White masks

(Part One) The following quote is from Dylan Rodriguez’s article “The Condition of Filipino Americanism: Global Americana as a Relation of Death”: [pdf] At the nexus of a prevailing Filipino American discourse that celebrates the Filipino-American as a cooperative participant in the United States nation-building project sits an “unnamable violence” that masks the genocidal preconditions [...]

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The Deviant Mother

(Late reflections for Mother’s Day) Of all the made-up commercial holidays, Mother’s Day, for me, is the least irritating. After all, if I was going to be guilted into blowing money on cards, flowers, and the obligatory brunch, at least it was going to be for Mom. So to moms everywhere, y’all rock. And this [...]

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Hello Racialicious and Womanist Musings readers

And kamusta to all my regular online friends. Yes, all six of you Wow, thanks for visiting and the wonderful conversations we’ve been having. I am learning a lot a lot from your insights, salamat for sharing. I’m still thinking about many of the questions raised in discussions in Racialicious and at Womanist Musings. So [...]

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Aspiring to whiteness

As we celebrated the eve of November 4th, I was struck by a comment from New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. He pointed out with pride the role of the Latino vote in Obama’s election. I wish I could say that about my fellow Filipinos. And yes, I know, the Filipino vote is not monolithic. I [...]

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Our histories are inextricably connected

Please read professor black woman’s post about the continued exploitation of migrant farmworkers in California, then sign the UFW petition for farm workers’ rights. For my fellow Pinoys, please remember that in 1965, led by Larry Itliong, Philip Vera-Cruz, and Pete Velasco, 1,500 Filipino farm workers went on strike in Delano, California. The agribusinesses responded [...]

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Human Trafficking

We have an image of human traffickers and slavers as a sleazy bunch operating in “uncivilized” regions of the world. But traffickers can also look like former ambassadors who live in swanky townhomes in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. This report details the story of Lauro Liboon Baja Jr., who along with his wife and daughter, [...]

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The Perils of Domestic Work

In October 2007, Jocelyn Dulnuan was found dead with multiple stab wounds inside the Mississauga mansion where she worked as a live-in caretaker. She was 27 years old, a native of Ifugao province. Jocelyn migrated through the Canadian government’s Live-In Caregiver Program (LCP), a program which has been heavily criticized by groups like the National [...]

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We may be Brown, but we can take on the White Man’s Burden.

“The Filipino people are the most pro-American people, maybe even more pro-American than the Americans themselves.” Ladies and gentlemen, that was our President Gloria Arroyo, with a candid description of how she regards her country’s former colonizers. And she’s hardly alone in this attitude. Many Filipinos do promote this idea of a westernized Philippines, with [...]

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Marriage Equality

In honor of California’s affirmation of marriage equality rights, as well as Asian Pacific American Heritage month, here are some interesting tidbits from my previous readings: New Peoples Army Recognizes Same-Sex Marriage by LeiLani Dowell On Feb. 4, [2005], the New People’s Army (NPA) conducted the first same-sex marriage in the Philippines. Two guerrilla fighters [...]

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Bayanihan in America

My grandfather used to tell me stories about bayanihan. Of how, when a family needed to move, neighbors gathered around the house. They slid bamboo poles under the structure, forming a sort of bamboo harness. Then individuals would each take hold of a pole, and together they would hoist up the entire structure and walk [...]

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