be aware

this article is on the april issue of amb -- last one...

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On Friday, March 31, 2006 (six days after PACN), I, along with Rodney, Mark, Ashley, and Cristina, went to this event in the Glendale Central Library called “2006 Filipino American Centennial Celebration: A Treasured Past, A Future Enriched.” This was commemorating the first significant wave of Filipino migration to the United States.

The Glendale Central Library's auditorium could probably fit around 200-300 people. But only 100 showed up, I think. During the event, a film was shown called “Filipino Americans: Discovering Their Past for the Future.” (Some of you may have already seen this film through APASS last October.) After the film, several people commented about how good the film is and how they did not know anything about Filipino-American history until they watched this film.

This got me thinking....How many of you actually learned anything about Filipino / Filipino-American history during your academic career? Did any of your classes mention it at all? Other than the cultural reports I did in grade school / high school and a brief mention of the Philippine-American War in my high-school Western Civilization class (the textbook called it the Philippine Insurrection – that's not the way to call it anymore), I was never taught anything else about Filipino / Filipino-American history through school.

So how do people become aware of our history and our heritage? Some learn through their families. Perhaps others are lucky enough to have Filipino clubs in high school that make them aware. Perhaps some learn through self-study. But others don't have these resources. That's why I was surprised when, at the event, this man (late 20s – early 30s??) came up to comment on the film and the discussion panel and said that he really didn't know anything about Filipino-American history—until now.

So I encourage you all to be aware. Be aware of Filipino/Filipino-American history so you could tell others about it. Be aware so that you can tell your future children about it. Not a lot of people know about the Filipino-American's struggle to make a living here in America and all the racism / bad policies they had to deal with. They deserve to know.

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...and so, I end another year of college. Being Community/Culture Chair for this year opened my eyes to the issues surrounding the Filipino-American community in Los Angeles and Filipino-American history in general. I hope that you found this column, the blog, the cultural corner, etc. to be useful in some way.

Thank you all for making this year in TP as special as it is. Thanks for all the memories, from the first meeting to the upcoming formal. Thanks for making SIPA Halloween such a tremendous success. Thanks for making PACN this year as awesome as it was.

Special thanks go to my fellow eboard members; we've gone through a lot, and it has been a privilege working with you all. Special special thanks go to El Presidente, Lisa; thank you for your unrivaled leadership of this organization and for helping me out when I needed it.

I wish all the seniors the best and good luck on your future endeavors. To think that I will be in your position in a year....time indeed flies way too fast.