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This week Seth Paridon and Jon Parshall welcome back their good friend author and historian John Bruning to the show To discuss the birth of the Filipino guerrilla movement. John gets into some of the more polarizing figures of the movement, including Harry Fenton, James Cushing and his brothers, Chick Parsons and more. John gets into the dark side of the movement and talks about the intrigue, the backstabbing, the murder, the betrayal, the torture, and the overall seediness that actually was the internal workings of the movement. While there were certainly Filipinos who are fighting to dislodge the Japanese and disrupt their daily lives and kill as many as possible, there were also many Filipinos, and Americans, who decided to make it their own private war for their own private gains. John gets into this topic as well as the Japanese efforts against the insurgency and their brutal methods to try and quash the guerrilla movement. Make sure you tune in to this absolutely fascinating episode about a topic not often discussed. #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #essex #halsey #taskforce38 #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #mastersoftheair #8thairforce #mightyeighth #100thbombgroup #bloodyhundredth #b17 #boeing #airforce wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #oldbreed #1stMarineDivision #thepacific #Peleliu #army #marines #marinecorps #worldwar2 #worldwar #worldwarii #leytegulf #battleofleytegulf #rodserling #twilightzone #liberation #blacksheep #power #prisoner #prisonerofwar #typhoon #hurricane #weather #iwojima#bullhalsey #ace #p47 #p38 #fighter #fighterpilot #b29 #strategicstudying #tokyo #boeing #incendiary #usa #franklin #okinawa #yamato #kamikaze #Q&A #questions #questionsandanswers #history #jaws #atomicbomb #nuclear #nationalarchives #nara #johnford #hollywood #fdr #president #roosevelt #doolittle #doolittleraid #pearlharborattack #salvaged #medalofhonor #tarawa #malayalam #singapore #guadalcanal #china #burma #oil #marinecorps
OPINION: 6.5 million Filipinos were not lifted out of poverty | August 24, 2026Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net Follow us: Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital Check out our Podcasts: Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcherTune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein#TheManilaTimes#KeepUpWithTheTimes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Im letzten Teil unserer Trilogie „Ich will dann mal weg auf die Philippinen" geht es darum, worauf es bei der medizinischen Versorgung am Wohnort wirklich ankommt, wie groß das wirtschaftliche Potenzial der Philippinen als Schwellenland ist und wo Filipinos und Zentraleuropäer sich kulturell überraschend nahe sind. Außerdem, kurz zusammengefasst: Dengue-Mücken, Taifune und was Claudio auf Siargao alles erlebt hat.
The revelation that a paedophile had changed his name more than 20 times to hide his past has renewed pressure on the government to change the law. Jason Brown was first convicted 12 years ago. He has now pleaded guilty to a further offence. There's been campaigning for many years for it to be illegal for sex offenders to change their name, as many use their new identities to avoid being monitored. The Labour MP for Rotherham Sarah Champion is one of those calling for this legal change and she tells Nuala why.Millions of Filipinos work overseas to help raise money for their families back home. And of these millions more than half are women. Here in the UK tens of thousands of Filipinos work in the NHS, they are one of the most common non-UK nationalities for nurses and health visitors in our health system. But what is life like for those who are left behind? Poet and nurse Romalyn Ante's debut novel, the Left Behind Child, explores the teenage years of Neneng, who is eleven when her mother, Rosa, leaves to work as a nurse abroad. Romalyn tells Nuala McGovern how her true story of being a ‘left behind child' influenced her writing. The parents of 30 children have told the BBC they fear they were given the wrong sperm or egg donors, during IVF treatments, in northern Cyprus. Fertility clinics in the Turkish-occupied territory are loosely regulated and are popular with British people who need medical help to have a baby. A small team of journalists first exposed this IVF scandal earlier this year - which led to many more people coming forwards. The BBC has now found the majority of cases are linked to one clinic and a small group of staff. Nuala hears from one of those families, a woman called Rachel, who was given the wrong sperm donor. She is joined by Investigative Journalist Anna Collinson and fertility lawyer, Natalie Gamble. From Dua Lipa to Zendaya, the bandana is the 90's accessory that's making a come back. In the heatwaves it has proved practical as well as stylish. But the simple square or triangle of fabric with the paisley design has a history with a range of meanings and cultural references, from workwear and protest movements to fashion and self-expression. Amber Butchart, Fashion & textile historian, and the author and broadcaster Emma Dabiri discuss the history behind the comeback. Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Helen Fitzhenry
In a country better known for basketball, volleyball and boxing, three young Filipino-Australians are helping introduce cricket to more Filipinos. Amelia Valdez, Elyza Wall and Zoe Wong are playing not only to win, but also to represent their heritage and create opportunities for the next generation of Filipina cricketers. - Sa bansang mas kilala sa basketball, volleyball at boxing, tatlong kabataang Filipina-Australian ang tumutulong upang ipakilala ang cricket sa mas maraming Pilipino. Sina Amelia Valdez, Elyza Wall at Zoe Wong ay hindi lamang naglalaro para manalo, dala rin nila ang bandila, kulturang Pilipino at pangarap na magbukas ng mas malawak na landas para sa susunod na henerasyon.
OPINION: Filipinos in Israel | August 15, 2026Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net Follow us: Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital Check out our Podcasts: Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcherTune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein#TheManilaTimes#KeepUpWithTheTimes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Hosts Miko Lee & Guest Host Mia Nakano celebrate Bayanihan in Ballhalla. Bayanihan is a core Filipino cultural value of community unity, and Balhalla is the home arena of the Golden State Valkyries. Apex Express was invited to join Filipino Heritage Night at the Valkyries game. We speak with the community behind this cultural celebration. That includes Al Perez, artists Venazir Martinez and Kristian Kabuay, and coach Carolyn Sideco about the history of Philippines and basketball. Links for more information: More information on our guests: Golden State Valkyries Al Perez, President of the Filipino American Arts Exposition Artist Venazir Martinez DJ P-LO Cultural Practitioner Kristian Kabuay Carolyn Sideco Coaching Kapwa Raquel Redondiez SOMA Pilpinas Show Transcript: [00:00:00] Opening: Apex Express Asian Pacific expression. Community and cultural coverage, music and calendar, new visions and voices, coming to you with an Asian Pacific Islander point of view. It's time to get on board the Apex Express. [00:01:13] Miko Lee: Welcome to Apex Express. I'm your host, Miko Lee, and tonight is Bayanihan in Ballhalla. Bayanihan is a core Filipino cultural value of community unity, and Balhalla is the home arena of the Golden State Valkyries. Apex Express was invited to join Filipino Heritage Night at the Valkyries game. Tonight, please join me and my guest host, Mia Nakano, as we speak with the community behind this cultural celebration. That includes Al Perez, artists Venazir Martinez and Kristian Kabuay, and coach Carolyn Sideco about the history of Philippines and basketball. Join us. Today I have the honor of having my bestie with me who's gonna co-host Welcome to Apex, Mia Nakano. [00:01:59] Mia Nakano: Hi, Miko. Thank you for having me. [00:02:01] Miko Lee: I was invited to a Valkyries game, and I said, “Oh, my gosh, I need somebody with me that can speak basketball.” And so I thought of you. [00:02:10] Mia Nakano: And here we are. And the Valkyries do put on a show. That's one of the things that makes them so great. [00:02:15] Miko Lee: Yeah, it was super fun. It was Filipino Heritage Night, and so we got a chance to talk with the different artists that are there, what is the night about, what's the cultural celebration. What were some of the things that stood out to you? [00:02:28] Mia Nakano: I think that it really got to the roots of, one, what a great sports city San Francisco and then just the broader Bay Area is, and two, the deep connections to the Filipino community that exists within the Bay Area. When you look at how historically the Warriors really came up and the fan shots from when they were at Oracle Arena, the huge fan base that was there initially was the Filipino community. To see that translate in a very different way as the Valkyries are coming up in the WNBA as this incredible team, second year, on their way to probably making the playoffs for the second year in a row, bringing that community back, particularly with all the connections of the artists, the activations, and even the food that they have in Chase Arena brings it full circle. [00:03:26] Miko Lee: Having Natalie Nakase as the coach there is so powerful and important representation for Asian Americans as well. The other thing that stood out to me was I did not know there was this history of basketball in the Philippines, and then to talk to the different guests on our show tonight about what that history represents, where it comes from, the connection to colonization, and then also how it's really developed into its own cultural phenomena in the Philippines. [00:03:55] Mia Nakano: I played basketball- All throughout junior high and high school and was very immersed in it in Southern California, but I had no idea that basketball was the national sport of the Philippines. After we came back from the game, I did a little a bit of a deep dive, and it was really wonderful to see that it actually started in the Philippines as a women's sport? And it was making sports more accessible to folks, and also very clearly connected to,, roots of colonization and religion. But to still have that anchor and connection there, and then this interesting juxtaposition where right now there has still never been a Filipina player in the WNBA. There are folks who people really thought were almost gonna make it. So there's still that one last phase that they need to break into this sport that is their national sport, but in the United States they're not quite there yet in terms of representation. [00:04:55] Miko Lee: And talking with Coach Caroline, which people can hear later in the episode, about that history and how it was intended to be this women's sport in the Philippines because it was easier. They thought they'd give it to the women to play. But the men were watching going like, “Oh, this looks fun. This looks more fun than baseball. So it really just took off. I love that transition for that it went and across the country. A few of our guests talked about tenement basketball courts. It's just so wildly different from this country. [00:05:25] Mia Nakano: I think that that is contextually just how sports are played in a lot of different countries in the world where they don't have access. When you think about people playing football, right, like soccer, in different areas where they are playing barefoot. They are playing in dirt or, like, fields that are not necessarily fields. I think that in the context of playing basketball differently in the Philippines versus the United States or even in European leagues, when the United States goes to play in the Olympics, even though you have the USA women's team, USA men's teams who are supposed to be the best of the best in the world, the way that the game is played at that particular level and arena is quite different. And so they all have to adjust to the physicality, to how calls are called just slightly differently. With smaller players in the WNBA what I find really incredible, and this is what Carolyn talks about a little bit, is like the layup packages? When you get close to the rim, you don't have a Filipino who just goes up and makes a regular layup. They do it with flair, right? There's a part of that maybe is a little bit of showmanship, but also it's a part of trying to sneak your way around bigger players so that you can get the basket. And anybody that you play against, even in a league that is familiar to you, you're gonna have to change your game up, and play to your strength, and also just know what you can't do in the game, and go to another person who has more of those strengths [00:07:03] Miko Lee: One of the other things that stood out to me in talking with one of the artists, Christian, who was there in the outside, in the cultural area, and he was doing, pre-Filipino writing with folks, and we'll interview him later in the episode. He was saying how he does this activity at a lot of different games, but it was very different. That was the first time at the Valkyries, and he said the crowd was so different, that it felt like back in the day. It felt like community. There weren't tech bros. You feel like it, The audience was way more women, As someone that goes to Warriors' and Valkyries' games, do you notice a difference in the audience? [00:07:41] Mia Nakano: The first Valkyries game that I had the opportunity to go to last year was their Pride Night, and that is the game that my wife and I always go to for the Warriors. It's a special feeling there. I noticed there was a whole parking lot area for strollers on different levels. There was such great energy, and people just talking about the game, people cheering or rooting for players on the other team. There was not a lot of negative energy going around. When Christian mentions, the tech bro energy, the people rolling around with Patagonia shirts, and sweatshirts, that is so true. You truly feel this family environment that's also very queer friendly. There's so many folks of color, and they're not just there because the team's winning, because last year we didn't know if the team was gonna win or not. They were just showing up. The Valkyries have really created such a strong culture that is team based. That's what you see with the Valkyries, but I also think that that's a testament to the coach, to the players, who really trust in one another, and to the community that we have in the Bay Area. I think even the players did not understand when they came here what they were stepping into, and they talk about talking to other players on opposing teams who are like, “Is it always like this? Is it every night?” They're like, “Every single night, this is how our fans are, and we love it.” [00:09:14] Miko Lee: So it's in different WNBA hometowns it's not like that? [00:09:18] Mia Nakano: Absolutely not. The Valkyries have sold out every single game from day one. They are the first WNBA team, and I think the first women's professional sports team, to reach $100 billion in valuation. then you see other teams, like the Atlantic Dream, who are playing in arenas of 3,500, or the Dallas Wings, who are playing in much smaller arenas, even though they have all these franchise players like Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers and AZ Fudd. The Dallas Wings are actually moving to the same arena that the Mavericks are gonna play in next year. It's an interesting juxtaposition given where the context of our world is at, who's in office right now, the battles that we're having to fight to keep women's rights, queer rights, trans rights in the forefront and not have them stripped away. Yet on the other side of this, we have this huge, meteoric rise of women's sports, and it's not just basketball. It's baseball. It's hockey. It's all these different leagues that are starting to emerge and have huge fan bases where you can watch women's professional sports all year round. They're nationally televised games. [00:10:31] Miko Lee: Thank you for the history lesson and current events of women's sports. I love it. One of the other things that was really special for this Filipino heritage night was the halftime show where they had DJ P-Lo playing. And then they brought onto the court, the director of SOMA Pilipinas, Raquel Redondiez, and she runs San Francisco's Filipino Cultural Heritage District. She got her name on a Valkyries jersey, and was announced in the halftime moment as a big show. [00:11:05] Mia Nakano: I had a conversation with her said, ” the work that you are doing, particularly in this moment, bringing together the artists, the culture of Filipinos and Filipino history is so critical right now because so many of our communities, cultures, and stories are getting erased, that we are the culture bearers and culture keepers, and so thank you for doing that work.” [00:11:31] Miko Lee: SOMA Pilipinas, for those that don't know, was established as a Filipino cultural heritage district in 2016 and was one of the first in the state designated as an arts district by California Arts Council in 2017. So they do so much great work, they host great things from the, United States of Asian America Festival every year. Self-defense workshops for women. I've taken those in Kapwa Gardens that were amazing. They do mental health services for Filipino folks and provided groceries and COVID education and, Filipino language training, and then artists, as you were saying. They pulled together all these different folks, for this wonderful night to introduce a sense of heritage and a sense of pride that was really powerful. [00:12:19] Mia Nakano: , It's a really lovely connection back to the Filipinos banding together with Chinese American folks in Chinatown that really helped create the broader Asian American movement and what that word and power even means. [00:12:38] Miko Lee: From the I-Hotel to today [00:12:40] Mia Nakano: exactly, and all of that being really anchored and rooted in San Francisco, as well as everything that Larry Itliong did with union organizing that I think has just recently started to get recognized in the broader social justice movement. [00:12:58] Miko Lee: I'll put links to past shows that we've done on the I-Hotel, on Larry Itliong, because folks, if they don't know about either of those movement le- leaders and huge moments in our Asian American history, they should. It's powerful part of our labor and housing rights history. Were there other things that stood out to you at this Valkyries game? [00:13:20] Mia Nakano: I know that this is probably not gonna be a surprise to you, but the fact that we honestly just got to go behind the scenes and see the inner workings of what the Valkyries, the tunnels and getting lost and trying to figure out where we're going. [00:13:34] Miko Lee: It was a maze down there, by the way. It was like, which direction? Go to this press room. No, this press room. This place. It was very much kind of, in theater-wise, it's like going backstage and seeing how the tech is done. [00:13:46] Mia Nakano: The thing that was the most exciting about this unique experience was being able to see Natalie Nakase talk after the game, and the snippet in here is really incredible because it shed light into not just who she is as a coach and how she approached the game, but her investment in people, and the importance of seeing people for their full selves, and the importance of the whole WNBA as a league, as a business. They have a lot of money and power, so who are we gonna lift up? It's a always a very intentional choice of what is happening at Chase Arena, at the Valkyries nights, these heritage nights that really uplift so many wonderful communities that are doing incredible work. [00:14:36] Miko Lee: We're gonna get a chance to do an interview with Coach Natalie in a different episode, so stay tuned for that. Is there anything else that you would like to share with our audience? [00:14:45] Mia Nakano: Go see a Valkyries game. Go to Balhalla. It will change your life. [00:14:50] Miko Lee: Experience Balhalla. Okay. Thank you for joining me, and hopefully you'll join me back when we do an interview with Coach Natalie too. [00:14:59] Mia Nakano: Oh, absolutely. [00:15:00] Miko Lee: To frame the conversation, we start with Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase, the first Asian American woman to coach a WNBA team. Last year, she was named WNBA Coach of the Year, and at the post-game presser, a reporter asked her, “Tonight is Filipino National Heritage Night, so can you talk a little bit about what it means for fans to be seen around the league?” This is her response. [00:15:25] Natalie Nakase: Yeah. It's huge. I love the fact that we can celebrate and acknowledge different cultures. I'm really big on that. I think it gives people almost like a superpower or a confidence for, you know, the day to be recognized like that and to be celebrated for everything that their, their culture brings. it also, I think, educates people about different cultures. And so I love the fact that we're super intentional about that because I think we have to do that more than not. And, it's exciting. I think this world needs more celebration. I think this world needs more love, more care, especially when some people are not seen as much. [00:16:01] Miko Lee: In the very loud outdoor Chase Arena area, we spoke with several of the folks involved in Filipino Heritage Night at the Valkyries. Please note that the sound quality is due to the nature of being outside a really excited fan base at the game. First off, listen in as we hear from Al Perez, who helped to curate this community celebration. [00:16:23] Al Perez: Hello, my name is Al Perez. I am a community organizer. I'm serving as president of a nonprofit called the Filipino American Arts Exposition, and we partnered with the Valkyries to help curate their cultural activation for Filipino Heritage Night tonight. [00:16:41] Miko Lee: Since the Valkyries are named after women warriors, is there a Filipina version of a woman warrior? [00:16:48] Al Perez: Absolutely. We have one that's local. Her name is Victoria Manalo Draves. She was the first American woman to win two Olympic golds in the Olympics in nine- 1928. She happens to be Filipina-American. So yeah, she was born and raised here in, in San Francisco Bay Area, so we're very proud of her to be, to represent us and be the warrior and an inspiration for all of us. [00:17:11] Miko Lee: Excellent. And since Valhalla or Valhalla is the space that we want to get to, what is the Filipino version of that place you want to see? [00:17:19] Al Perez: Wow. [00:17:20] Miko Lee: That perfect world you wanna get to. [00:17:21] Al Perez: I think for us, we have this tradition called bayanihan. That's when we help each other towards a common goal. Yes. No matter how Herculean that task is, it's just coming together to help each other. So it's not necessarily a destination. It's more like an attitude of, coming together as a community towards a common goal, towards a cultural pride and community empowerment. [00:17:46] Miko Lee: Great. And tell us what you're doing here today with all these groups. [00:17:47] Al Perez: So we have an outreach table here because we're part of the organizing committee to curate tonight's event. So we actually have an event next weekend called the Pistahan Parade and Festival. It's the largest Filipino cultural celebration in the country, happening August 8th and 9th at the Yerba Buena Gardens, so please come check us out. There's a big parade down Market Street on Saturday to kick off the festival weekend, and then the festival's at the Yerba Buena Gardens, 11 to 5. We're here to promote that event as well as all our other upcoming events in the fall. We're also curating the Filipino Heritage Night with the Golden State Warriors, with the Giants, San Jose Sharks, and San Jose Earthquakes. And then one more. October is Filipino American History Month in the country. So we also produce official celebration proclamation by the mayor at City Hall. So we have a reception, we have entertainment, and we light the City Hall building with Philippine flag colors. [00:18:42] Miko Lee: And when folks are coming out to these Filipino nights, what should they expect? What's happening? [00:18:47] Al Perez: Our goal is to be here to be in community, to help showcase our beautiful culture, our traditions. So when these events happen, we usually have, cultural performances, either a pre-game or a halftime. Tonight you're gonna see, P-Lo, a Filipino rapper and a hip hop singer. Here in the plaza we have some basketball hoops, because basketball is a big thing in the Philippines, our national sport. There's also, Sarap Shop is a concession inside. They have Filipino food there. Our goal is to get people a little taste of our Filipino culture, so hopefully they'll be inspired to, to learn more about our community and our culture. [00:19:29] Miko Lee: And what's your dream for the game tonight? [00:19:31] Al Perez: Of course, to win, right? Number, yeah, number one, Valkyries to win. And also, I hope that people will come and learn about our culture, and to appreciate it more. Maybe it will inspire them to try some Filipino food, or even come to our Pistahan Festival next weekend. Also Señor Sisig is right here in the plaza. They also do fusion Filipino food. I'm hoping that, by being here, people can get to be a little bit more familiar and curious about Filipino culture and community. We have such a, vibrant and diverse culture, we love to be in community. Our food's delicious, and entertainment's fantastic. So come check us out wherever and whenever you can. [00:20:14] Mia Nakano: I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit about the artists who are here and the community organizations that are here tonight. [00:20:19] Al Perez: So there's several of us nonprofit organizations here. Our group's the Filipino American Arts Exposition, our mission is more about broadening awareness and deepening understanding of Filipino culture and traditions by doing these cultural events. There's another group here called Young Filipino Professionals Association, or YFPA. They're more about, , uplifting young entrepreneurs, young career-minded, individuals to help them on their path to being more successful. There's also SoMa Pilipinas Cultural District is here. That's a new, relatively new, neighborhood in San Francisco. You know, there's Chinatown, there's Japantown, there's North Beach, so now we also have a Filipino community. It's called SoMa Pilipinas, they're also celebrating their 10th anniversary this year as being, designated as a cultural district. There's also Venazir is a visual artist. She's doing live art mural here inspired by Filipino culture and the intersection of culture and basketball. So it's a great way for people to kind of learn about our fine arts, our visual arts, and our he- heritage. Kristian Cabuay is doing script writing of traditional pre-colonial Philippine script. You know, Chinese and Japanese have their own script writing. The Phi- Filipino community also did before we were colonized by Spain. It's kind of almost forgotten and almost wiped out, so there's a few people now that's trying to revive that, that old tradition of writing .. It's called Baybayin. [00:21:42] Mia Nakano: Can you talk a little bit about the history or why basketball is the national sport of the Philippines? [00:21:48] Al Perez: Yeah. It's interesting. Yeah, why is basketball the national sport? I'm not sure exactly, but I think it has to do when after the Philippines was colonized by Spain, and then it, the country became, a commonwealth of the United States, right? And during that time, a lot of Americans came to the Philippines, to establish educational institutions, and one of them is sports. It just got introduced to us, and somehow it clicked. Everybody loves basketball. No matter where you are in the Philippines, in every little barrio, every little town, there's always a game happening [00:22:21] Miko Lee: So are people playing in school, like they start in elementary school, or is it more community based? [00:22:26] Al Perez: I think it's both. It's just kinda grow, ingrown when you're just a kid growing up in your community. There's always basketball around you, surrounded by basketball. And then of course in more, elementary, high school, it became more teams dynamic, and you got competitions , intramural games. Even between little neighborhoods and little towns, they also have competitions. It's really a big deal. In fact, they love NBA. All the American basketball players are so popular. Everybody knows who they are. [00:22:54] Miko Lee: Al mentioned artist Venazir Martinez, and we pulled her away from the beautiful mural she was creating to talk with us. Again, this is outside, so the sound is quite loud. Venazir is a muralist and a visual anthropreneur. She weaves a tapestry of narratives that explore the connections between human traditions and the ever-changing landscapes that shape them. Listen as she tells us about her work and how she utilizes a symbolic red thread [00:23:25] Venazir Martinez: I'm Venazir Martinez. I am a muralist and a visual entrepreneur, and I am invited to create a live painting for the Golden State Valkyries. [00:23:36] Miko Lee: What has inspired you to create this work of art? [00:23:39] Venazir Martinez: So first and foremost, of course, women empowerment, and we have a lot of very talented Filipino Americans who play basketball. In the Philippines, because I grew up in the Philippines, basketball is such a huge deal. Everywhere in the most promote areas in the Philippines, basketball is their way of enjoying themselves and just pretty much having a time of their life. Basketball tenements are everywhere in the most remote areas in the Philippines. There's this concept of Filipino resiliency that I wanted to incorporate in my work, there are basketball hoops that is made out of wood scraps and like discarded metals. I wanted to highlight that part of Philippine ingenuity. That's why I'm here is to just shed light on that beautiful concept of Filipino ingenuity that we have. [00:24:40] Miko Lee: I love that. Thank you for sharing. Can you break down what a basketball tenement is? [00:24:44] Venazir Martinez: Oh, basketball tenement. So tenement courts, these are,.. How do I say this? In America, there's basketball courts that is, like, roofed. Okay. With a roof, and- [00:24:54] Miko Lee: Like in a gymnasium. [00:24:56] Venazir Martinez: In a gymnasium, yes. But in the Philippines, anywhere can be a basketball tenement court. They'll just put up a basketball hoop in a pole, like an electricity pole, and they can already play basketball in that area. [00:25:12] Miko Lee: So their court's just made up anywhere. Yeah. Anywhere in the community. [00:25:14] Venazir Martinez: Anywhere in the community, in the most remote areas in the Philippines, they do that all the time. I grew up in the Philippines, so, it's that really is an immersive experience of having to see basketball really change lives for young people in our community. [00:25:32] Miko Lee: So we're at a WNBA game, and I'm wondering if there was a woman basketball player that you looked up to when you were growing up. [00:25:39] Venazir Martinez: Growing up, my dad plays basketball. That's the only experience I know that, remembering what basketball is like. ‘Cause I'm mostly in martial arts. But here I am trying to experience a different, like, more empowering way of sports. And it's when I came to America that I experienced this kind of really, it's kind of empowering. [00:26:01] Miko Lee: And since the Valkyries are women warriors, is there a Filipina equivalent of the woman warrior? Is there a Filipina equivalent of a woman warrior? [00:26:01] Venazir Martinez: There's a lot. There's a lot of very empowering Filipina. First and foremost, it's the Filipina community leaders that I know of in the Bay Area. They are my women warriors. They helped me from the ground up. They created a home for me. They, you know, so they welcomed me. The filipina community in the Bay Area welcomed me. They're all women. [00:26:31] Miko Lee: Who would you say are some of those folks, some of those women? [00:26:34] Venazir Martinez: Sonia Villarin, she wears so many hats. She's president of Filipina Food Movement, founder of summer camp in the University of the Philippines Alumni Association in San Francisco. She was the, senior vice president for Bank of America Global Leasing, and she welcomed her home to me and, pretty much, helped me establish my life here as an artist. So those are my women warriors. [00:27:00] Miko Lee: And when people see your beautiful work, what do you want them to walk away with feeling? [00:27:05] Venazir Martinez: I want them to take a second look again in my work, because these, my work pretty much talks about Filipino immigrants, and immigration at large, and pretty much our contributions and the harvested hopes that we have contributed in this cultural landscape, [00:27:28] Miko Lee: this show is a pop-up tonight, so where can folks find out more about your work or see your work in the community? [00:27:34] Venazir Martinez: I have a huge, huge mural, 2,500 square feet mural in 5th and Folsom in San Francisco, downtown San Francisco in SoMa. It's called Ani, meaning to harvest. There's one in downtown Santa Cruz. There is one in Yuba City. There are multiple murals in Michigan, in New York, mostly in Queens. It's pretty much everywhere, but if you follow the red thread, which is my signature, my artist signature, you'll know that it's my work. [00:28:08] Miko Lee: Thank you so much. Thank you so very much. Appreciate you taking the time. Another artist presenting their work was Kristian Kabuay working on pre-Philippines calligraphy. His line was so long that we ended up interviewing him separately. Christian is an artist, entrepreneur, futurist who specializes in endangered writing systems and tattoos from the Philippines. Hello, and welcome to Apex Express. Can you tell me your name, your background and what you were doing at the Valkyries Filipino Heritage Night? [00:28:40] Kristian Kabuay: Yeah. My name is Kristian Kabuay. I'm a cultural practitioner specializing in our old, uh, pre-colonial, I say pre-Philippine, writing system and tattooing traditions. I was at the Valkyries, Filipino Heritage Night to interact with the community. I've done a lot of work with the Warriors, you know, going back to Oracle for these cultural nights, the Giants, as well. So most of the teams in the Bay Area, but it was my first time with the Valkyries, and it was quite different. [00:29:16] Miko Lee: How was it different? [00:29:17] Kristian Kabuay: The vibe was, um… I'm telling everybody that it was my first Valkyries game, too. So the vibe was different. It reminds me of the old Oracle, it wasn't full of, like, tech money that are, you know, Patagonia vests watching the game. It felt very homegrown and it just brought me back to those days in old Oakland A's and when the Warriors were in Oracle. [00:29:42] Miko Lee: What does that evoke for you? What is that feeling like? [00:29:46] Kristian Kabuay: It gives me a stronger sense of community and the audience is different. The demographics is different. There isn't that toxic male energy. I don't have to worry about someone being drunk and going off and, it was very homey and welcoming. It brings back, as a kid, when I used to watch A's games in the bleachers, watching at Oracle, the community, and not everyone was there to be seen. They were really there for the team. [00:30:15] Miko Lee: Oh, I love that. I actually do feel like it is, it's such a we're together community vibe. [00:30:20] Kristian Kabuay: Yeah. They even had the wave. I know some snooty teams, they don't have the wave, so- [00:30:26] Miko Lee: That wave went on for a long time, too. [00:30:29] Kristian Kabuay: Exactly. I've been to a lot of games. They're, “Oh, I don't wanna look stupid,” or whatever? So that's a big part of my childhood. [00:30:36] Miko Lee: So I was gonna try and talk with you at the game like I did the other artists, but you had a huge line waiting to see you and talk to you. Talk with me a little bit more about your art form and this pre-clo colonization form of writing. [00:30:52] Kristian Kabuay: Yeah. Most civilizations had a writing system. It was prior to the land alphabet when the Spanish came and colonized the Philippines in the 1500s. We have this writing. There's only one ethnolinguistic group left in the Philippines that writes it. I come from a background of calligraphy, graffiti and abstract art. When I started to practice it, I incorporated those things. Later I found that I had to become an educator. Then starting to do the cultural festivals. Then you make your parents proud. It wasn't until I started to interact with the community that, there was this responsibility. I didn't come from a highly academic background, but I was being invited to Stanford and Berkeley to give talks about this. So, you know, that imposter syndrome kicked in. Because of the efforts that I've started in, 2010s, the idea of education around this specific writing system, my service isn't really needed. It's out there. Wikipedia, even AI can do it now, and there's a lot of influencers on TikTok that are, building on the stuff that I did 10 years ago. It goes in line with my idea of putting myself out of business. ‘Cause if it's a cultural practice, then you shouldn't be this gatekeeper, this apex of this this knowledge or this practice. It needs to be spread [00:32:15] Miko Lee: What is the writing system called? [00:32:17] Kristian Kabuay: A couple names. One of the popular names is Baybayin, and that literally means to spell. It's an adverb, but then it became a noun. So there's many different names depending on the languages in the Philippines. [00:32:30] Miko Lee: And you said that there's a village of folks that still utilize it. Have you been there? [00:32:34] Kristian Kabuay: Yeah, I was there in 2016 with a research trip. I stayed with them for a few days to learn, a bit about more about the culture and to donate some time and volunteer, 'cause there's the Mangyan Heritage Foundation. I did some technology work with them. But then also meet with the elders that were there. The village elder did an interview for a film project that I'm doing, but also met the heirs, the daughters in the family that ultimately inherited this practice. [00:33:02] Miko Lee: And so they know that you're teaching this cultural practice around the world, and what is their opinion of that? What do they think? [00:33:09] Kristian Kabuay: They like it, because it's a different perspective, and a lot of questions. When I go home they go, “Oh, why are you interested in this?” It's a totally different perspective. ‘Cause out here, we have our identity, and the diaspora issues. But back home, because of circumstances, colonization, et cetera, then, the priority is to eat, to live, not to preserve these cultural practices. I've had some indigenous elders tell me that when People come over there, to do their dissertation and they need to figure out their paper to get their PhD. They ask them, “What are you doing to preserve this?” It's kind of extractive or, like, information gathering. Honestly, it really is you strip it down, it is, survival: food, clothing, and shelter. [00:33:52] Miko Lee: When people were standing in line for you at the actual Valkyrie's game, what were they asking you to write? Were they asking you to write notes or their name, or what was the request? [00:34:03] Kristian Kabuay: Yeah. Yeah, the line… I was telling people I've never had a line that long when I've done the Warriors. So- … you know, it's kind of different. [00:34:10] Miko Lee: That's interesting. Just saying [00:34:11] Kristian Kabuay: Yes. I was writing mainly people's names- Mm um, and some words. Maybe a, a good third were non-Filipino, some were there just curious and asking and cultural sharing. Someone knows a Filipino and they go, “Oh, can you write mahal kita?” Like, I love you. And so, we pick up things, just here in the Bay Area. I have conversations with people wanna hear a family name that I never heard about. I say, “Whoa, where's your family from?” Kids learn the stories on how they combine names and some of the origins. It's always interesting when I do this with folks. [00:34:44] Miko Lee: I love that. And you're also a tattoo artist. Do you use some of this writing in your tattoo artistry? [00:34:51] Kristian Kabuay: Yeah, I do. And that's where the separation between the art and the cultural practice is. Where the writing wasn't tattooed traditionally, but that's where I kind of balance the art. And I separate those two where art is my expression, my personal expression on paper or maybe even on a body, but a cultural practice is more about them and their lineage. So I have to be clear to make those two distinctions. [00:35:20] Miko Lee: So a question I've asked all the different people that have been involved in this night is that the Valkyries are based on women warriors, and I wonder if there's a Filipina woman warrior that comes to mind to you? [00:35:32] Kristian Kabuay: Yeah, there is. There's one that, part of the lore. Where my dad's from, in his area called Pangasinan, the land of the salt. There's a princess warrior named Princess Urduja that was thought of as a great warrior. This specific Princess Urduja has that Valkyrie's spirit. All the artwork that you see and Academics will say, “Oh, it's you're romanticizing,” and things like that. But you know what? We need a little romance in our lives, right? And romance leads to action. [00:36:03] Miko Lee: Ah, we certainly do. I'm wondering, with all those people, the long line that stood waiting for you, and you're having these conversations, what would you like them to walk away with after interacting with you? [00:36:14] Kristian Kabuay: Yeah. That's why there was a sign, and I took a picture of it. It doesn't say, Philippine writing. So it says pre-Philippine calligraphy. I made that term up in 2007 as a way to jolt someone's idea of what pre-Hispanic, pre-colonial is. ‘Cause those things kinda just fly overhead. But if I said pre-Philippines, people, they take a step back and they, “What's that mean?” Or they try to have a smart comeback, “Well, what were we before then?” And my question's always then, “Well, I don't know. Let's talk about it.” That gray area, that being uncomfortable, leads to more curiosity, and ultimately, that's what I want folks to go ahead and, you know… oh, I have this banana leaf. I ran out of index cards. I brought 100 of them. I had these banana leaves that I just meant to decorate the table. I said, “You know what? Let me write on these banana leaves like how our ancestors did.” People are asking, “Oh, what, we wrote on banana leaves?” I'm all, “Yeah, we wrote on, organic materials.” So this thing is probably gonna wilt away in a few weeks or a month or so, but that's how it is. So it's a metaphor for our physical selves, but then also, the message. Maybe they can go ahead and learn how to write it themselves or until we reconnect again. [00:37:31] Miko Lee: Hmm. That's beautiful. And how can our audience find out more about you and your work? [00:37:36] Kristian Kabuay: Yeah, you can just search for me online. My last name's K-A-B-U-A-Y. First name's Kristian, both with a K. All over the internets and the socials, pretty easy to find. [00:37:46] Miko Lee: Thank you. And we'll put links to your website in our show notes, so thank you so much for chatting with me today. [00:37:52] Kristian Kabuay: Thanks, Miko [00:37:54] Miko Lee: I honestly didn't know that basketball was such a revered sport in the Philippines. So wanting to find out more, I reached out to a bunch of community folks, and multiple people said, “Reach out to Coach Carolyn Sudeco. She's the one. She's in the know.” So talking to me from her vacation spot halfway around the world is Coaching Kapwa's Carolyn Sudeco. Welcome, Carolyn Sideco, to Apex Express. I'm so happy to have you here. [00:38:19] Carolyn Sideco: Thank you for having me. [00:38:21] Miko Lee: Can you first start by telling me who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you? [00:38:27] Carolyn Sideco: Oh my gosh, my people are, collectively, folks who identify as, Philippinics, Filipina, Filipino, and American, and, migratory, and those who claim blood relation and those who I'm still looking for. I live in San Francisco, California, Ohlone land, and also in the land of Choctaw Bulbancha, which is New Orleans, Louisiana. Those are the two places I reside. [00:39:04] Miko Lee: Can you share about your work with Coaching Kapwa? [00:39:08] Carolyn Sideco: Coaching Kapwa is what I love to do, and my background professionally is as a certified athletic administrator. I'm a physical educator at the high school level by profession, by certification, by training. But really what I love to do, and so what I do in my consultancy, is I explore and I examine and I think about and learn about everything related to sports cultures and how the culture of sports in all its various ways affect our societies. Specifically, I geek out over learning about my own Filipino American histories and other peoples. Learning that through the concept or the constructs of culture and how sports really is, for me, the funnest way to investigate who I am and who we are to each other. I call myself a sports relationship coach. I am a sports cultures consultant. I also like to identify as a sports liberator. [00:40:16] Miko Lee: Ooh, can you break down what a sports liberator is? [00:40:20] Carolyn Sideco: Miko, I took that from a friend of mine, Danya Cabello, also from the East Bay. Played at Cal, played professionally, and when I first met her years ago, she identified as such, and I said, “That is exactly the kind of person that I wanna be, like, in sports.” I wanted sports to be a way that I could share with people who we are to one another. I wanted to teach young people that they can express themselves in a way that helps make them feel free. With my background in sports administration, I was feeling like the sports industrial complex was really the antithesis of that. And what a lot of people in my profession were striving for was this success that was not defined in the same way that I was defining what my liberation was, and what I felt through sports. So I adopted that. I asked Dania, “Can I call myself a sports liberator too?” And she said, “Girl, you call yourself whatever you want.” So that's what I go by. [00:41:37] Miko Lee: Ooh, thank you for sharing. That's so interesting in the midst of our kind of capitalization of sports, how corporate it has become. Interesting. Thanks. I also wanted to thank you for sharing with me, Rafe Bartholomew's Hoop Nation and Cassidy Hubbard's, Hoop's Paradise. So those, along with your YouTubes, really gave me a grounding in the connection to between basketball and the Philippines. I'll put a link to those in the show notes for other people that like to do deep dives like me. But can you just give our audience a sense of why basketball is so popular in the Philippines? [00:42:10] Carolyn Sideco: I learned about the history of basketball and Filipino culture in the Philippines through various people, Rafe Bartholomew one of them, and his book Pacific Rims. A friend of mine here in the San Francisco Bay Area, Kevin Santos, was doing his master's thesis on the history of basketball in the Philippines, and putting an ethnic studies frame on it, so he was the one who actually, practiced his thesis and presentation with me, and I learned a lot through him, and through other people as I was learning about this myself, and how basketball when it was initially, or as we, the modern game of basketball was invented, by Dr. Naismith in Massachusetts with the peach tree basket. Most of us are familiar with that history, but also that was around the time of the Philippine-American War, and US colonization was at its beginning. And so what did the United States export, was its culture, and a lot of that was through sports, mainly baseball, 'cause baseball was already the national pastime. Basketball was relatively new, and basketball was taught in the Philippines also, like in conjunction with the American education system by teachers, by the Thomasites, and by others who were using that form of colonization. They gave basketball to the women and the girls, because it was the lesser sport. It was the newer sport, so it was the lesser sport. They gave it to the women. The men were supposed to play baseball. The Philippines is a collective society- Baseball is a spread out sport, and people aren't close to one another. You're out on a field, it's hella hot, and it's boring. [00:44:17] Miko Lee: Agree. Totally agree … [00:44:19] Carolyn Sideco: it's easy, to make this assumption that these people playing baseball were watching the girls and women play basketball, and it's faster. Close to one another. It's easy to make a space. So they started playing basketball. [00:44:39] Miko Lee: Also, you don't need all the things. You need a ball. [00:44:41] Carolyn Sideco: Exactly. In the early days, you didn't even need shoes. Yeah. So it took off in that way because basketball already itself was an activity that Filipino people, kinda took hold of already, and they made it their own. Trained teams started forming and the Philippines had national teams that were already very successful in Asian context, so Asian tournaments they were dominating. In 1975, the Philippine Basketball Association became the first men's, basketball league in Asia, and the first after the NBA in America. So the Philippines has had a long history of relationship with the sport of basketball, but because it's been so long, the sport itself was formed in response to all the cultural aspects that were already existing, right? a lot of town squares had basketball courts 'cause it was so easy to put there. So the same plazas, meeting spaces where people would have their town gatherings, social places, were also courts [00:45:56] Miko Lee: And why do you think or just surmise that basketball has taken off more than, football or American term soccer, which is developed so much in other countries, which is also a little bit more communal? [00:46:08] Carolyn Sideco: My opinion is that American colonization, in the United States dictated, much more the United States cannot dictate because football or soccer is a more global sport, and the US didn't have as much stake in guiding that as a colonization tool as they did basketball. [00:46:29] Miko Lee: Hmm. Interesting. Speaking of the colonization and politics, I'm wondering about the connection between basketball and politics. In, Cassidy's podcast, they were talking about a politician who released their own basketball shoe, which is wild to me. Yes. So I wonder if there's other connections between basketball or politics, and if that's generally somebody who's more on the colonizer's viewpoint or more conservative viewpoint. Hmm. [00:46:58] Carolyn Sideco: Hmm. Interesting. I, hmm, I go back and forth with this a lot, Miko, the colonizing tool that is sports, especially the capitalistic sort of, extraction, of sports, right? Of its players, who I like to think of as workers. They're also workers, right? The professional, Philippine Basketball Association is not much different than even professional sports in America with the way they're set up, right? You have owning groups or companies, and so you have these ways that exploitation and that workers' rights are… how do I say it? Because it's at the professional level, these concepts are very much at play, excuse the pun. The Philippines also has a governmental arm related to sports. So sports in and of itself is recognized, right? It doesn't have as much of this sort of altruistic thing as, as we say in the United States, like the sports is like the good of mankind, like that sort of thing. Like, I think, you know- [00:48:08] Miko Lee: The kind of Olympic idea of unity, it brings us all together. [00:48:11] Carolyn Sideco: Right, like that, those conceptual sorts of virtues. [00:48:15] Miko Lee: Mm-hmm. [00:48:15] Carolyn Sideco: Yeah. So in the Philippines, I think it's so much more practical because it's fun, and you could get in a game anywhere, and it's accessible. Mm-hmm. It's accessible to all strata, economic strata, right? You see basketball courts everywhere, in rural areas in cities. Everywhere you'll see basketball courts. The Philippines itself as a country- I think that relationship to sports is something different than the American relationship to professional sports, where dominance and, winning and, beating others and making as much money as possible in that is at the forefront. In the United States even with youth sports now. I do some consulting work, especially in youth sports spaces, and the privatization and the extraction of the youth sports space is, is… We could go on all day about that. I think, this is obviously from a Filipino American perspective. For sure. I've never lived in the Philippines. I was born in the Philippines, but my relationship to the Philippines is also, being mitigated by how I experience American sports, right? So when I think about how I've experienced basketball when I've gone to the Philippines, , and it's the same as any aspect of that culture, right? It's warm, it's welcoming, it's friendly, and those are the cultural aspects that kind of, , supersede the fact that basketball… Basketball has its place, but it's in service to the cultural needs, right? To the need to be social, to participate in a town gathering. It's so sociopolitical.- And because it is, it's still a colonizing tool, right? But it's still mitigated in a way that I think just like Filipino basketball players are so, like, quick. They're known for quickness, agility, and finesse, and, like, drama, right? I used to joke around, like, you can always tell where a Filipino basketball player is in the United States 'cause no Filipino who has Filipino blood in them can do a regular layup. Like they have to make it all fancy. I think that, those sorts of aspects that are not tangible, that bring to light, the way a culture of people affect the sport. it enables a culture to push out through the boundaries of that sport what was given to them. What was given to them is, “This is how you play. These are the rules,” and all that kinda stuff, and that's great, but Filipino history of basketball is always, like, how do you integrate all the really cool things about your culture? It's something that's very different, and it emerges as something that's not quite American. [00:51:36] Miko Lee: Thank you so much. I'm wondering how our audience can find out more about you and your work. [00:51:43] Carolyn Sideco: They can, follow me on Instagram at coachingkapwa, K-A-P-W-A. Kapwa is the Filipino word for the concept of interrelationship, interconnectedness. And so everything I learned about being, being a person really is through being a good teammate, and sports is the funnest way, like I've said before to practice being a good teammate [00:52:12] Miko Lee: Thank you so much, Coach, for sharing with me about Sports Liberation and your work, and I'll put links to all that in our show notes. And I thank you so much for joining us on Apex Express. [00:52:23] Carolyn Sideco: Thank you, Miko [00:52:25] Miko Lee: Please check out our website, kpfa.org/program/apexexpress to find out more about our show and our guests tonight. We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating, and sharing your visions with the world because your voices are important. Apex Express is produced by Ayame Keane-Lee, Anuj Vaidya, Cheryl Truong, Isabel Li, Jalena Keane-Lee, Miko Lee, Miata Tan, Preti Mangala-Shekar and Swati Rayasam. Tonight's show was produced by me Miko Lee, and edited by Ayame Keane-Lee. Have a great night. The post APEX Express – 8.13.26 – Bayanihan in Ballhalla appeared first on KPFA.
Filipino artists in Australia have come together under the Concerned Artists of the Philippines, Melbourne Chapter, to support temporary Filipino migrants and to highlight important issues Filipinos face in Australia. - Nagkaisa ang mga Pinoy artist sa Australia at binuo ang Concerned Artists of the Philippines, Melbourne Chapter upang maging mas matibay ang suporta sa paghatid ng tulong sa mahahalagang isyung hinaharap ng mga Pinoy temporary migrants sa Australia.
This week Seth Paridon and John Parshall take a look at the unfortunate, but inevitable, end of the defense of Bataan. After months of defending the peninsula valiantly, and short on everything but guts, the defenders finally capitulate under the guns and relentless assault of the Japanese army. Sick, exhausted, demoralized, and flat worn out, the Americans and Filipinos do the best they can against the fresh troops of General Homma's 14th army. Unfortunately for General Jonathan Wainwright's men, the best they can do at this stage is simply not enough. Bereft of supplies, food, medicine, and everything but Japanese, the inevitable defeat of the Fil-American forces on Bataan finally comes to fruition. And while the fighting is over, the misery for the defenders and those who survived the campaign is about to begin. Tune in to hear the final epic story of the heroic defense of the Philippines in 1942. #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #essex #halsey #taskforce38 #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #mastersoftheair #8thairforce #mightyeighth #100thbombgroup #bloodyhundredth #b17 #boeing #airforce wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #oldbreed #1stMarineDivision #thepacific #Peleliu #army #marines #marinecorps #worldwar2 #worldwar #worldwarii #leytegulf #battleofleytegulf #rodserling #twilightzone #liberation #blacksheep #power #prisoner #prisonerofwar #typhoon #hurricane #weather #iwojima#bullhalsey #ace #p47 #p38 #fighter #fighterpilot #b29 #strategicstudying #tokyo #boeing #incendiary #usa #franklin #okinawa #yamato #kamikaze #Q&A #questions #questionsandanswers #history #jaws #atomicbomb #nuclear #nationalarchives #nara #johnford #hollywood #fdr #president #roosevelt #doolittle #doolittleraid #pearlharborattack #salvaged #medalofhonor #tarawa #malayalam #singapore #guadalcanal #china #burma #oil #marinecorps
The Supreme Court of the Philippines has officially rolled out its Rules on Electronic Notarization, enabling Filipinos to notarize digital documents online without traditional paper filings. - Opisyal nang ipinatupad ng Korte Suprema ng Pilipinas ang Rules on Electronic Notarization. Sa pamamagitan nito, pwede nang magpanotaryo ang mga Pilipino ng mga digital document online nang hindi na kailangang gumamit ng mga tradisyunal na papel.
The Supreme Court of the Philippines has officially rolled out its Rules on Electronic Notarization, enabling Filipinos to notarize digital documents online without traditional paper filings.
NEWS: Most Filipinos back lowering MACR | August 7, 2026Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net Follow us: Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital Check out our Podcasts: Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcherTune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein#TheManilaTimes#KeepUpWithTheTimes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 11, 2026 is Census night. Filipinos in Australia are encouraged to specify which language they speak in the home other than English; there are no wrong answers; it could be Tagalog, Bisaya, Kapampangan etc. Corina Dutlow from AFCS (Australia-Filipino Community Services) tells us why it is important to specify your language. - Sa darating na ika-11 ng Agosto, magaganap ang 2026 Census. Hinihikayat ang bawat Filipino na itangi ang wikang ginagamit sa bahay tulad ng Tagalog, Bisaya, Kapampangan at iba pa. Ipinaliwanag ni Corina Dutlow ng AFCS (Australia-Filipino Community Services) kung bakit mahalagang mailagay ang wika.
This week Seth Paridon and John Parshall dig into the Battle of the Pockets on Bataan in February 1942. As the Japanese continue to try and push their advantage along the rear battle position, after having forced the Fil-American forces to retreat from their main line of resistance, the month before, The previously victorious Japanese run into a buzz saw of defensive lines. The Japanese continue to try to push their advantage but make absolutely no headway, and before long, begin to run out of men and supplies. Japanese General Homma is forced to make a call to suspend offensive operations thus ceding the battlefield to the victorious Filipinos and Americans. Despite the odds stacked against them the Fil-Americans beat the Japanese on Luzon, but because of their pathetic supply situation, are unable to capitalize on their victory. In the meantime, the situation despite the victory in the Philippines remains bleak. In Washington DC it has decided that general MacArthur will be evacuated. Max departure acts merely as a footnote and the overwhelming saga that is the drama playing out on the Bataan peninsula. #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #essex #halsey #taskforce38 #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #mastersoftheair #8thairforce #mightyeighth #100thbombgroup #bloodyhundredth #b17 #boeing #airforce wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #oldbreed #1stMarineDivision #thepacific #Peleliu #army #marines #marinecorps #worldwar2 #worldwar #worldwarii #leytegulf #battleofleytegulf #rodserling #twilightzone #liberation #blacksheep #power #prisoner #prisonerofwar #typhoon #hurricane #weather #iwojima#bullhalsey #ace #p47 #p38 #fighter #fighterpilot #b29 #strategicstudying #tokyo #boeing #incendiary #usa #franklin #okinawa #yamato #kamikaze #Q&A #questions #questionsandanswers #history #jaws #atomicbomb #nuclear #nationalarchives #nara #johnford #hollywood #fdr #president #roosevelt #doolittle #doolittleraid #pearlharborattack #salvaged #medalofhonor #tarawa #malayalam #singapore #guadalcanal #china #burma #oil #marinecorps
Why do you keep buying things you don't need?The answer may have nothing to do with money.In this episode of Chink Positive, we uncover the real reason behind emotional spending and why stress, boredom, and other emotions often lead to impulse buying. Learn simple habits to pause, make wiser financial decisions, and take control of your money without feeling deprived.If you've ever regretted a purchase or wondered where your money went, this episode will help you build healthier money habits and spend with purpose.What you'll learn:- Why emotions often drive impulse purchases- The 24-hour rule that can stop unnecessary spending- How to reward yourself without hurting your budget- Why replacing bad habits is the key to lasting financial changeIf this episode helped you, Follow or Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Share it with your family and friends, and leave a review to help more Filipinos build smarter money habits.#ChinkPositive #FinancialFreedom #EmotionalSpending #FinancialLiteracy #MoneyMindset #SavingMoney #PersonalFinance #SmartSpendingFor any collaboration, brand partnership, and campaign run inquiries, e-mail us at info@thepodnetwork.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Filipino communities across Australia are celebrating 'Buwan ng Wika' this August through language, cultural, and community events that promote the Filipino language and heritage. - Ipinagdiriwang ng mga Pilipino sa iba't ibang bahagi ng Australia ang Buwan ng Wikang ngayong Agosto sa pamamagitan ng mga gawaing pangkultura at pampamayanan na nagpapahalaga sa wikang Filipino, kultura, at pagkakakilanlan.
Sydney-based sociolinguist Loy Lising breaks down why some Filipinos find it challenging to pronounce the letters 'F' and 'V' in English, reframing native accent features as a natural aspect of multilingual identity. - Ipinaliwanag ni Loy Lising, sociolinguist na nakabase sa Sydney, kung bakit nahihirapan ang ilang Pilipino sa pagbigkas ng mga letrang 'F' at 'V' sa Ingles, habang binibigyang-diin na ang mga katangian ng katutubong punto ay likas na bahagi ng pagiging multilingual.
Think budgets don't work?Maybe you've been using the wrong one.In this episode of Chink Positive, discover why most budgets fail and how to create a simple spending plan you can actually stick to. Budgeting isn't about saying no to everything. It's about giving every peso a purpose so you can save more, stress less, and enjoy your money without guilt.Whether you're living paycheck to paycheck or simply want better control of your finances, this episode will help you build a budget that works in real life.What you'll learn:- Why most budgets fail after payday- How to give every peso a clear purpose- Why a good budget includes room for enjoyment- A simple budgeting system you can start todayIf this episode helped you, Follow or Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Share it with your family and friends, and leave a review to help more Filipinos build healthy money habits.#ChinkPositive #FinancialFreedom #Budgeting #FinancialLiteracy #MoneyMindset #SavingMoney #PersonalFinance #MoneyManagementFor any collaboration, brand partnership, and campaign run inquiries, e-mail us at info@thepodnetwork.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
NEWS: Inflation, wages remain Filipinos' top concerns | July 29, 2026Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net Follow us: Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital Check out our Podcasts: Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcherTune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein#TheManilaTimes#KeepUpWithTheTimes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What would happen if your income stopped tomorrow?Would your family be ready?In this episode of Chink Positive, we talk about why an emergency fund is one of the smartest financial habits you can build. Learn how it protects your family from unexpected expenses, gives you peace of mind, and helps you avoid debt during difficult times.Whether you're just starting to save or rebuilding your finances, this episode will show you how small, consistent steps can create lasting financial security.What you'll learn:- Why every family needs an emergency fund- How much you should aim to save- Why protection comes before investing- Simple ways to start, even with a limited incomeIf this episode encouraged you, Follow or Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Share it with your family and friends, and leave a review to help more Filipinos build a stronger financial future.#ChinkPositive #FinancialFreedom #EmergencyFund #FinancialLiteracy #SavingMoney #MoneyMindset #PersonalFinance #FinancialSecurityFor any collaboration, brand partnership, and campaign run inquiries, e-mail us at info@thepodnetwork.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For many Filipinos living in Australia, staying connected to home can start with something simple—listening to familiar voices on the radio. A long-time Filipino resident in Australia, who has been living in the country since 1987, says tuning in to SBS Filipino has been a source of connection and comfort over the years. - Ayon sa isang matagal nang residenteng Pilipino sa Australia, na naninirahan doon mula pa noong 1987, ang pagsubaybay sa SBS Filipino ay naging pinagmulan ng ugnayan at ginhawa sa paglipas ng mga taon.
As President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. prepares to deliver his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA), recent surveys suggest that many Filipinos are looking for concrete solutions to the country's most pressing challenges rather than a summary of the administration's accomplishments. - Nakatakdang ihatid ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ngayong Lunes, Hulyo 27, ang kanyang ikalimang State of the Nation Address (SONA), isang talumpating inaasahang magsisilbing balangkas ng mga prayoridad ng administrasyon sa nalalabing dalawang taon bago matapos ang kanyang termino sa 2028.
Ahead of the highly anticipated ASAP XP Australia 2026 concert in Sydney, OPM legends Regine Velasquez-Alcasid, Ogie Alcasid, Martin Nievera, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Angeline Quinto, and Erik Santos shared that the show is not just about entertainment but about reconnecting with overseas Filipinos through music that has become part of their lives. - Bago ang sumalang sa ASAP XP Australia 2026 sa Sydney, ibinahagi ng mga OPM legend na sina Regine Velasquez-Alcasid, Ogie Alcasid, Martin Nievera, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Angeline Quinto, at Erik Santos na higit pa sa isang konsiyerto ang kanilang pagbisita sa Australia. Para sa kanila, isa itong pagkakataong muling makaugnay ang mga Pilipinong naninirahan sa ibang bansa sa pamamagitan ng mga awiting naging bahagi ng kanilang buhay.
NEWS: Filipinos in Oman ‘pillars' of bilateral ties | July 27, 2026Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net Follow us: Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital Check out our Podcasts: Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcherTune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein#TheManilaTimes#KeepUpWithTheTimes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
NEWS: 71% of Filipinos want senators to base Duterte impeachment vote on law, evidence | July 25, 2026Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net Follow us: Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital Check out our Podcasts: Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcherTune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein#TheManilaTimes#KeepUpWithTheTimes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
You got a raise... so why do you still feel broke?The answer may be your lifestyle, not your salary.In this episode of Chink Positive, we uncover the hidden trap of lifestyle inflation and why earning more doesn't always lead to financial freedom. Learn how to enjoy your success without letting bigger expenses steal your future.If you've ever wondered where your salary goes every month, this episode will help you build better money habits, save more, invest wisely, and grow lasting wealth.What you'll learn:- Why a higher income doesn't always build wealth- How to avoid the lifestyle inflation trap- A simple way to divide every salary increase- Why financial freedom depends on what you keep, not just what you earnIf this episode helped you, Follow or Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Share it with your family and friends, and leave a review to help more Filipinos take control of their finances.#ChinkPositive #FinancialFreedom #FinancialLiteracy #MoneyMindset #LifestyleInflation #SavingMoney #Investing #PersonalFinanceFor any collaboration, brand partnership, and campaign run inquiries, e-mail us at info@thepodnetwork.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In Shepparton, a city in Victoria, a Filipino food business is introducing Filipino cuisine not only to fellow Filipinos but also to Australians and other communities — this is Flor's Lutong Bahay. - Sa Shepparton, siyudad sa Victoria, isang Filipino food business ang unti-unting ipinapakilala ang pagkaing Pinoy hindi lamang sa mga kababayan kung hindi pati sa mga Australyano at iba pang komunidad — ito ang Flor's Lutong Bahay.
Financial freedom doesn't start with more money.It starts with one simple habit.In this episode of Chink Positive, discover why building wealth is less about how much you earn and more about the daily habits you practice. Learn practical ways to save, spend with purpose, and make smarter money decisions that bring you closer to financial freedom.Whether you're just starting your financial journey or want to improve your money mindset, this episode will help you build habits that last.What you'll learn:* Why paying yourself first changes everything* How to give every peso a purpose* The power of celebrating small financial wins* Simple habits that lead to long-term financial freedomIf this episode inspired you, Follow or Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Share it with your family and friends, and leave a review to help more Filipinos build better money habits.#ChinkPositive #FinancialFreedom #FinancialLiteracy #MoneyMindset #SavingMoney #PersonalFinance #Investing #SuccessMindsetFor any collaboration, brand partnership, and campaign run inquiries, e-mail us at info@thepodnetwork.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Christian Esguerra sits down with Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela on a China Daily AI video portraying Filipinos as monkeys.
Let's discuss what's fundamentally wrong with the honorable senator's statement that condemned China's video portraying Filipinos as monkeys, but pinned the blame on Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela.
Why are some people still broke, even when they have the chance to change?The answer may surprise you.In this episode of Chink Positive, we talk about the daily habits that quietly keep people financially stuck. This is not about blaming people for being poor. It's about the choices we can control and the small actions that can lead to real financial freedom.If you want to build better money habits, save more, invest wisely, and stop living paycheck to paycheck, this episode is for you.What you'll learn:- Why waiting for the "right time" keeps you stuck- The hidden cost of comparing yourself to others- Simple daily habits that build wealth over time- One question to ask before every non-essential purchaseIf this episode helped you, Follow or Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Share this with your family and friends, and leave a review to help more Filipinos build a better financial future.#ChinkPositive #FinancialFreedom #FinancialLiteracy #MoneyMindset #SavingMoney #Investing #SuccessMindset #MoneyHabitsFor any collaboration, brand partnership, and campaign run inquiries, e-mail us at info@thepodnetwork.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Pattie Wagon Joins the show to showcase their Carribean Canadian Comfort food like jerk chicken and beef patties!Follow them:https://www.instagram.com/pattie.wagon/
We all have them in our lives. Friends and family who are not Filipino but sometimes we call “Honorary Filipinos.” But does anyone really deserve such a title? Does it become an invitation for more privileged folks to begin Filipino-splaining us and/or become culture vultures? Is this title that we should even dole out? In...
Now that America has turned 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, it reminds us to reflect on the U.S.' colonial relationship with other countries.That includes the Philippines, which the U.S. occupied until the signing of the Treaty of Manila in 1946. That agreement has shaped the Filipino diaspora across the world and in San Diego.A major driver of Filipino migration was nursing. Tuesday on Midday Edition, we look at the history of nursing in the Philippines and how it was reshaped by American colonialism.Then, a new documentary premiering Tuesday on KPBS tells the story of the Redondos, a local Filipino American tennis family, and their journey from National City to the tennis world stage. We hear from the director and one of the family members featured in the film.Guests:Catherine Ceniza Choy, professor of ethnic studies, UC Berkeley, author of "Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History"Sara Persson, director, "Love All"Ryan Redondo, CEO, Youth Tennis San Diego and Barnes Tennis CenterLinks:"Love All" documentary on KPBS+
Stay informed, stay connected - SBS Filipino shares the news and stories that matter to Filipinos in Australia. - Hatid ng SBS Filipino ang mga balita, impormasyon at kwento ng mga Pinoy sa Australia.
Beyond its beaches and attractions, Southport, Queensland is attracting many Filipinos with its job opportunities, quality of life, and an inclusive community that offers a strong sense of welcome and belonging. - Higit pa sa mga pasyalan, pinipili ng maraming Pilipino ang Southport, Queensland bilang tahanan dahil sa mga oportunidad, magandang kalidad ng pamumuhay, at isang komunidad na bukás at tumatanggap sa lahat.
This podcast explores the Baclaran Church in Manila, a Redemptorist National Shrine dedicated to the Mother of Perpetual Help, highlighting its humble origins and deep spiritual significance for Filipinos.
The Filipino community in Melbourne gathered to welcome Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo, who expressed his gratitude for the continued support of Filipinos in Australia. The event became a celebration of his achievements and a moment of unity for the community. - Nagtipon-tipon ang Filipino community sa Melbourne sa pagdating ni Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo. Nagpasalamat siya sa patuloy na suporta ng mga Pilipino sa Australia habang naging selebrasyon ito ng kanyang tagumpay at pagsasama ng komunidad.‘Super welcoming ng mga tao dito': Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo, mainit na tinanggap ng mga Pinoy sa MelbourneRELATED CONTENT:
While basketball remains one of the favourite sports among Filipinos living in Australia, many have also embraced the country's sporting culture. - Bukod sa basketball, aling sport pa ba ang kinahihiligan at aktibong nilalaro ng mga Pilipino sa Australia?
For many Filipino migrants, finding a place that feels like home is about more than just where they live, it is about community, culture and connection. In Western Sydney, Blacktown City has become exactly that.
Mr. Edwin's Café in Shepparton, Victoria is the town's only Filipino café and has become a gathering place for people from different communities, from Filipinos to Australians. Despite a challenging start, it has gradually become a favourite spot among locals. - Ang Mr. Edwin's Cafe sa Shepparton, Victoria ay ang nag-iisang Filipino café sa lugar na naging tagpuan ng iba't ibang komunidad, mula sa mga Pilipino hanggang sa mga Australyano. Sa kabila ng mahirap na simula, unti-unti itong naging paboritong tambayan ng mga lokal.
A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Host Miko Lee checks in with Dr. Robyn Rodriguez and we get to check out her podcast Spitting Fire: Doktora Robyn Speaks. SHOW TRANSCRIPT [00:00:00] Opening: Apex Express Asian Pacific expression. Community and cultural coverage, music and calendar, new visions and voices, coming to you with an Asian Pacific Islander point of view. It's time to get on board the Apex Express. [00:00:34] Miko Lee: Welcome to Apex Express. I'm your host, Miko Lee, and tonight I'm so excited to talk to my lovely colleague, Dr. Robyn Rodriguez. Robyn is such a powerful leader. She's often called the people's professor. She was a professor of Asian studies at UC Davis, and now runs the Reimagination Lab. She has created a farm that is a collective action space, and she is really thinking about new ways to reimagine our world. I'm so excited for you to learn more about Dr. Robyn and you're gonna get to hear from her new podcast, which is called appropriately, Spitting Fire: Doktora Robyn Speaks. And I just love this, 'cause spitting fire is this term for women that can speak out and share their stories, and Robyn has so much to tell. So I'm gonna interview her, and then you're gonna get to listen to her new podcast, Spitting Fire. Thanks so much for joining us on Apex Express. [00:01:36] Welcome back Dr. Robyn Rodriguez to Apex Express. [00:01:41] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : Oh, thank you so much for having me. [00:01:44] Miko Lee: I'm so happy to have you with us once again. And I have asked you this before, but sometimes things change in the amount of years we've spoken to each other. So I'm gonna ask again, who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you? [00:02:00] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : Yeah, who are my people? I think about folks of color broadly as my people. Whenever I refer to my people, I really do think about those of us who share intertwined and yet also distinct histories of colonization, empire, War, Violence. I think of all of us who've descend from peoples who've survived, fought back thrived, in spite of all that as my people and the legacy I hope to leave is lessons on continuing to not just dismantle the systems that caused harm on our ancestors and continue to cause harm for us now, but to offer also lessons on liberation and what it can look like and feel like so that we can continue to not just again, dismantle, but also build out the worlds we want. [00:03:15] Miko Lee: Speaking of lessons, you have a brand new podcast series called Spitting Fire Doc. Robyn Speaks, and I wonder if you can talk to me about how this podcast came to be. [00:03:27] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : You're gonna laugh. Well, there are a couple of things I think that lead to the podcast. I've always wanted to do a podcast. I did college radio when I was an undergrad at UC Santa Barbara. I had a co-host for a show called WAR Women in the Act of Resistance, and we used to love to always say, we declare war on. [00:03:53] Miko Lee: I love that. [00:03:53] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : Whatever it is that we, yeah, [00:03:58] Miko Lee: that's so good. [00:03:59] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : I, I, yeah. So I, I love doing college radio and have always, you know, people would joke or I don't know if it was a joke, but compliment me on having a kind of good radio voice. I don't know how true that is. [00:04:16] Miko Lee: Very true, true. [00:04:16] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : But I've always had a, an interest in, podcasting as a platform. I think in general I prefer the long form platform. I prefer storytelling and, uh, there's something really powerful about podcasts is I think for me, really connected to radio programming. I don't see them, I guess, in very different ways. So I'd always wanted to do podcasts even when I was still teaching at, uc Davis, in Asian American Studies. I always thought podcasts are a really, really powerful way to share the knowledges of ethnic studies beyond the classroom. So I'd actually clipped on a recorder while I was lecturing and had uploaded a bunch of a raw unedited audio to what used to be iTunes University. So in some ways that might have been like the first podcast in a way. And then the funny thing about, uh, Spitting Fire it was kind of launched a little sooner than I was ready to be honest. I basically messed up on what was supposed to be a Zoom video. I don't know exactly what happened, but we only had audio and I thought, you know what? We're slapping that together, editing it and putting it out there, because I thought that the conversation that we had over Zoom was so, just really powerful and informative, and I didn't want to not have it circulate in the world. And so I've sort of tried to proceed in that way. I, I guess I see podcasting alongside YouTube videos and other long form and even just more written essays as the sets of long form digital media that I tend to prefer and also recognize as an educator that people learn in so many different ways. Some people are able to learn better, by listening closing their eyes and listening and are able to kind of absorb knowledge differently in that way. Others respond better to a kind of visual medium. Others like to read. And as an educator too, I feel like each of the mediums can be really effective in terms of conveying and transmitting knowledge. But again, I have a preference if I have to use digital media for the long form. I do worry that the sort of clipped, abbreviated, kind of versions of digital media that is social media, whether it's TikTok or Instagram and other sorts, or just, I don't know that they serve us in the way that, especially as an educator, that I [00:07:08] Miko Lee: Thank you for sharing. I'm wondering how you ended up selecting this lovely title. You went from WAR in college to Spitting Fire. Tell me about where this title comes from. [00:07:19] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : You know, I think it must have been a student, honestly, who had said, oh, look at Dr. Rob Spitting Fire after some talk. And I, I was sort of drawn to that. I think too, honestly, as an Asian American woman I think I was kind of playing a little bit with these stereotypes of Asian American women as kind of dragon ladies. And, but trying to kind of remake that in a way to kind of paint a picture of sort of fierce Asian American woman who is unafraid to speak truth to power. I think I've been feeling as and in my interactions with younger generations of women, I do feel as if younger Asian American women, and again, maybe it has to do with social media maybe the permanency of that. The circulation of media and how rapidly it spreads. Cancel culture. I feel that there is a kind of timidness that I'm encountering with younger Asian American women who are a little bit reluctant to speak up and speak out without really taking a moment to first compose themselves. Edit and then maybe post or share. And I guess I, I had hoped that image of spitting fire might conjure up a different way of being, as a kind of Asian American, woman, and activist, and organizer. And that's even why I think I was really drawn to just not over editing any of the content. You know, if there were was content that I could pull from other conversations I was having, that might have been like originally a Zoom for instance, but might you know, be conveyed better to somebody who Is more of a listener than a a watcher or a viewer that could invite, people or women in particular feeling like it's okay to not be perfect. It's okay to be able to stand by a thought and recognize that are the things that we, we say in a particular moment have history and context and need to be understood in that way. So it plays with that image of, I think the dragon lady, Asian American woman, dragon leader lady. And also, you know, I always talk about my middle name. It's such an important part of who I am and my identity, but my middle name, which I get from my mother. Was my mother's maiden name means to be angry in Filipino, and I've always loved it because it was actually a made up name. It was a name that my great-great-grandfather claimed for himself. Changing his name from De Los Reyes, which means of the kings to Magalit to be angry because he was a revolutionary against the Spanish. And I'm so fiercely proud of this revolutionary lineage that I hold. And I think in a way, Spitting Fire also reflects that lineage of ancestors who've never been afraid to stand up, speak out and again, speak truth to power. [00:10:54] Miko Lee: Ooh, that was such a lovely answer. I really appreciate reclaiming the dragon Lady is furious and powerful and a revolutionary figure. I think that's so lovely because usually we just think of the dragon lady as this evil villain, but dragons in Asian culture are creatures that are to be revered and are powerful and lucky too. [00:11:19] So, I so appreciate that. I really, I wonder, [00:11:21] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : you know, that too. [00:11:23] Miko Lee: I'm wondering, you, you said that you feel like young women are timid today and I was like deep sigh of that because I feel like still really now with, I don't know, I just, that's that. Um, do you find that in the students that you're working with now, that they're still Asian, young women are still being timid? [00:11:46] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : I mean, honestly, I don't think that this is a uni. You know, this is certainly not true for all of the young women I encounter. No, that would be unfair, but I also feel as if the boldness that might be out there I feel is often highly curated. A lot of it is expressed through social media. And again, if we understand social media, the reality of Instagram is it's never so instant. There is a much time and effort put into filters, into kind of visualizations aimed to draw a more attention. Really careful framings, and accompanying captions. I mean, I, you know, even for posts, 'cause I think a lot of, I think political conversation and discourse is happening, I would say on Instagram, I've decided to opt out of TikTok. I know that's also a place, but that's all to say that I think that these become a kind of shield or crutch. And then I've found and often been surprised. When I meet people in person, such a disconnect between a persona and, how one actually moves in the world with other people. And, that's where I've seen some surprising timidness and caution. And it does worry me a bit. I mean, I, and 'cause I think that there are maybe competing notions. I think some people in my generation feel this generation to be very brave. And I'm not, you know, I hate to say this, I'm not a hundred percent certain that's true sometimes, at least in sometimes the young people that I've encountered. I think social media has. I guess I'm not convinced that social media is the modality or the mechanism by which change will happen. And we make change in our relationships with actual, kind of, with everyday people. With people. And in relation to the land and kind of the resources of the earth. And yeah, that's where I feel like that kind of boldness and bravery needs, you know, makes more lasting impact than the kind of illusory, fleeting, and very superficial for me trade and visuals and words over social media. So, yeah, I do, I do worry about it. I, I feel like I've seen it too often, a hesitance to speak up. [00:14:32] Miko Lee: This is so interesting. I just did an interview uh, with NAKASEC about the new study that they released on Asian American men and the Manosphere, and how more and more Asian American men are being persuaded by right wing media in the Manosphere. But I wonder about Asian American women as you bring this up. And I, I think back to that many years ago, that documentary film that. Slaying the dragon. Do you remember that from years past [00:14:58] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : that? Oh my gosh, yeah. It's a while. [00:15:00] Miko Lee: Yeah. That was all on the, you know, the on representation of Asian American women and that, and that was maybe 20 years ago. So I wonder how much that's changed [00:15:10] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : maybe more. Yeah, [00:15:11] Miko Lee: maybe more. Right? So, but I wonder how that's changed with, because that was pre-social media and if Asian American men are being pulled in the manosphere, what are Asian American women being pulled into? [00:15:24] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : Yeah, I do worry. I worry again, just, I mean, my goodness, you know, the proliferation of just the growth of the beauty industry. [00:15:35] Miko Lee: Yeah. [00:15:35] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : Um, the casualness, by what I mean, just in terms of cosmetic surgery becoming so even normalized [00:15:45] Miko Lee: for young people very young people . [00:15:48] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : Absolutely. Absolutely. And our kind of television series through streaming platforms you know, even movies. I mean, it's, it's clear that there are, you know, real investments in cosmetic surgery by many of the women that we hold up, across race. And yeah, this sort of, it's just, it's, I've been shocked by how, how, I mean, just the other day, I, I'm like a very loyal client. Well, when it comes to my hairstylist, I go, I travel two hours to Sacramento from our farm to get my hair cut every six months from one woman. I, I just, I could not believe just the conversations I was hearing women including Asian American women in the seats next to me around injections, fillers, I remember seeing flyers posted all around the salon. For a session being held by a, a cosmetic, I don't even know the terms, but there's now a proliferation of job titles even associated what is it? Medical aesthetician. But yeah, I, I do worry. Right. Trading in the visual. Maybe that's why too, the podcast feels like a way where people can. Especially if I, you know, am in conversation with others or for myself even to just kind of show up without having to worry about you know, what I look like or what others look like. Or there's, you know, people don't have to worry about, the talking heads and kind of can pay attention more to the knowledges or the stories being shared. But I feel like that is a pull, I mean, if there was, if we've always, I think as as Asian American women, our bodies, right? Subject to just, these representations, right? The hypersexualization of Asian American women, which is really at the core of, I can recall of slaying the dragon. I think that has gotten worse. And we're being more actively recruited into our own participation in this kind of hypersexualization on one hand, or being recruited into participating in these what are ultimately white aesthetics and remaking our bodies. To conform to notions of beauty and it's all being cast as if it's empowering and liberating somehow. And I, I've heard that and, and witnessed that, that somehow, no, these are not aesthetic choices that have to do with whiteness. I just wanna look pretty. Without any interrogation around what are the standards of beauty based on and even why, like, what is it about you know, desirability, youthfulness and all of that. That I think is definitely a co a concern I have and why I've pulled away from social media. I don't know that I've looked on Instagram for I don't know how many months. It's been quite a bit of time, so much so that, Instagram is now sending me emails to remind me of all the messages and posts I'm missing. Facebook was doing that as well. But. I get troubled by the things that I am seeing. And I do worry for not just kind of younger generations of Asian American women, I think this is also a worry for all younger women of color. [00:19:20] Miko Lee: It's interesting they cast it almost as colorblindness in terms of the beauty standards, but it's laced in white supremacy because the whole, the very basic of the standard of beauty is based in whiteness. That's quite powerful and interesting. [00:19:40] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : Yeah. And it's also deeply rooted in kind of capitalist consumption, right? The notion that the only thing that is of value is a thing that is new and novel. Anything else has zero value. And we're seeing that right where women are terrified. Terrified of getting older. I mean, I was in conversation with a few women, you know, in, in my circles, not even 30. Who are being policed by their peers about their frown lines, watching how they express themselves because they're approaching 30 and another woman in her early thirties you know, just commenting too that, well, the procedures now are so good. They've gotten so good at it that you can't even tell. But you know, just this, that it's happening at such a young age and, and you know, women, we already have to deal with all of these demands on our bodies, right? Some that are external, some that we internalize around, reproduction if we're straight or if we desire children, even if we're not, you know, just these pressures around that. And I mean, I feel like what woman is, especially younger women, you know, really, really worried about whether they've met certain milestones at at every age. I mean, I hear it with young women. Oh my god, I'm 25 now. I'm a quarter century. This is huge, right? Oh, I'm 30, three decades in, where am I at? So there are all these other demands around achievement, professional achievement. Scholastic achievement, nevermind, you know, your body, whether it comports to the thing that is di desirable and is doing the thing it needs to do, that it's athletic and that it's light, that it's, it can make babies. So it just it's a lot. And I feel like if we were went through it as, as younger women the intensity is, even greater. and I noticed it myself. It's probably part of the reason why I've, I had to pull away from social media, you know, I'm 53, you know, and feeling like I don't see many representations of myself too in social media. That is, I don't know that it's a space for me either. And you can't help when you're in these spaces. Even the most, kind of radical critical of us you know, can fall prey to, the intrusive thoughts of patriarchy around our bodies and aging and our utility. So yeah, it's worrying, it's really worrying to me. [00:22:05] Miko Lee: So I wanna flip the switch on that and ask you, as a 53-year-old, what do you feel most powerful about? [00:22:13] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : I personally have experienced so much personal loss of people, beloved people. I've also witnessed too many people who have not had the opportunity and privilege to reach this age. I think what makes me powerful or what, what makes me feel powerful, or maybe less the term, I don't know if powerful is the term, but just I feel deep gratitude that my body has, allowed me to live in this form, to this age to have the range of experiences that I've been able to experience in this body. Looking at the world through these eyes experiencing it, you know, with this skin. And I just, that is, I guess, a source of power because of the wisdom that it offers. The I think empathy, you know, and compassion that it makes possible. Because you've experienced and witnessed so much. I think that there's a lot that I have also, let go of. I think there were so many kind of insecurities that I think I struggled with as a younger woman that I no longer experience and that feels very empowering. To come to a place. And, and it really comes with life experience, I think. And that you are able to get perspective on things that might've, felt as personal failures in the past, but then you can look at differently as just lessons. Along this journey, in life. And I think I've just also been blessed with elder women in my life who you know, just are so, unapologetic about who they are, what they think, and how they move in the world. And so I have really great models. That make me excited about the prospects of continuing to, to get older and and being able to kind of experience and learn new things along the way. There's a power there. [00:24:26] Miko Lee: Thank you for sharing. Yeah. As somebody who's 60 this year, I feel like it's lessons that I've learned, but also I don't care. I don't care as much I don't obsess over the little things. I just, and I say what I feel because why not? We're at a phase in life where, you know, I've done a lot of things. I've experienced hardship, and I'm just gonna say how I feel where I'm at what's going on right now? So there's a freedom to that, that I think is very different from being young. What would you like your podcast audiences to understand? [00:25:01] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : Yeah. You know, I think my podcast audiences need to understand that I am really approaching the podcast from a place of embracing my role as a elder or a young elder. I think it's a role that, I was struggling a bit with and again, I'm not immune to as much as I feel empowered by being older, I also am not immune to all of the, the messages around youthfulness and value that I think we're constantly being barraged. But I do recognize that there is a really special role to be played by women in middle age, which I am. And I think that's what I want audiences to understand, that I am coming into this podcast, doing this podcast from a very specific vantage point. A vantage point that offers insights that on, you know, and of course I'm coming in as me, right? Somebody who still considers herself a scholar, if not necessarily one based at a university. Somebody who's been a really sort of radical thing and shift by becoming a farmer and doing land based work. That, yeah that they're going to be hearing, a perspective, you know, from somebody who has been an organizer, continues to do that work, but is also experimenting and risk taking in different ways. They get the chances to hear from a yelder who's lived a little. Who has a very unique perspective, not just from a particular vantage point in terms of age, but also somebody who's you know, done the work, studied the thing when it comes to kind of the Asian American experience done the thing it, and when it comes to Asian American, organizing. It's continued to grow by stepping away from previous ways of being, uh, by doing this work on our farm. You know, I feel like it's a unique set of perspectives that I'm hoping can offer inspiration or lessons for the moment. But yeah. [00:27:33] Miko Lee: So last time we talked was a few years ago and you were just getting your farm set up and now you actually have this whole farm. Can you share a little bit more about your connection to the land and what it's like being a farmer now? [00:27:48] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : Yeah, no, thank you. You're right. I recall, I think we had literally just moved in when I was in conversation with you, and now we're at the start of season four. It has been an amazing journey. I'm actually right now and I hope to be able to talk about it on the podcast. I've come, I'm in the process of finishing, a book, reflecting on my experiences over the last four years in this transition from university professor to farmer. there's so much that I've learned. One of the major things I've, learned especially as an organizer, to differently appreciate all of the metaphors we use in organizing. cause we use them a lot, right? How do we describe certain kinds of organizing? We, we describe it as grassroots. How do we talk about the ways we might be building our, you know, struggles of resistance? We think about ourselves as sowing seeds. More and more people talk about, you know, mycchorizal networks. There are all of these metaphors that proliferate when we're thinking about, struggles for justice. And there is something that shifts when you do land-based work and really understand and learn at the knee of mother nature around all the things that are required for cultivating life, which for me, I think is what activism and, organizing really is about. You know, we live in a system that ultimately thrives on death. I mean, war, empire, capitalism, disposability, you know, all of that is, is a system that thrives actually on, on death. And I think that when we're organizing as folks who are activists, social justice activists, ecological and environmental justice activists and organizers, what we're doing is we're in the business, so to speak, of cultivating life. But how best to learn about how to cultivate life, if not at the knee of of Mother Nature. And so I've learned a lot about that. Learned about you know, how long it can take. In fact for, plant sowing a seed a seed can only germinate, you know, and there's the right kinds of conditions and even the right kind of conditions can't be fully predicted. You tend to that ground, that soil anyhow, you know, seeds being so small and nearly invisible to the eye and yet, we know them to be there and we, we support their growth. Seeds when under the right conditions germinate and grow can become these healthy, mature plants. One singular plant can feed so many, I mean, all of those lessons when you understand them in deeply embodied ways, I think allow you to approach organizing and activism differently. I think especially now, there seems to be an urgency to everything. Everything feels urgent. Um. Something needs to be responded to, you know, immediately it feels like all the time. and that not responding somehow is being complacent or enabling. But I think what I've learned as a farmer is that transformation in life takes time and we need to tend to that. And I mean, I feel like I think organizers would benefit a lot from, doing land-based work. Not only because the earth needs us to do this work of regeneration and restoration, but I think we would have better perspective around, what liberation would look like and require, from these systems of domination and power if we, you know, humbled ourselves a bit and learned from. Mother Nature, and the ways that, you know, she's endured through it all and, you know, adapted through it all. I think, I think there are important lessons there, but lessons that I think that really require a work of embodied learning and knowledge. [00:31:56] Miko Lee: So you speak of your farm as this, as a place that's cultivating growth, and can you talk a little bit more about that, cultivating the mind? Because I know you're also doing work on your farm with organizers, with nonprofits, with students. So can you talk a little bit more about the cultivation of people on your farm? [00:32:15] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, so much of what we do isn't just about the food that we grow, which we do, and I shouldn't name that, you know, a lot of. our aim with food growing is not just to feed, you know, sort of a community of people who've opted in to get food from us, which, you know, we do have a CSA, a Community sourced agricultural program, but we're also working with native communities here to support in addressing their food needs. So that's. Important, piece of what we do that I wanna name in terms of food and plant production. But yes, in terms of cultivating people, I think a lot of what we do here is about facilitating this reconnection to land. I grew up a very urban, suburban existence. I think it always as an organizer and activist, valued ecological and, environmental justice. But I don't know that I centered it in the way that I do now, in part because I didn't. Have a relationship with the land in the way that we do now. I really think that our work is to help cultivate that relationship. I think we need that relationship to fully appreciate what's at stake when we talk about climate change. It's one thing to kind of know the facts. It's another thing to be in relation to the land, and I think it takes a certain set of conditions to be able to, to be in relation to the land. So yeah, we, we hold space for lots of organizations, educational institutions, nonprofits, community-based organizations, other folks, who also are feeling that there is a need to be in relation to the land. Not only to be in a relationship, but to be in a right relationship with the land. So we, we hold space for a lot of that. And of course that process is also deeply healing. There is something really healing about learning from the land. just understanding there's something really magical like, for example, when you come out of winter and you start to see new growth, I think that cycle of growth offers a kind of hope and reassurance when we're feeling especially despairing, which I think a lot of people feel tremendous despair now. And yet, you know, being bearing witness to that is it can be super just powerful and can kind of keep and sustain the fight. [00:34:37] Miko Lee: And lastly, can you share more about your school for Liberating education? [00:34:42] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : Sure. So the School for Liberating Education is an online platform through which I share all of the ethnic studies knowledge that I was teaching at the university. Most recently at the University of California Davis, you know, always believed ethnic studies was never intended to be just another academic field like anthropology, sociology, political science. But that, it is a form of knowledge that is meant to raise our consciousness to inspire and to provide us real skillsets and pathways to taking that knowledge and doing the work of changing our world for the better. And so, you know, the School for Liberating Education I set up so that people can have access to that knowledge without having to go through. All of the, the, hoops that are required for, you know, getting into a four year university, even all of the kind of bureaucracy it takes to get even to a community college, which is not as easy as one would think. But also a very unapologetic, form of ethnic studies. I think part of what's happening at colleges and universities now is, these are battlegrounds. The, right wing has taken it upon itself to really attack ethnic studies in various institutions. They've been very successful in gaining, Support. University administrations have also been very easily bent not only kind of grassroots right wing movements because they're really organized at the grasses, but certainly the series of executive orders that Trump passed, you know, within days after inauguration. Effectively illegalizing ethnic studies and of course we know what he's trying to do in terms of, the Department of Education and, its, effective dismantlement. But this is meant as a place to offer the knowledge that our forebearers and fought really hard for the university, but can't really fully thrive there either. And so, I wanted to make sure that there was a place where this knowledge can be accessed, to anybody with the interest and desire. [00:36:55] Miko Lee: Thank you so much for chatting with us today. I'm wondering if there's anything you would like podcast listeners to prepare themselves for before they bust out Spotify and listen to Spitting Fire. [00:37:10] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : Well, it's just, you know, to, you're gonna get a lot of raw, unedited audio. And so, um, you're gonna kind of get just, you know, as the, the host of the, show me in a very unedited, very unfiltered form, which can be, I hope enjoyable for folks. But, you know, I think people will, will learn a lot, and a lot of the topics are rooted in the things that I care about. Certainly social justice issues certainly even, you know, the work we're doing at the farm. So, you know, I, I mean, it's broadly, uh, the podcast is around social and ecological justice. But very much from the lens of somebody who, again, is a yelder, somebody who's taught ethnic studies, continues to teach, although not at the university. Um, somebody who does the work of kind of social and ecological justice organizing and is doing land-based work. So, you're getting all of the, the things that connect to all of the ways that I, I'm moving in the world right now. [00:38:15] Miko Lee: Thank you so much Dr. Robyn for joining us today on Apex Express. [00:38:20] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : Thank you so much again for having me. [00:38:38] Welcome everybody, to Resistance, Defiant Love, and Radical Care. Today we are launching, uh, the pre-registration for my new activism course, my course on Asian American activism, and it will be drawing on my book, co-edited with Diane Fujino, uh, Professor Diane Fujino, entitled Contemporary Asian American Activism: Building Movements for Liberation. [00:39:09] I'm really, really excited that the book is coming out, but probably even more excited that I'll be able to launch a mini course that draws from that book, as well as other work on Asian American activism, and that I'll be able to offer a mini course that really looks at Asian American activism in the coming months. [00:39:30] And I'm very, very, very, very pleased to be joined by Artnelson Concordia. Artnelson and I actually hopped on earlier and we went back to, to just recollect when we met and how long ago, and I'll talk about that in a moment. But, um, oh, I guess I might as well just say, Art and I have known each other for exa- almost exactly half of our lives. [00:39:54] Um- So we first met when we were only 12. Just kidding. We met when we were 25 years old. We, uh, so that was half of our lives. You do the math. Um, and, uh, it, it's just so wonderful, uh, to, to be able to reconnect, uh, with Artnelson in this way. But we go back, and as we'll talk about later on, we go back, um, 25 years ago, uh, where we, when we first met, uh, through, uh, our work, uh, in, in activist spaces. [00:40:27] But Artnelson Concordia was born and raised in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. The son of working class Filipino immigrants, he earned BAs in political science and history at the University of California in Los Angeles, so UCLA. Artnelson is a longtime educator who got his start in San Francisco and was a founding teacher of the San Francisco Unified School District's Ethnic Studies program that was the focus of a 2014 Stanford University study that highlighted the academic benefits of the district's ninth grade ethnic studies course. [00:41:02] That's Artnelson. Currently, he coordinates Santa Barbara Unified School District's ethnic studies program. Artnelson is the father of four Brown boys, four beautiful Brown boys, and is in cahoots with his wife to raise them to have deep knowledge and love of self and community, as well as to be active disruptors of the white supremacist, patriarchal, heteronormative, imperialist hegemony. [00:41:29] Yeah. He and his family have the great privilege to live in the beautiful town of Oxnard, California, which is unceded Chumash territory. And this fall marks the beginning of his 23rd year in education. And as I was saying before, Art and I go way, way back. We met right after we had both graduated from college. [00:41:52] And yeah, as… Art and I are here to talk story a little bit about our shared activist path, because really, uh, it ma- it seems it's so appropriate to talk about our shared path as activists and educators because this pivot for me to offering, uh, courses through the School for Liberating Education has everything to do with my activism and everything to do with my deep, deep belief that education, uh, and a critical education, uh, can be so vital for, uh, movement building, for building the world that we want. [00:42:29] So I'm gonna just hand it over to you, Art. And we can just start. But it's so great to see you and have this chance to chat. [00:42:37] Artnelson Concordia: Right on. What a, what an introduction, uh, hearing that coming from you. Um, and- Reflecting on the time and how quickly that really does fly. And I think it's actually more than 25. [00:42:50] We've known each other more than 25 years. Um, and I think, yeah, that's more than half of our lives. But I think the moment that we, we met each other, we were already on our journey to, to really committing ourselves to figuring out, you know, what the hell is going on with this world. I mean, beginning with our own lived experiences and what's, what was happening with our communities. [00:43:18] Um, but yeah, education has always been central, and I think my, my path to really focusing in on that was in, in organizing spaces before I became a teacher. It was so key in bringing people to to support and be a part of whatever issue. Like, it was, well, how do we move people? Well, w- we tell them the truth. [00:43:47] We, we tell them the… an all-rounded kind of breakdown of how it will impact them and why they should get involved. And the, the, the think, um, really that is, was my introduction to organizing. Um, I think in community college, uh, I got to meet, um, a long time Filipino American, uh, organizer-activist, Royal Morales, was really my first introduction to Filipino American history and identity. [00:44:23] And from there, it just really took off. Like, so much of the suffering, struggling, and questions I had about my own life was answered. I mean, of course over time, but it kept, it kept, it kept, uh, bringing me along, bringing me along, and I was hooked. I was hooked after that. Um, yeah, the power of education to really transform lives is, has been a theme throughout. [00:44:53] Uh, and I'm sure for you as well. I, I- Yeah … the, the spaces that we, we shared were always about, like, getting to root problems and how everything is related inside. [00:45:06] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : Yeah. No, absolutely. It's funny, I was just thinking, I don't… You know, I think we might have first encountered each other indirectly around the, the fight against Proposition 209. [00:45:19] Oh. Uh, you know, right? And maybe even before that, around Proposition 187. 187. Y- yeah. And so for people who don't know, and actually I end up writing… I ended up writing a chapter on, uh, student organizing, specifically around 187 and 209, in this book. So, you know, the book itself, um, so, you know, Professor Fujino, who happened to, happened to be my professor as an undergrad, so she's now my collaborator. [00:45:47] But, um, Diane, uh, and I kind of pulled a, a whole range of organizers together to contribute to this anthology, but I also ended up contributing a separate chapter to it, and it was a reflection on the '90s, and specifically our campus organizing across the UC system- Mm-hmm … around first 187 and 209. And for people who aren't familiar with it, you know, 187 was this, uh, this terrible, um, voter initiative that ended up being passed by the state of California that would essentially criminalize, um, undocumented Californians. [00:46:24] And not just that, it was really going to, uh, m- make- teachers and, uh, and social workers and anybody who worked for the state of California stand in as border agents. [00:46:37] Artnelson Concordia: Right. ‘ [00:46:38] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : Cause basically it would be their, their responsibility as employees of the state of California to report on anybody seeking out service or that they're encountering in the space of their jobs, to report them if they were, if, if they suspected that these individuals, if they suspected these individuals- Yeah, yeah [00:46:58] were, um, undocumented. And so, you know, uh, Art and I and so many other UC students, uh, were, you know, going, um, were organizing in, in, in partnership with community organizations to, of course, try to stop Californians from, from, from voting for 187. W- they did, and of course that ended up not becoming law because it got, you know, challenged in, in the courts. [00:47:24] Right. But nevertheless, we were part of the resistance movement. And then, uh, after 187 was Proposition 209, which essentially eliminated affirmative action programs, um, in, in, uh, the University of California system. And, you know, I know, you know, that was also something that was also meaningful for, for us. [00:47:45] Artnelson Concordia: Yeah. [00:47:45] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : You know, uh, as, as, as young people who were also very much recipients of affirmative action programs. Yeah. Um, some of our ethnic studies knowledge was not even necessarily coming through ethnic studies courses, but oftentimes through the counselors and, and other staff who worked in these affirmative action programs. [00:48:06] And so, you know, that was, that was going to happen. Right. And it did, right? Had such a deep impact on us. Yeah. And we knew that, um, by making affirmative action, um, by eliminating affirmative action, it was going to have a major impact. Which it did, right? Mm-hmm. The Filipino, at least for Filipino Americans, our numbers at the UC system plum- plummeted after that. [00:48:25] Plummeted. But I think that's when we first met, and then, but it was really afterwards where, where we really connected more, right? When- Hmm … um, I think you and I both, because we, we, uh, found ourselves, uh, with the, the, the, the opportunity to connect with, uh, people who were really active in the anti-martial ma- law, the anti-martial law movement, right? [00:48:48] Um, for both of us. Yeah, [00:48:49] Artnelson Concordia: in the Philippines. Yeah. [00:48:50] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : Yeah. They were people who, uh, were already active in, um, the movement against the dictatorship- had come to the United States fleeing the tyranny of the Marcos dictatorship. Mm-hmm. And then were really responsible in, uh, growing the, uh, anti-martial law movement in the US, and I think, you know, at the time we met, of course martial law had ended, but, but the conditions in the Philippines hadn't changed. Still haven't changed. [00:49:17] Artnelson Concordia: Yeah. [00:49:17] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : And so our elders saw us, we saw them, right? I think. I mean, I can't even remember how I [00:49:24] Artnelson Concordia: first met some of them. Looking for each other, I really feel. [00:49:25] Dr Robyn Rodriguez : I think, you know, we, we end up gravitating to the same- Yeah … spaces, right? And we knew that that was something, you know, we wanted to be part of. T- maybe tell me about your story. How did you kind of find your way into that work and, and how did it resonate with you? But I know that that was really where we built together was- yeah … in the work around the Filipino, um, you know, liberation struggle. [00:49:47] Artnelson Concordia: Yeah. Our, our paths definitely, um, crossed then, and my, my journey to that point really was through the Black liberation movement- Yeah where I, in undergrad, um, was exposed to the history of the Panthers, and I… And it was immediate, like in terms of the truth they were telling and how they resonated with me. I just swallowed text after text after text. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Um, To Die for the People, uh, uh, Huey's Revolutionary Suicide, Elaine Brown's, uh, Taste of Power- Mm-hmm [00:50:25] Bobby Se- Seize the Time. I, I, I was so, um, I don't know, kind of- Absolutely, like, fascinated and inspired and wanting to find, well, what's the equivalent for, for Filipinos? Yes. And that was, that of course leads me from, um, Uncle Roy or Royal Morales, who's really talking about Filipino-American activism in History. [00:50:55] Mm-hmm. And I got a lot of the really incredible, um, participation and organizing with the farm workers, but it kind of just would stop, and I, and I was curious about, well, what is existing now? And it was my meeting, um, it was a, a brother mentor, Ed- Edwin Ha- Habaquan. Edwin. And he, uh- I went with Edwin at the same time. [00:51:25] Yeah. He was the, the founder of this Filipino apparel company, right? Tribal Pinoy. Oh my gosh. And I, um, I worked for the Filipino American newspaper for Samahang Pilipino at UCLA, Tan- Tanawin, and I only wrote one, maybe, maybe two articles. But the one article I, I, I very much remember, and I, I, I need to go find that article now, was an interview with Edwin, um, about Filipino-American activism. And he was like, “Look, it didn't just end with the farm workers. It continues today through this national liberation movement in the Philippines.” [00:52:15] Ayame Keane-Lee: You just listened to a clip from Spitting Fire: Doktora Robyn Speaks from tonight's guest, Dr. Robyn Rodriguez. This episode is called Resistance, Defiant Love, and Radical Care: Asian American Activism Course Launch with Artnelson Concordia. You can check it out in our show notes. Thank you so much for listening [00:52:36] Miko Lee: Please check out our website, kpfa.org/program/apexexpress to find out more about our show and our guests tonight. We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating, and sharing your visions with the world because your voices are important. Apex Express is produced by Ayame Keane-Lee, Anuj Vaidya, Cheryl Truong, Isabel Li, Jalena Keane-Lee, Miko Lee, Miata Tan, Preti Mangala-Shekar and Swati Rayasam. Tonight's show was produced by me Miko Lee, and edited by Ayame Keane-Lee. Have a great night The post APEX Express – 6.25.26 – Spitting Fire: Doktora Robyn Speaks appeared first on KPFA.
Despite her busy schedule, IT professional Susan Saraza dedicates her time as a volunteer radio host to serve as a bridge for connection and public service for the Filipino community in the Gold Coast. - Kahit abala sa kanyang iskedyul, inilalaan ng IT professional na si Susan Saraza ang kanyang oras bilang isang volunteer radio host upang magsilbing tulay ng koneksyon at serbisyo publiko para sa komunidad ng mga Pilipino sa Gold Coast.
Ping Mendoza is Founder & CEO of YUDA.YUDA is building the retail energy infrastructure for Filipino homes and businesses. YUDA owns the household energy relationship from first inquiry to long-term monitoring, starting with rooftop solar and home batteries. World-class energy services, built for Filipinos from the ground up.This episode is recorded live at Yspaces in BGC, Taguig. Yspaces is our official Co-working and Event Space Partner.In this episode:00:00 Introduction01:01 Ano ang YUDA?04:15 What is the startup solving? 32:21 What are stories behind the startup? 01:09:09 How can listeners find more information?YUDAWebsite: https://yuda.com.phFacebook: https://facebook.com/yudaphilippinesInstagram: https://instagram.com/yudaphilippinesTHIS EPISODE IS CO-PRODUCED BY:OneCFO: https://onecfoph.coKredit Hero: https://kredithero.comYspaces: https://knowyourspaceph.comSymph: https://symph.coTwala: https://www.twala.ioGigGenius: https://gig-genius.ioSkoolTek by Edfolio: https://skooltek.coRed Circle Global: https://www.redcircleglobal.comCHECK OUT OUR PARTNERS:Ask Lex PH Academy: https://asklexph.com (5% discount on e-learning courses! Code: ALPHAXSUP)CloudCFO: https://cloudcfo.ph (Free financial assessment, process onboarding, and 6-month QuickBooks subscription! Mention: Start Up Podcast PH)ArkoTech: https://www.arkotechspacesolutions.comDVCode Technologies Inc: https://dvcode.techArgum AI: http://argum.aiPIXEL by Eplayment: https://pixel.eplayment.co/auth/sign-up?r=PIXELXSUP1 (Sign up using Code: PIXELXSUP1)School of Profits: https://schoolofprofits.academyFounders Launchpad: https://founderslaunchpad.vcHier Business Solutions: https://hierpayroll.comAgile Data Solutions (Hustle PH): https://agiledatasolutions.techSmile Checks: https://getsmilechecks.comCloverly: https://cloverly.techBuddyBetes: https://buddybetes.comHyperstacks: https://hyperstacksinc.comWunderbrand: https://wunderbrand.comUplift Code Camp: https://upliftcodecamp.com (5% discount on bootcamps and courses! Code: UPLIFTSTARTUPPH)START UP PODCAST PHYouTube: https://youtube.com/startuppodcastphSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6BObuPvMfoZzdlJeb1XXVaApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/start-up-podcast/id1576462394Facebook: https://facebook.com/startuppodcastphPatreon: https://patreon.com/StartUpPodcastPHPIXEL: https://pixel.eplayment.co/dl/startuppodcastphWebsite: https://phstartup.onlineThis episode is edited by the team at: https://tasharivera.com
In 1898, on the eve of the Spanish-American War, the US Army seemed minuscule and ill-equipped for global conflict. Yet over the next fifteen years, its soldiers defeated Spain and pacified nationalist insurgencies in both Cuba and the Philippines. Despite their lack of experience in colonial administration, American troops also ruled and transformed the daily lives of the 8 million people who inhabited these tropical islands.How was this relatively small and inexperienced army able to wage wars in Cuba and the Philippines and occupy them? American soldiers depended on tens of thousands of Cubans and Filipinos, both for military operations and civil government. Whether compelled to labor for free or voluntarily working for wages, Cubans and Filipinos, suspended between civilian and soldier status, enabled the making of a new US overseas empire by interpreting, guiding, building, selling sex, and many other kinds of work for American troops. In The Work of Empire: War, Occupation, and the Making of American Colonialism in Cuba and the Philippines (UNC Press, 2025), Justin Jackson reveals how their labor forged the politics, economics, and culture of American colonialism in Cuba and the Philippines and left an enduring imprint on these islands and the US Army itself. Jackson offers new ways to understand the rise of American military might and how it influenced a globalizing imperial world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
In 1898, on the eve of the Spanish-American War, the US Army seemed minuscule and ill-equipped for global conflict. Yet over the next fifteen years, its soldiers defeated Spain and pacified nationalist insurgencies in both Cuba and the Philippines. Despite their lack of experience in colonial administration, American troops also ruled and transformed the daily lives of the 8 million people who inhabited these tropical islands.How was this relatively small and inexperienced army able to wage wars in Cuba and the Philippines and occupy them? American soldiers depended on tens of thousands of Cubans and Filipinos, both for military operations and civil government. Whether compelled to labor for free or voluntarily working for wages, Cubans and Filipinos, suspended between civilian and soldier status, enabled the making of a new US overseas empire by interpreting, guiding, building, selling sex, and many other kinds of work for American troops. In The Work of Empire: War, Occupation, and the Making of American Colonialism in Cuba and the Philippines (UNC Press, 2025), Justin Jackson reveals how their labor forged the politics, economics, and culture of American colonialism in Cuba and the Philippines and left an enduring imprint on these islands and the US Army itself. Jackson offers new ways to understand the rise of American military might and how it influenced a globalizing imperial world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history
In 1898, on the eve of the Spanish-American War, the US Army seemed minuscule and ill-equipped for global conflict. Yet over the next fifteen years, its soldiers defeated Spain and pacified nationalist insurgencies in both Cuba and the Philippines. Despite their lack of experience in colonial administration, American troops also ruled and transformed the daily lives of the 8 million people who inhabited these tropical islands.How was this relatively small and inexperienced army able to wage wars in Cuba and the Philippines and occupy them? American soldiers depended on tens of thousands of Cubans and Filipinos, both for military operations and civil government. Whether compelled to labor for free or voluntarily working for wages, Cubans and Filipinos, suspended between civilian and soldier status, enabled the making of a new US overseas empire by interpreting, guiding, building, selling sex, and many other kinds of work for American troops. In The Work of Empire: War, Occupation, and the Making of American Colonialism in Cuba and the Philippines (UNC Press, 2025), Justin Jackson reveals how their labor forged the politics, economics, and culture of American colonialism in Cuba and the Philippines and left an enduring imprint on these islands and the US Army itself. Jackson offers new ways to understand the rise of American military might and how it influenced a globalizing imperial world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/military-history
In 1898, on the eve of the Spanish-American War, the US Army seemed minuscule and ill-equipped for global conflict. Yet over the next fifteen years, its soldiers defeated Spain and pacified nationalist insurgencies in both Cuba and the Philippines. Despite their lack of experience in colonial administration, American troops also ruled and transformed the daily lives of the 8 million people who inhabited these tropical islands.How was this relatively small and inexperienced army able to wage wars in Cuba and the Philippines and occupy them? American soldiers depended on tens of thousands of Cubans and Filipinos, both for military operations and civil government. Whether compelled to labor for free or voluntarily working for wages, Cubans and Filipinos, suspended between civilian and soldier status, enabled the making of a new US overseas empire by interpreting, guiding, building, selling sex, and many other kinds of work for American troops. In The Work of Empire: War, Occupation, and the Making of American Colonialism in Cuba and the Philippines (UNC Press, 2025), Justin Jackson reveals how their labor forged the politics, economics, and culture of American colonialism in Cuba and the Philippines and left an enduring imprint on these islands and the US Army itself. Jackson offers new ways to understand the rise of American military might and how it influenced a globalizing imperial world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/caribbean-studies
In 1898, on the eve of the Spanish-American War, the US Army seemed minuscule and ill-equipped for global conflict. Yet over the next fifteen years, its soldiers defeated Spain and pacified nationalist insurgencies in both Cuba and the Philippines. Despite their lack of experience in colonial administration, American troops also ruled and transformed the daily lives of the 8 million people who inhabited these tropical islands.How was this relatively small and inexperienced army able to wage wars in Cuba and the Philippines and occupy them? American soldiers depended on tens of thousands of Cubans and Filipinos, both for military operations and civil government. Whether compelled to labor for free or voluntarily working for wages, Cubans and Filipinos, suspended between civilian and soldier status, enabled the making of a new US overseas empire by interpreting, guiding, building, selling sex, and many other kinds of work for American troops. In The Work of Empire: War, Occupation, and the Making of American Colonialism in Cuba and the Philippines (UNC Press, 2025), Justin Jackson reveals how their labor forged the politics, economics, and culture of American colonialism in Cuba and the Philippines and left an enduring imprint on these islands and the US Army itself. Jackson offers new ways to understand the rise of American military might and how it influenced a globalizing imperial world. Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/southeast-asian-studies
A concentrated Filipino community area is not as easy to spot as neighborhoods like Chinatown or Little Village. In this episode, we'll look at the long history Filipinos have had in Chicago stretching back to the early 1900s. We'll also look at how Filipino restaurants have made a mark across the city in recent years, from Jefferson Park to Pilsen. Originally published in February 2025.