Listen to Mother Nature

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Before anything else, we join the Filipino nation in paying tribute to an exemplary public servant, former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario who passed away Monday aboard a flight from Manila to San Francisco.

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Snow and tornadoes in California. Unrelenting rains and flooding in the south. Unseasonal typhoons and more frequent earthquakes in the Philippines. Drought, melting glaciers, warmer oceans, heat waves -- the list goes on. If there's ever any doubt that Mother Nature is sending an unmistakable message to humankind to shape up, banish that thought. This year's Earth Day (on Saturday, April 22) is both a reminder and a call to action.

Climate change, environmental degradation, global warming -- however it's called -- requires an all-hands-on-deck approach. And that means each one of us can do our part. Every little action helps. If volunteering for a seashore cleanup or planting saplings in denuded areas is not your thing, your throwing your soda cans and/or bottles in the recycle bin, or setting aside your food scraps for composting are just as consequential. 

While Earth Day is a proclaimed annual celebration, Saving the Earth is a commitment and a lifestyle. No public announcements necessary. 

Our lead story this week is about how one family parlayed its ecological way of life into certifiably sustainable housing developments. PF contributing writer Chiara Cox begins by telling us about how it is to grow up in a green household.

Chocs N' Boxes, a Filipino-owned gourmet chocolate shop in a Chicago suburb, is the only chocolate maker and seller in the U.S. that sources its chocolate from cacao beans grown by farmers in the Philippines. PF Correspondent Rey de la Cruz reports.

And if you're still wondering if Filipinos have established their place in the American tapestry, check out our ongoing list of  FilAms Among the Remarkable and Famous, already on part 46. Our publisher, Mona Lisa Yuchengco, who does the compiling, sees no end in sight.

[Video of the Week] Claude Tayag

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Staff

Justin Jones, One of Us

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Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones (D) has inadvertently become the symbol and voice of the nascent civil rights movement in the US, which has expanded from being predominantly Black in the '60s to now include all peoples of color and gender.

Jones, together with another Black colleague Rep. Justin Pearson, were expelled by the Republican-dominated Tennessee House of Representatives for disruptive behavior during a session discussing gun laws following the mass shooting in a Tennessee school that killed six, including three 9-year-old kids. Another colleague, Rep. Gloria Johnson, a white woman, was not expelled, bringing race to the forefront of the legislative action.

Jones identifies unequivocally with his Filipino roots [Read Leny Mendoza Strobel's story on him: Justin Jones – Black, Filipino, Civil Rights Activist — Positively Filipino | Online Magazine for Filipinos in the Diaspora]. Many of PF's Fil-Am readers strongly support him. "This blatant racism is personal since Justin is one of us, " lawyer Ben Olivas wrote. " I explain to my American friends that I will not be silent in the face of the right’s embrace of authoritarian rule, given our own fight against autocracy back in the day.  There is nothing Christian about showing kindness only to those of your tribe."

Last Monday afternoon, following a worldwide outrage, the Nashville Metropolitan Council unanimously reinstated Jones as its duly appointed representative, bringing him back to the House that expelled him. [See our In The Know links section below for the Associated Press report.] Is this the end of this story on race and an assault on democracy? Not a chance. We think this is only the beginning.

Our new stories this week brings us to two places in northern Philippines that seldom get airtime in mainstream media: Batanes, the northernmost province, where ace food writer Micky Fenix was introduced to uvi, a non-purple root crop native to the area; and Benguet, where the Northern Blossom Flower Farm caught the attention of PF contributing writer, Ian Layugan. 

To commemorate the 81st anniversary of the Fall of Bataan on April 8, 1942, here's a story for the ages: 

Death of an Army — Positively Filipino | Online Magazine for Filipinos in the Diaspora

Before recently becoming the cover girl for a Philippine fashion magazine, Whang Od, the oldest living traditional mambabatok (tattoo artist), was the focus of Maia Almendral Esteves' first-person account on how it was to have a centuries-old tradition imprinted on her skin: 

http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/from-brooklyn-to-buscalan-a-journey-to-whang-od

For Filipino boomers in Manila in the early '70s, Holy Week inevitably trigger memories of "Jesus Christ Superstar," the musicale whose Manila production made the lead performer, Boy Camara, still a remembered name. Where is he now? PF contributing writer Bella Bonner brought us up-to-date: Boy Camara Superstar — Positively Filipino | Online Magazine for Filipinos in the Diaspora

Our Stories This Week

Rooted In Tradition by Micky Fenix

A Matriarch’s Legacy Flowers In The Mountains by Ian Layugan

Read Agains

Justin Jones – Black, Filipino, Civil Rights Activist by Leny Mendoza Strobel

Death Of An Army by Antonio A. Nieva

From Brooklyn To Buscalan: A Journey To Whang Od
by Maia Almendral Esteves

Boy Camara Superstar by Bella Bonner

[Cook It Again] The Happy Home Cook: Thai Beef Lettuce Wrap by Judy Ann Santos-Agoncillo

[Video of the Week] The Reliever (Full Movie)

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Staff

Reflect and Refresh

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However and wherever you choose to celebrate this week, we wish you the space for meaningful reflection, the comfort of rituals and the joy of community.

Jose Garcia Villa and Nick Joaquin -- literary giants known for sardonic humor and acerbic wit -- apparently had affection and respect for each other, as PF contributing writer Virgilio Reyes Jr. gleans from a valuable poem Joaquin wrote for the internment of his friend, Garcia Villa. The latter's colorful life is at the center of this tribute to the friendship between two great Filipino writers.

Hardly anyone has been untouched by grief these past three years. Certainly not PF Correspondent Criselda Yabes who mourns and honors her "three mothers" in this week of solemnity and contemplation.

To Cha-cha or not to cha-cha? The issue of Charter change comes up once again in the Philippines, and Netherlands-based lecturer/activist Jacob Apostol weighs in.

Once upon a time, in the '70s decade, when political turmoil was prevalent and Filipino Americans were struggling to be heard, a rock band named Dakila made waves by recording what is now considered the first Asian American rock album. With permission from KQED, we are posting this story about the revival of Dakila's important musical legacy.

In time for this Holy Week, Read Again about the art and soul of Redemptorist priest, Fr. Rey Culaba: 

http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/art-and-soul-and-fr-rey

Always a good Lenten dish, guaranteed: 

http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/pesang-salmon-filipino-fish-stew-in-ginger-broth-with-tomatoes-spinach

[Video of the Week] 6 Decades of American Fashion Turned Filipino

In The Know

The best Filipino restaurants in Los Angeles

https://www.timeout.com/los-angeles/restaurants/best-filipino-restaurants-in-los-angeles

[Only IN Hollywood] 2 Filipinos among key talents behind ‘John Wick 4’s’ dazzling fight scenes

https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/movies/only-in-hollywood-filipinos-talents-behind-john-wick-4-fight-scenes/?utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR2iy6mRfnRcptLx7XcVfGjpev9_Hcdzl9PeHZ1n-CzGwP30-mxH3sxdX5w

Rich Rodriguez honors Filipino spirit through Masaya store

https://www.manilatimes.net/2023/03/19/the-sunday-times/filipino-champions/rich-rodriguez-honors-filipino-spirit-through-masaya-store/1883301?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR3cpRWwVAHGasL_6GpQrau9xNUIJFDtqT2Ie-01mofbMMEV0Ys4cY0zLQY#Echobox=1679777836

Child actor singing ‘Happy Birthday’ in Filipino on ‘Barney’ 3 decades ago has left an indelible impression

https://nextshark.com/pia-jasmine-hamilton-happy-birthday-filipino-barney

Local Filipino American players pave way for baseball’s growth in Philippines

https://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/story/2023-03-26/filipino-american-baseball-players-pave-way-for-growth-philippines

Pinay Nurse In US Transforms Backyard Into Garden, Conducts “Talipapa Days” To Sell Her Produce

https://www.businessnews.com.ph/pinay-nurse-in-us-transforms-backyard-into-garden-conducts-talipapa-days-to-sell-her-produce-20220928/?fbclid=IwAR31cjQOHoXmoZxnJ3GBOz1ZS-SO4w8LRHhVyrxxdrXvOj-JKxl5JfWaBes

Apo Whang-Od And The Indelible Marks Of Filipino Identity

https://vogue.ph/magazine/apo-whang-od/

Taylor Swift surprises Filipino fan by doing his viral dance during concert

https://nextshark.com/taylor-swift-filipino-fan-viral-dance

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