Our Votes Matter

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Fact: "In the 2020 and 2022 elections, Democrats won Asian Americans’ votes in national elections by noticeably smaller margins than in years past." Author/academic James Zarsadiaz, in his op-ed piece first published in the Los Angeles Times, traces the history of Asian Americans’ increasing slant towards the Republican Party, an interesting shift worth watching. But will the recent upheaval in the US presidential elections -- the phenomenal ascendance of Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate -- alter this trend? As Filipino telenovelas would urge: Abangan ang susunod na kabanata (watch for the next episode).  

The Philippine call center industry in the Philippines is big business and already a permanent presence in the nation's economy. It's just fitting then that an award-winning fictionist - Glenn Diaz, a professor at Ateneo de Manila - makes a call center the setting of this crime thriller, The Quiet Ones. New York-based writer/academic Elaine Joy Edaya Degale reviews the book. 

We continue to spotlight Filipino artists, this time a pointillist born and bred in the Philippines' art capital, Angono, Rizal. Dolpee Alcantara Jr.'s signature technique and vivid colors are discussed by first-time contributor Leodovico Padua Masuli. 

Our Video of the Week, another of The Filipino Story's inspiring episodes: "I Didn't Want to be Filipino."

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

North Valley JCC shooting: 25 years later, the enduring fight against hate continues
https://abc7.com/post/north-valley-jcc-shooting-25-years-later-enduring-fight-hate-continues/15167111/

Nassau County mask ban: Many concerned over 'possibility of bias and hate crimes'
https://www.yahoo.com/news/nassau-county-mask-ban-many-235320938.html

New York City mayor hosts dialogue to address unmatched levels of hate crime
https://www.philippinenews.com/new-york-city-mayor-hosts-dialogue-to-address-unmatched-levels-of-hate-crime/

Funding provided by the State of California.

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Staff

Flexing Our Muscles

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It’s exhilarating to see Filipinos excel in Olympic sports be it via the homeland or the diaspora. We’re ecstatic over Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo’s historic two Olympic gold medals for the Philippines and the bronze medals of Filipina boxers Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas. We’re kilig (thrilled) as well over half-Filipinos Lee Kiefer who bagged a gold in fencing for the US, and gymnast Jake Jarman who won a bronze for the UK.  

It’s a good time as any to remember another international pathbreaker in sports, the late tiny but mighty tennis star Felicisimo H. Ampon. In Felicisimo ‘Mighty Mite’ H. Ampon: Tennis Giant, writer Rey E. de la Cruz recalls how the ace from the working class broke “social, racial, physical, and political barriers” to put the Philippines on the world map of tennis.

Greater Filipino presence is also rising on the international concert music stage. On July 7, 2024, the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra (MSJO) made history by nabbing its third gold medal in the 16th Summa Cum Laude Youth International Music Festival in Vienna. 

Just three days earlier the youth orchestra won the Grand Prize in the Bratislava International Music Festival in Slovakia. Talk about bravura performances. Writer Pablo A. Tariman reports on MSJO’s feats in Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra Conquers Europe.

Take a break from our extremely talented compatriots’ exciting European triumphs and do a side trip to France’s Charante-Maritime region. Go island-hopping and lighthouse-traipsing with writer Criselda Yabes. It will soothe muscles worn out from watching top Olympic athletes do the real straining.

Finally, be athletic or simply go about wearing 1587 Sneakers, a new brand created by sneaker industry veteran Adam King to celebrate the first arrival of Luzones Indios or ancestral Filipinos in America. Activist and award-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas explains his enthusiasm for the venture in Walk the Talk in 1587 Sneakers.

[Video of the Week] Puso sa Paris 2024: Carlos Edriel Yulo
[Bay Area Event] Building Communities: A Tribute to Our Manongs and Manangs

In The Know

The Philippines' first male athlete to win Olympic gold prompts outpouring of #PinoyPride
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/carlos-yulos-gold-medals-filipino-paris-olympics-rcna

Philippines at the Olympics: Villegas settles for bronze after losing to Cakiroglu
https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/40752383/aira-villegas-olympics-boxing-bronze

Nesthy Petecio bags Olympic bronze in loss to Polish boxer in semis
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/sports/boxing/916323/nesthy-petecio-semis-2024-paris-olympics/story/

National Artist Virgilio Almario writes poem for EJ Obiena, other Filipino athletes
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/artandculture/916103/national-artist-virgilio-almario-writes-poem-for-ej-obiena-other-filipino-athletes/story/#goog_rewarded

Filipina Am executive chef retiring from White House after 29 years
https://asamnews.com/2024/07/31/cristeta-comerford-from-manila-cooked-for-five-presidents-and-countless-world-leaders/

Purple Yam, a Filipino Institution of Brooklyn, Is Closing
https://ny.eater.com/2024/8/1/24211388/purple-yam-closing-restaurant?

Filipino students win at 65th International Mathematical Olympiad in UK
https://mb.com.ph/2024/7/20/filipino-students-win-at-65th-international-mathematical-olympiad-in-uk

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

Man sentenced in brutal 2022 killing of Manhattan woman in her Chinatown apartment
https://gothamist.com/news/man-sentenced-in-brutal-2022-killing-of-manhattan-woman-in-her-chinatown-apartment

Filipino-American man pelted with frozen eggs, ethnic slur near Mesa College
https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/filipino-american-man-pelted-with-frozen-eggs-ethnic-slur-near-mesa-college?

Racial slur used on sign at Grocery Outlet in Sacramento 
https://asamnews.com/2024/08/02/racial-slur-in-store-signage-anti-japanese-anti-asian/

Funding provided by the State of California.

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Staff

Our Houses of Spirits

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Who among us can’t sing Bahay Kubo, an anthem of Filipino childhood written by National Artist Felipe Padilla de Leon celebrating the simple virtues of a humble nipa hut with a bountiful vegetable garden? Contributing writer Claire Mercado-Obias (A Tiny But Mighty Home) writes about the book Our Nipa Hut by Fil-Am librarian Rachelle Abalos, who shares her memory of growing up in the Philippines in a modest home that kept them safe through life’s challenges.

A sharp contrast to the nipa hut are the magnificent ancestral mansions of the rural gentry in Houses that Sugar Built: An Intimate Portrait of Philippine Ancestral Homes by Gina Consing McAdam and Siobhán Doran. Contributing writer Vic Salas (Up Close and Architectural: Houses that Sugar Built) reviews the book of stories and photographs that intimately explores the grand aspirations, both architectural and cosmopolitan, of the sugar barons that built them.

Of course, all homes simple or grand have to withstand nature’s mercurial temper, as shown by the most recent deluge that brought record floods to Metro Manila and other environs. Writer Rossana Lopez reminds us that devastating inundations also eat away at spiritual foundations: “Why do we put up with this?” asks Rossana, decrying the recurring disruptions to life and comfort that inclement weather brings (What the Rains Wash Away). She observes that the vaunted resilience of Filipinos can be self-defeating.

Can be self-defeating, it must be clarified, because resilience has indeed been a necessary part of many Filipinos’ life stories, such as the one contributing writer Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr. relates (War and Deliverance) of family members who had to rebuild their lives, and successfully so, from the ashes of the Second World War in the Philippines.

[Video of the Week] Olympic Pole Vaulter EJ Obiena

In the Know

Immigrant nurses “penalized” for quitting work reach settlement
https://asamnews.com/2024/07/26/stay-or-pay-traps-filipino-immigrant-nurses-says-lawsuit/

On remote island, Chinese patrols disrupt Filipino livelihoods – and gender roles
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2024/0723/south-china-sea-philippines-china-thitu-feminist-equality

Two members of a Washington family sentenced for selling fake Alaska Native art in Ketchikan
https://alaskapublic.org/2024/07/12/two-members-of-a-washington-family-sentenced-for-selling-fake-alaska-native-art-in-ketchikan/

Meet Fil-Am Olympic gold medalist in fencing Lee Kiefer
https://usa.inquirer.net/154198/meet-fil-am-olympic-gold-medalist-in-fencing-lee-kiefer?utm_source=usa_gallery_feat_story

Rugby Sevens bronze medalist Alena Olsen on her proud Filipino American heritage
https://www.instagram.com/megreyes_/reel/C-D1LOSypFi/

In SF Central SOMA, a beloved vehicle is driving the neighborhood’s Filipino revival
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/s-f-central-soma-filipino-19599903.php?

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

Here are With LGBTQ+ Hate Crimes Rising, How is California Responding?
https://ethnicmediaservices.org/stop-the-hate/with-lgbtq-hate-crimes-rising-how-is-california-responding/

Senate hopeful Adam Schiff reinforces support for AAPI communities in Oakland outreach
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/adam-schiff-oakland-aapi-19596772.php

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff visits Wausau
https://www.wjfw.com/news/second-gentleman-doug-emhoff-visits-wausau/article_adb1a6e8-4c6f-11ef-b109-2332a6486180.html

Funding provided by the State of California.

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Staff