31 and November 1 were white-knuckle times, when I would keep the light on all night to ward off the ghosts and goblins, the aswang and the maligno that were roaming the earth. Of course, I never really encountered anything remotely paranormal, but I'm one of the millions who-- if psychological studies are to be taken seriously -- actually take pleasure in being scared, for whatever escape or expiation it may relieve my psyche from.

In keeping with the spirit of Halloween, we hope you enjoy three stories of the supernatural contributed by our writer-friends: Elizabeth Ann Quirino writes about "The Old Lady and the Balete Tree," first-time contributor Kathleen Joaquin Burkhalter tells us the story of her childhood encounters of a different kind in "Supernatural Memories of a Tropical Childhood," and  Pete Sandoval relates a childhood story, "How My Cousin Jimmy Became a Butterfly."

Back to the real world, another first-time contributor Carolina Esguerra Colborn introduces us to an RV (recreational vehicle) lifestyle in "Cruising to An American Dream," a treat for seniors considering options for their retirement years. 

To cap our Filipino American History Month celebration, we go back in time with Helen Ragsac Sanchez's story of her brief appearance in a 1943 documentary called "Filipino Sports Parade" when she was 15 years old, as well as introduce to you the current roster of "Fil-Am Media Makers To Watch." It has been a long, storied journey to the American mainstream but we can proudly proclaim that Filipinos are not [just] in the farmlands anymore. 

For those who belong to the over-50 set, please click on the AARP button below and take advantage of the benefits that the organization offers. Our Partner post this week: "Filipino Americans Struggle with Caring for Aging Loved Ones."

And our Video of the Week transports us to Hong Kong: "The Evolution of Hong Kong's Maids"

A meaningful Todos los Santos to everyone.

In Our Hearts

If Carlos Sampayan Bulosan were alive today, how would he write about Filipinos in America now? 

The best-known Filipino American writer of his generation, Bulosan was a manong who came to United States from his native Pangasinan to work the fields of the US West Coast and in the canneries of Alaska, just like the large majority of his kababayans (compatriots) in the early- to mid-1900s. And just like all of them, he experienced first-hand the ugly face of racism that targeted non-whites in general and the Filipino laborers in particular. The frustrations and the heartbreaks that gnawed at his soul ironically made Bulosan a writer, a calling that he discovered accidentally. 

In a letter to his brother, Macario, (as quoted by Epifanio San Juan, Jr. in his book Balikbayang Sinta: An E. San Juan Reader), Carlos wrote in 1946: "Then it came to me, like a revelation, that I could actually write understandable English. I was seized with happiness. When the long letter was finished, a letter that was actually a story of my life, I jumped to my feet and shouted through my tears: 'They can't silence me any more! I'll tell the world what they have done to me!"

Carlos Bulosan went on to write his now-classic semi-autobiography, America Is In the Heart, which has since become required reading for anyone who wants to understand what it meant to be a Filipino in a country that both welcomed and shunned him. We who came after Bulosan are so much richer in history and in spirit because of his legacy. 

In this issue, we honor this great novelist/poet/labor organizer/lover, whose piercing words were actually paeans to the America of his dreams. If he were alive today, would he write about us with as much passion?

"America is also the nameless foreigner, the homeless refugee,
the hungry boy begging for a job and the black body dangling on a tree.
America is the illiterate immigrant who is ashamed that the world
of books and intellectual opportunities is closed to him.
We are all that nameless foreigner, that homeless refugee, that hungry boy,
that illiterate immigrant and that lynched black body. All of us, from the first Adam
to the last Filipino, native born or alien, educated or illiterate
—We are America!"

Disobedience and Inspiration

As the civil disobedience in Hong Kong enters a new phase, how are our OFW kababayans faring? In "To Protest or Not to Protest" Filipinos in Hong Kong Weigh In," Daisy CL Mandap, a veteran journalist who has been based there for 27 years, tells us how the 150,000-strong Filipino community is riding the wave of turbulence that, to many, brings back memories of EDSA 1986. 

Two of our featured stories this week are by Filipino Americans who visited their parents' homeland and fell in love with the culture and the people. Lisa Suguitan Melnick, our regular contributor who won two honorable mentions in this year's Plaridel Awards, writes about her memorable encounter with a  server in Cebu in "Rosa Linda Who-Loves-Her-Job," while two students of the University of San Francisco, Jordan Guingao and Ty Bernardo, relate their life-changing experiences from their two-week immersion program in urban poor areas in Metro Manila. 

And, to continue our celebration of Filipino American History Month, read again "Celestino's Crusades," one of Lisa Melnick's winning stories. 

Our Video of the Week features a 2010 video from ABC's Nightline on men who claim to be the Messiah, including Pastor Apollo Quiboloy of Davao City.

Positively Filipino invites Bay Area readers to another free movie: "Mga Anino ng Kahapon" (Shadows of the Past), an award-winning full-length feature (with English subtitles) that tackles a common but often denied issue among Filipino families, on Saturday, Oct. 25. Please check out the Partner post about the movie for details. 

And don't forget to send in your stories of supernatural encounters which we will publish at the end of the month, in time for Halloween and Todos los Santos. Send to submissions@positivelyfilipino.com.

Have a colorful autumn, everyone!