Podcasts about filipinx american

Jen Soriano is a Filipinx-American writer, performer, and narrative strategist whose work bridges grassroots organizing and art-driven social change. They are the award-winning author of Nervous: Essays on Heritage and Healing and co-editor of Closer to Liberation: A Pina/xy Activist Anthology. A recipient of fellowships from Artist Trust, Hugo House, and others, Jen is also a co-founder of MediaJustice and ReFrame.

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. Return is the theme for APEX Express as Host Miko Lee talks with artists from  APAture, Kearny Street Workshops annual celebration of emerging artists from the Bay Area. Miko also speaks with exiled Hong Kong activist Nathan Law about the new documentary film “Who's Afraid of Nathan Law.” Special Thanks to Jose Ng for insight into the Hong Kong movement for democracy. For more information about the subjects in tonight's show: APAture, KSW – October 13 to November 9th venues throughout the Bay Area Jalena Keane-Lee and her film: Standing Above the Clouds playing October 12 Mill Valley Film Festival October 22 Roxie Cinema – APAture Ian Santillano playing October 13, DNA Lounge – APAture Kim Requesto performing November 3, Joe Goode Anex – APAture Who's Afraid of Nathan Law playing on POV   Return Show Transcript Opening: [00:00:00] 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.   Miko Lee: [00:00:38] Welcome to Apex Express. I'm your host Miko Lee and tonight our subject is return, which is the theme of the 25th annual APAture Kearny Street Workshop Annual Festival. It's running October 13th through November 9th, and there's going to be six showcases in venues across San Francisco. We're going to put a link in our show notes at kpfa.com backslash program apex. We're going to hear from three of the featured artists; filmmaker, Jalena Keane-Lee, dancer, Kim Requesto, and musician, Ian Santillano. Then we speak with someone who cannot return to his Homeland, exiled Hong Kong activist, Nathan Law. First off, we're going to check in with my usual co-host as PowerLeeGirls and my always daughter, filmmaker Jalena Keane-Lee. Good evening and welcome to Apex Express. Tonight On Apex Express, we're talking with my daughter, Jalena Keane-Lee, and usual co host, but tonight we're going to be talking with Jalena as a filmmaker. Welcome, Jalena, to Apex Express as a guest.   Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:01:48] Thank you so much for having me.   Miko Lee: [00:01:50] And I would like to talk with you about APAture, Kearny Street Workshop's annual festival. This year, you're one of several artists that are getting a showcase. The theme for this year is around Return. Can you tell us what return means to you and what you will be presenting at APAture?   Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:02:11] Yes, so the theme for Kearny Street Workshop's APAture festival this year is Return and I am the featured artist for the film showcase, which is such an honor and I'm really excited about that. And I've screened previous work there in the past—short films, but it was really yeah, such an honor and privilege to be asked to be the featured artist this year. And I'll be playing my first feature documentary, which is called Standing Above the Clouds. And it follows native Hawai'ian mother-daughter activists that are standing to protect their sacred mountain called Mauna Kea from the building of a massive 30 meter telescope. And the film chronicles intergenerational healing and how to build and sustain a movement. And so I hope people come to see it and it will also be playing with a series of short films from other Asian American and Pacific Islander filmmakers. And the film showcase is October 22nd at 6 PM at the Roxy Theater in the Mission. To me, the theme of return, it's, it reminds me a lot of, I think last year's theme too, which I think was homecoming. And just thinking about, you know, returning to yourself, returning to your ancestors, returning to your sacred land. Standing Above the Clouds is all about the movement to protect Mauna Kea, which is one of the most sacred places in all of Oceania. And the highest peak in the world from the seafloor. And the summit of the mountain stands at 14,000 feet and it's also tied to Native Hawai'ian genealogy and seen as the ancestor of the people. And so the film is really all about that place that you want to return to, that place that represents, you know, home and spirituality and is an anchor and a training ground and a teacher and a leader and so many other things that, you know, our sacred places are and that they teach us. And really about, you know, protecting that space and making sure that that's a place that future generations will be able to return to. And also reflecting and processing all the ways and all the times that you have returned there and what that has taught you and brought into your life.   Miko Lee: [00:04:26] So this festival runs for multiple weeks. It actually is at the Roxy and at DNA Lounge and at the Joe Goode Annex and at Arc Gallery and Studios. We're also in the show featuring Kim Requesto, who is one of the performing artists that's featured, and then music by, the musical guest, which is Ian Santillano. And Jalena, tell me about, are you getting a chance to communicate with all the other artists and to be able to work with the other artists that are part of this festival?   Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:04:58] It's the 25th year of the APAture Festival and there's a lot of really cool events for artists. I know they had a kind of orientation event and they had headshot opportunity to like get your headshot taken there. I unfortunately was out of town, so I was not able to make it and have that opportunity to mix and mingle with the other artists. But I'm excited to go to some of the events, as they happen. And there's a bunch of different showcases for, like, each different discipline. Mine is film, and then there's visual arts, music, performing arts, I believe.   Miko Lee: [00:05:33] Were you at Kearny Street Workshop last year as well? You were part of APAture last year as well.   Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:05:38] Yes, I was.   Miko Lee: [00:05:40] How many years have you participated?   Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:05:43] I think I've participated three years, but yeah, as I said before, this is my first time being a featured artist, so that's very special. And I know it's the 25th year of the APAture Arts Showcase, and that it's the oldest running Asian American arts showcase in the US.   Miko Lee: [00:06:03] And if folks aren't able to make this amazing APAture event, where else can they see your film Standing Above the Clouds?   Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:06:10] My film will also be available through the Mill Valley Film Festival on October 12th, and it's going to play at the San Rafael Film Center at 3pm on the 12th, and then I'll also be leading a workshop on October 19th. It's a teen documentary filmmaking and activism workshop, which should be really fun. And that's with SF Film, and we'll be at their location, Filmhouse, on, yeah, October 19th. And we should be having more screenings coming up, so if you're interested in, you know, following along with the film, you can find us at Standing Above the Clouds on Instagram and Facebook, and standingabovetheclouds.com. And we'll post our screenings and different opportunities. You can also request a screening for your organization or group or school. And we'll be implementing our screening tour and impact plans in the next few years as well. And you can follow me at Jalena.KL on Instagram and other platforms as well and I post about it too. And you can also follow at Protect Mauna Kea, if you want to keep up to date with the movement to protect Mauna Kea. And there is a petition, a change.org petition to sign to push for the stopping of the telescope, which is currently still trying to be built, even though there has been over a decade of indigenous resistance and resistance that we see as successful because they have been able to stall the telescope up until this point. But yes, there's a change.org petition that you can sign that is @protectmaunakea and also @standingabovetheclouds in both of their linkinbios.   Miko Lee: [00:07:46] Thank you. And we'll put links to all of those in the show notes for Apex Express. So I know that you've been touring with the film to different cities and indeed different countries. And I'm wondering if you have felt a different reception based on the places you've been to from Toronto to Seattle to Los Angeles. What has been, what has stood out to you as you've toured this film to different locations?   Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:08:06] Yeah, it's been such a blessing to be able to bring the film across the world. And I think we're really excited to we're bringing the film home to Hawai'i with the Hawai'i International Film Festival, and then also home to the Bay Area with APAture and Mill Valley. So it's really nice to have this, you know, homecoming and return, so to speak, to the places where, you know, the film is from. And touring it around, I think it's been really beautiful just seeing all the like resonance and the connections across other lines of difference with different activists, different local activists, whether it is in Toronto, or Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, or Seattle, And one thing that has been a really beautiful reflection from audiences is that the film is a representation of hope and that, you know, it's a realistic portrait of organizing and movement building, which certainly is not, you know, always glamorous or easy, but one that shows the beauty of the struggle and the beauty of being in community and pushing towards something and how being in movement spaces, you know, can shape and heal and revive different parts of who you are.   Miko Lee: [00:09:16] Can you talk a little bit about what healing means to you in relationship with social justice work?   Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:09:22] Standing Above the Clouds, it is about, you know, healing. And Havane, who's one of the main protagonists of the film, she has a really great line in the film, that is we don't just have to heal from this work, we heal through it too. And I think that speaks a lot to what it means to heal in movement spaces and part of the intergenerational healing that we show in the film is, you know, our, our parents generation, and this kind of older generation of women who really paved the way, and who didn't have the opportunity to really take breaks or care for themselves and their own bodies, oftentimes, and there just wasn't really any other option or it wasn't really a choice. And in the film we can see passing down to the next generation and wanting people to be able to have the opportunity to care for themselves and to, you know, have boundaries around their time and their energy and show up in these spaces when they feel completely ready and that being something that the kind of mother generation wants to pass down to the younger generation and also something that the younger generation is able to point out. In the older generation and see for themselves and I think that really plays into movement sustainability and healing is such an important part of creating movements that can be sustainable and that won't just burn people out and then kind of, you know, fizzle and fall away. So making sure that we have the space to heal and in all the different ways, like through tears, through laughter, through joy. I think is such an important part and also letting movements and work for social justice heal us and have, you know, a positive impact on us and teach us about ourselves.   Miko Lee: [00:11:19] Thank you for sharing that. I just finished reading the amazing Healing Justice Lineages book by Erica Woodard and Cara Page, and you and I just went to see Cara's exhibit about the impact of the medical industrial complex. And one of the things both Cara and Erica talk about in the book is ancestral technologies and the impact that ancestral technologies can have on healing us and the next generation. And I resonated with that so much being the mother age obviously of you, but also of the women in Standing Above the Clouds. And I'm wondering if you have thoughts on ancestral technologies that you grew up with, or that you felt like you learned from being involved with this filmmaking process for so long.   Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:12:08] That's a really, ooh that's such an interesting point. I think in the film, the ancestral technology that comes to mind immediately is oli or chanting, and that is like, you know, an ancient Hawai'ian way of recording knowledge and passing down information and also praying. And, in the film, it's talked about in a few different places, how that is an ancient technology and how we only know the things that we know today, because someone passed it down orally as an oli or as a chant. And a really, a really beautiful thing about the process of making the film was being able to, to witness that and also to learn oli myself, and also to learn that Havane and Auntie Pua, who are two of the main protagonists in the film, they both write a lot of oli too. So it's an ancestral technology that's still very much alive and breathing in the present day. And I think that's so beautiful and that yeah, I hope with, you know, all of our different ancestral technologies that we access and learn about at different times that we also can see them as things that are like ever changing and kept current in the present.   Miko Lee: [00:13:29] And what would you like people to walk away with after seeing Standing Above the Clouds?   Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:13:34] I want people to walk away feeling and believing that collective liberation is possible. And that the worlds that we want to create that are centered on care, that don't discriminate based on, you know, any lines of difference, are possible. And it's our responsibility to enact those worlds and protect the things that are sacred to us and important to us. And I want people to walk away thinking about, you know, their own mom and thinking about the importance of sisterhood and community. And I want people to walk away wanting to call their best friend or their mom or reconnect with someone and talk about how it made them feel and what they want to do and what they want to stand for in their own communities. Yeah, I also want people to walk away, you know, fired up about protecting Mauna Kea and other sacred places and signing the petition to stop the 30 meter telescope, which we'll link in the show notes.   Miko Lee: [00:14:44] Thank you so much for joining us.   Next up, listen to APAture feature musician, Ian Santillano. Ian is a Filipino American singer songwriter multi-instrumentalist and producer from Hayward, California. So check out his song, “End of the Earf.”   MUSIC   That was APAture featured musician Ian Santillano with “End of the Earf.”  Now let's check in with dancer Kim Requesto. Kim, welcome to Apex Express.   Kim Requesto: [00:18:12] Hi Miko, thank you so much for having me.   Miko Lee: [00:18:20] I'm starting first with my question I love asking all people: Kim, tell me about who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you?   Kim Requesto: [00:18:26] I was born in the Philippines and I immigrated to the US when I was three years old, but my entire life has been in the Bay Area. A lot of it has been informed by my family and what we've brought over from the Philippines, and that is a lot of dance and specifically Philippine folk dance, because both of my parents were actually dancers. I continue to share Philippine folkloric dance. And I've gotten deeper into that practice by doing research with different indigenous communities in the Philippines. My legacy, I feel, has expanded beyond just the stories of my family and the stories that I come from, but also, the dances and music and culture of the different indigenous communities that I've created connections and relationships with in the Philippines. And then of course, how I've been able to share that with the community here in the Bay Area, and also in the diaspora.   Miko Lee: [00:19:32] Thank you. Kim, you're a multidisciplinary artist. I know you do dance and photography and music and sharing this cultural traditions. Can you tell us a little bit about what you'll be sharing during APAture?   Kim Requesto: [00:19:45] Yes, of course. So what I hope to share during APAture is more of my performance work. Showcasing movement that I've learned while doing research in the Philippines and honing in on Philippine dance and the various traditional dance styles from the different communities in the Philippines. But also, a lot of my work is also involving my experience as someone who's grown up in the Bay area. The work that I'm presenting is really around my experience as a Filipinx American and sharing that through movement that is not just traditional, not necessarily contemporary, but a mixture and a fusion of both. I also do hope to share specifically traditional movement, just because to honor the people I've worked with in the Philippines they requested, you know, before people see this fusion part, it's important that they know what the traditional part looks like as well. I'm really excited to share dance and also some music and I'm part of the Performing Diaspora residency at CounterPulse so I'll be previewing a small work in progress that'll be showcased in December. But I'm really looking forward to just sharing movement with others, and also sharing the stage with the other artists who's part of the festival.   Miko Lee: [00:21:09] I love that. I used to study traditional Japanese noh and kyogen, and I remember one of the things that the elders used to talk about is you're not allowed to derivate from the form until you have the traditional forms down absolutely and understand what they are in your bones. And I feel like that's what your elders are saying, too. Showcase the traditional work so that the fusion work makes sense to other folks.   Kim Requesto: [00:21:34] Mhmm. And it's also, I think, just to honor the cultures back in the Philippines, just to honor them as well.  Because within, in my work, I do feel that it's important that there's a way for me to also uplift what they've taught me and then not just like what I've been doing. [Laughs] So yeah, I guess similar to, to what your elders said too, or I guess in this sense, both of our elders.   Miko Lee: [00:22:02] Yeah, I'm wondering how this fits with the theme of APAture this year, which is Return. Kearny Street Workshop says, from the Palestinian right to return, the call for the indigenous land back movement, the various migrant histories and struggles for justice in our Pacific Islander and Asian communities, and the returns we face in our personal lives. So what does return mean to you? And how is this going to showcase in the work that you're presenting?   Kim Requesto: [00:22:28] For myself, returning means finding our truth. At least to me in this present day and age [laughs] of my life, it's really finding that truth or finding our truth and being able to also share and connect with others. The theme of returning also is being able to connect and understand, not just the histories that we've experienced, but also the histories that our bodies have experienced. I guess the way we'll be seeing it in what I'm going to be sharing with everyone is really looking through the lens of movement and how I fuse my experiences as someone who is Filipino, but also who is positioned here in the Bay Area. And being able to also find my truth in that movement, because even though a lot of the movement I'll be showcasing is from the southern part of the Philippines, I'm sharing it here in the Bay Area. And also to fuse it with my experience as someone who has grown up in San Francisco. There's a different positionalities in that. My movement is also different. I think in that idea of fusion and in the idea of also learning traditional movement, but also understanding my positionality and my body and my identity and fusing that together. It's the idea of finding, going back to finding my truth and you know, for me, it's like finding that in movement.   Miko Lee: [00:24:01] Thank you so much. My last question is, what are you reading, watching, or listening to? Is there something that is sparking your imagination right now?   Kim Requesto: [00:24:11] What I'm listening to, it's a lot of like melodic, soft, instrumental music. I'm back at a period of wanting to listen to jazz or to even like classical music. And it's just been helping me breathe and I think breathing, being able to find rest, being able to find like calm. Especially since I think for my personal life, I'm getting busy. Being able to rest gives me a lot of like opportunity to be creative after I've rested. So yeah. I think listening to music that makes me happy has been really great for me finding calmness and happiness. If I had to name an artist, it would be Olivia Dean grooves. Yes.   Miko Lee: [00:25:01] Thank you. Is there anything else you'd like to add?   Kim Requesto: [00:25:04] I'm just really looking forward to APAture this year and seeing everything from all the different artists and disciplines. I think having a space in APAture with Kearny Street Workshop and just being able to continue to share art with, like, the community. The greater Bay Area community is such a privilege because it really does feel like a place where people can connect with other artists and also audience members, and I'm just really thankful to APAture and to KSW and also just thank you, Miko, for talking with me.   Miko Lee: [00:25:37] Thanks so much. I look forward to seeing your work at APAture this year. Thanks, Kim.   Kim Requesto: [00:25:42] Thanks, Miko.   Miko Lee: [00:25:43] You're listening to apex express on 94.1, KPFA Berkeley, 89.3, KPF B in Berkeley, 88.1 KFCF in Fresno and online@kpfa.org. Once again, we hear from APAture featured musician Ian Ian Santillano with “Movin' Nowhere.”   MUSIC   That was APAture featured musician Ian Santillano with “Movin' Nowhere.” Finally tonight, I speak with the person who is unable to return to his Homeland, Hong Kong activist, Nathan Law. And I also speak with filmmaker Joe Piscatella. Nathan Law was one of the student leaders during the 79 day Umbrella Movement in 2014. He is also the founder and former chair of Demosisto a new political party derived from the 2014 protests. And now he is an exile in London. I speak with both Nathan Law and documentary filmmaker, Joe Piscatella. Today we're speaking about the documentary film Who's Afraid of Nathan Law, and I'm so thrilled that we have with us both the filmmaker and Nathan Law himself. So Nathan, I want to start with you. First off, this is a question I ask many guests. Can you please tell me who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you?   Nathan Law: [00:31:26] Yeah, thank you so much for the invitation, Miko. This movie is about the struggle of Hong Kong's democratic movement. As we all know, there's been decades of the Hong Kong democratic movement, in which we fight for the right to elect our leaders and universal suffrage. And this is deeply embedded into our culture because we often see Hong Kong as somewhere the East meets the West. The East is of course, the Chinese heritage, our culture, our languages. But, the Western part is that there's a big part of it that's about freedom, liberty, and the democratic way of life. So, the fight for democracy in Hong Kong has been deeply ingrained in our culture and becomes essential part of who we are. So this movie is about my story, but it's also a reflection of the way of life of Hong Kong people and what are the struggles and difficulties that they've been through and how the city of Hong Kong is being demolished by the authoritarian regime, Chinese Communist Party.   Miko Lee: [00:32:29] Nathan thanks so much. I love that you gave a little blip about what the film is about, which is powerful. I was lucky to have a chance to be able to see it, but Nathan, I'm wondering about you personally, who are your people and for you, what do you carry? Like, what's your earliest memory of social justice?   Nathan Law: [00:32:47] For me, I grew up in Hong Kong, but I was born in mainland China. So I moved to Hong Kong when I was six. I lived in the most blue collar neighborhood. I lived in public housing. My father was a construction worker and my mother was a cleaner. So when I grew up, I was not taught about social justice or democracy. My parents had the mentality that I call refugee mentality, which they only want their kids to get into a good school and get a good job and don't rock the boat. So I've not been encouraged to do anything that I'm currently doing. But, in my high school, I had a political enlightenment moment, which inspired me to get into the arena of activism in college. So when I was in high school, I learned about Liu Xiaobo the Chinese human rights activist who got the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, and the stories of Tiananmen Massacre, which was a tragedy in 1989 when there were so many workers and students, they fought for China's democracy, and then they were brutally massacred, and there were hundreds to thousands of people died because of the crackdown. So all these moments make me feel like, as a college student and as a half intellectual, I had responsibility to engage in social affairs and be involved in social activism. So that was the start of my story and the people, my people, certainly people of Hong Kong and those people who have the pursuit of freedom and democracy.   Miko Lee: [00:34:33] Thanks, Nathan. And filmmaker Joe Piscatella, can you tell us how you got the first inspiration to create this documentary around the Umbrella Movement and around Nathan?   Joe Piscatella: [00:34:44] Sure. So, in 2017 my team and I made a film prior to this called Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower and that film documents the rise of Joshua Wong in the national education movement and then through the Umbrella movement and that film won Sundance in 2017 and is still currently on Netflix. And when we were looking to do our next film we realized one, the story of Hong Kong was, was continuing. There was more story to tell as the 2019 anti extradition protests were happening, and we wanted to be able to tell that story until the next chapter. And we also were so impressed. When we were making the Joshua Wong film, we were so impressed with Nathan. We were moved by his story, we were moved by his passion, we were all inspired by what he was doing. And we realized, hey, Nathan has a phenomenal story to tell in his own right. Let's tell the story of Hong Kong through the lens of Nathan Law.   Miko Lee: [00:35:48] Thank you. And Nathan, what was the decision making factor that you decided to go along with being part of this documentary film?   Nathan Law: [00:35:58] First of all, Joe and I and the other film crew, we had a connection when the Joshua Wong documentary, uh, was being produced. So I had already had the opportunity to work with them. I think, for the team, they're not only just producing, like, a documentary, But they genuinely do care about human rights and the story of Hong Kong and the struggles. So I think that gave a huge confidence to me and my fellow Hong Kong activists that they're definitely going to tell a story that make more people to understand what we are struggling and the fight for democracy. So I think this is a great collaboration and I think this documentary encapsulates past 10 years of my life and pretty much, the struggles to democracy and I think that that has a lot of reflection on it, but also like a lot of Hong Kong people would echo what was being covered in the documentary, because my life is pretty much also the lives of many other Hong Kong people being through all these big times, democratic struggles and ending up needing to leave their hometown and to resettle in somewhere else.   Miko Lee: [00:37:14] Thank you. It's really enlightening, especially for someone like me who is fifth generation Chinese American, does not speak Chinese, and it's very hard to actually get any kind of, you know, quote unquote, accurate information about what's happening in Hong Kong and the activist movement. How would you suggest people get accurate news of what's happening in Hong Kong?   Nathan Law: [00:37:37] For now, it's extremely difficult because the press freedom in Hong Kong is being squashed. There have been a multiple actions taken by the government that they disbanded, the most free and crowd sourced and critical news outlets to the Chinese regime. And for now, most of the media in Hong Kong have to follow the orders of the government and only express certain point of view that do not upset Beijing. So we don't have much room, but still we have some very small independent media that they can still operate with a very limited resources, for example, Hong Kong Free Press. This is one channel that we can get more impartial news. But at the end of the day, there has been a vacuum of independent journalism, and that is in, like, intentionally made by the government because the government doesn't want information to be circulated. They want to control the narratives and the information that people know. And by controlling it, they can effectively push forward the propaganda. So that is a predicament of Hong Kong people. And we do want more genuine independent journalism, but the reality of Hong Kong doesn't allow.   Miko Lee: [00:39:04] And Joe, how is this film being released in Asia? What's the reception to this film in Asia?   Joe Piscatella: [00:39:12] The film has not been released yet in Asia. it is about to, it actually premieres tonight, on PBS, on, POV on PBS, and then it'll stream at pbs.org/POV for the foreseeable future. So I have not gotten what the reaction is yet in Asia to this film.   Miko Lee: [00:39:33] Okay, we'll have to wait and see. It is exciting that people can have easy access to be able to see the film on public broadcasting, at least in the United States, and we'll wait and see what happens in Asia. Nathan, you are now, with Political Asylum living in London, and I'm wondering how you practice activism there in Hong Kong when you are living in London.   Nathan Law: [00:39:56] When the political crackdown in Hong Kong took place. The activism in the diaspora community becomes much more important because we can say something that you cannot say in Hong Kong and we can raise awareness by interacting with foreign government officials and international NGOs. If you do it in Hong Kong under the restriction of the national security law now, by meeting, for example, a congressman in the US, you can easily be incarcerated and be sentenced to years of imprisonment in Hong Kong. That is how strict the political sentiment there. And also if you speak about critical things towards the government or express supportive statement to the 2019, protest, you will also be targeted, sentenced, and maybe ended up in months or years in the prison. So we've had all these court cases where people only do peaceful advocacy work without inciting violence or committing violence, but they are being thrown to jail because of speech. And it's common to have speech crime in Hong Kong. So the diaspora community shoulders certain responsibility to speak out all those demands and, and the push for Hong Kong and China's democracy. So for me, in London, there's been a growing population of Hong Kong people because of the fact that people voted with their feet, there has been a exodus of Hong Kong people for now that's already been more than 200,000 of them that have come to the UK because of the worsening liberty situation in Hong Kong. And with that many amounts of people we have a lot of community and cultural events. One of the biggest goal is to preserve the story and the history and the identity of Hong Kong people, which is being erased in Hong Kong actively by the government.   Miko Lee: [00:42:02] And what's going on with the Umbrella Movement now? Like I said, it's very hard for us outside of your film to get information about what is happening right now. Can you give us an update?   Nathan Law: [00:42:14] Yeah, the Umbrella Movement was the occupation movement 10 years ago in pursuit for democracy. It's been 10 years, but I think its legacy is still impacting Hong Kong. It's the very first civil disobedience movement in a massive scale in Hong Kong. There were hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong people camping in the BCS runway in order to fight for a free and democratic society. Fast forward five years ago, there was a big, anti extradition law protest in Hong Kong in 2019 to 2020. It was the latest big uprising of Hong Kong people where you encounter much more ferocious and militant protests. And of course, it triggered a series of response from the government, which includes the implementation of the national security law, which in effect curtailed the city's freedom and civil society. So, it's been 10 years. We had more optimistic outlook of Hong Kong 10 years ago. But for now, the situation in Hong Kong is really bad, as I mentioned. Speech crime is in place, civil liberties and individual freedoms are being heavily restricted, civil society is disbanded. Some of the interviewees in the documentary, including my dearest friend, Joshua Wong, and Gwyneth Ho, they are now being in jail for more than three and a half years just because of joining a primary election, which is the thing that all democratic countries do, but in Hong Kong, it becomes a crime. And they are expecting to be sentenced, at the end of this year, to up to five to ten years of imprisonment just because they do, they do the exact same thing that other politicians in democratic countries do. So this is a really sad reality that we've put up so much effort, so much sacrifices to the democratic movement, but for now, as the Chinese regime is just so powerful. So it's difficult for us to get some progress in our democracy.   Miko Lee: [00:44:32] Is there anything that folks over here that believe and want to support the movement? Is there anything that we can do to help support the folks that are incarcerated or support the movement?   Nathan Law: [00:44:44] First of all, attention and support is really important. So by spreading words of the theme or the current situation of Hong Kong, it helps a lot. And of course we need more representative in the hill to push over Hong Kong agenda and there are a few bills about advancing Hong Kong's advocacy in the hill that's being discussed. Those are the things that we can write to our representative and ask them for support. But at the end of the day, it's also that the struggle of Hong Kong is a puzzle, a piece of puzzle in a broad picture of the struggles against authoritarianism and autocracy. We've been through a decade or two of democratic decline around the world and Hong Kong was part of it. So one thing to raise awareness of the issue of Hong Kong is also to protect your democracy. We are in an election year and you should do your homework, be educated, and be decided to come out to vote. This is an act of safeguarding our democracy.   Miko Lee: [00:45:52] And from your perspective as a Hong Kong person who's now living in London, do you have thoughts on the upcoming American presidential campaign?   Nathan Law: [00:46:03] Well, of course, this is a particularly important, election as the world has been, in like a chaotic situation as we've seen the warfare in Ukraine, in Gaza, and also all the political crackdowns in Hong Kong and around China, and also the threat to Taiwan. So for me, as a person who dedicated myself into the fight for human rights and democracy, definitely, I do hope that people can, American people can elect someone who upholds the values that we share and is very determined to, to support Taiwan and the struggle of Hong Kong. So that would be my parameter when it comes to the US election, but at the end of the day, I'm not a US citizen, so I don't really have a stake in this. campaign. But, yeah, I think we we need a leader that that can lead the free world and to do good things   Miko Lee: [00:47:06] And Nathan I know as an activist as a leader, you've gotten a lot of attention. And I know that there have been personal attacks against you for both yourself and people that are close to you, including your family members. How do you persevere through that?   Nathan Law: [00:47:26] It's difficult to cope with the harms that that's exerted, not only to you, but to your family, because they actually have nothing to do with everything I do. This collective punishment is evil, and it's intentionally used to hurt you. So it's difficult to persevere and navigate myself in these attacks, including personal attacks and also collective punishment to my family and my former colleagues. So, yeah, I think for me, it takes a lot of time to digest and to find a way to balance it. And it's not easy. One thing that I think is great to be portrayed in the film is that for us, we are activists, we are leaders, but we're not, we're not invincible. We're not without any pains and struggles. So as an activist, I think most of my time is actually being used to cope with anxiety, cope with fear, and how I can maintain as mentally healthy as possible in these political storms.   Miko Lee: [00:49:04] And how do you do that?   Nathan Law: [00:49:05] It's not easy, yeah.   Miko Lee: [00:49:06] How do you do that, Nathan? How do you cope with the anxiety and the fear? What's do you have a process that helps you?   Nathan Law: [00:49:16] I think first of all, you have to recognize that is it's normal to have these emotions. This these are definitely emotions that disturb your lives, your work, but they're normal because you are situated in an extraordinary situation and people from all corners, they want a piece of you or they want to attack you to achieve their purpose. And I think as long as you recognize it, as you, as, as long as you know that you are suffering from it, first of all, having a support group is really important for those people who understand who you are and who support you unconditionally, and also seeking professional help, no matter if it's a therapist or a psychiatrist, those who can listen to you and, and just try out. I don't think there is a one set of measures that fit for all, and that there is such a rich combination of how you can deal with anxiety and pressure. But I think the very first thing is you, you have to recognize that it's normal to have these emotion. You need to seek help and you need to try them out.  Otherwise, it's difficult for the others to help you, and those who love you would also be hurt, seeing you suffering from all these negative emotions.   Miko Lee: [00:50:47] Thank you for sharing. My last question for you, Nathan, is what was it like the first time you saw the finished documentary, seeing yourself up there on the big screen? What did that feel like for you?   Nathan Law: [00:50:58] It feels extremely weird. I still cannot get around the idea that, yeah, there's a big screen and there's my face and there's my voice. Even though I've been doing all these interviews and, and like video-taking for the past decades, it is still difficult to kind of get used to it. But also I'm, I'm glad that Joe and the team have produced a wonderful documentary. That's been a really good reception and people are understand more about Hong Kong through the lens of my story, and I'm grateful for that. So, yeah, as long as I can introduce that film to the others, go to Q&A and chat about it, I would love to do it, and I'm really proud of the result.   Miko Lee: [00:51:52] Thank you so much. And Joe, for you as the filmmaker, what is it that you want people to understand about this film?   Joe Piscatella: [00:52:01] What I want the audiences to take away is that, yes, this is the story of Hong Kong. Yes, this is the story of Nathan Law and other activists fighting for Hong Kong. But in so many ways, this is also a story for the rest of the world. Right now, we are at a point where, you know, democracy is in peril in many parts of the world. And what I want audiences to take away from this film is, if you don't participate in your democracy, if you do not do what you can to fight for and safeguard your freedoms. They can disappear very, very quickly.   Miko Lee: [00:52:37] Thank you very much, filmmaker Joe Piscatella and Nathan Law for talking with me about the new documentary film, Who's Afraid of Nathan Law?, which people can catch on POV PBS. We are so happy to see the film, to see that it's out there. I look forward to hearing more about the world's response to this powerful work. Thank you so much.   Nathan Law: [00:53:03] Yeah, thank you, Miko.   Joe Piscatella: [00:53:05] Thank you.   Ayame Keane-Lee: [00:53:07] Let's listen to one more song from APAture's 2024 featured musician Ian Santillano. This is “Overthinkings.”   MUSIC   You just listen to Ian Santillano and Āish's “Overthinkings.” You can check out Ian on Sunday, October 13th at the DNA Lounge for the APAture Music Showcase.   Miko Lee: [00:56:53] Please check out our website, kpfa.org to find out more about our show tonight. We think 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 created by Miko Lee, Jalena Keane-Lee, Preeti Mangala Shekar, Anuj Vaidya, Swati Rayasam, Aisa Villarosa, Estella Owoimaha-Church, Gabriel Tangloao, Cheryl Truong and Ayame Keane-Lee.  Tonight's show was produced by Miko Lee and edited by Ayame Keane-Lee. Have a great night.   The post APEX Express – 10.10.24 – Return appeared first on KPFA.

Filipinx American poet Ina Cariño shares a brand new “sonnet crown” poem that they wrote for SongWriter on the subject of family and empathy. Scientist Sarah Nila describes her experiments exploring empathy with children and mothers in the Philippines, and how Ina's poem contains echoes of her findings. And producer and songwriter Alex Wong performs a brand-new song called “Murmurations,” that includes violin by Ina and vocals by Sarah. The song is only available on Bandcamp, and is a fundraiser for World Central Kitchen.SongWriterPodcast.comInstagram.com/SongWriterPodcastFacebook.com/SongWriterPodcastTikTok.com/@SongWriterPodcastX.com/SnogWriterSeason six is made possible by a grant from Templeton World Charity Foundation

In Crip Colony: Mestizaje, US Imperialism, and the Queer Politics of Disability in the Philippines (Duke UP, 2023), Sony Coráñez Bolton examines the racial politics of disability, mestizaje, and sexuality in the Philippines. Drawing on literature, poetry, colonial records, political essays, travel narratives, and visual culture, Coráñez Bolton traces how disability politics colluded with notions of Philippine mestizaje. He demonstrates that Filipino mestizo writers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries used mestizaje as a racial ideology of ability that marked Indigenous inhabitants of the Philippines as lacking in civilization and in need of uplift and rehabilitation. Heteronormative, able-bodied, and able-minded mixed-race Filipinos offered a model and path for assimilation into the US empire. In this way, mestizaje allowed for supposedly superior mixed-race subjects to govern the archipelago in collusion with American imperialism. By bringing disability studies together with studies of colonialism and queer-of-color critique, Coráñez Bolton extends theorizations of mestizaje beyond the United States and Latin America while considering how Filipinx and Filipinx American thought fundamentally enhances understandings of the colonial body and the racial histories of disability. 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 Crip Colony: Mestizaje, US Imperialism, and the Queer Politics of Disability in the Philippines (Duke UP, 2023), Sony Coráñez Bolton examines the racial politics of disability, mestizaje, and sexuality in the Philippines. Drawing on literature, poetry, colonial records, political essays, travel narratives, and visual culture, Coráñez Bolton traces how disability politics colluded with notions of Philippine mestizaje. He demonstrates that Filipino mestizo writers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries used mestizaje as a racial ideology of ability that marked Indigenous inhabitants of the Philippines as lacking in civilization and in need of uplift and rehabilitation. Heteronormative, able-bodied, and able-minded mixed-race Filipinos offered a model and path for assimilation into the US empire. In this way, mestizaje allowed for supposedly superior mixed-race subjects to govern the archipelago in collusion with American imperialism. By bringing disability studies together with studies of colonialism and queer-of-color critique, Coráñez Bolton extends theorizations of mestizaje beyond the United States and Latin America while considering how Filipinx and Filipinx American thought fundamentally enhances understandings of the colonial body and the racial histories of disability. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

In Crip Colony: Mestizaje, US Imperialism, and the Queer Politics of Disability in the Philippines (Duke UP, 2023), Sony Coráñez Bolton examines the racial politics of disability, mestizaje, and sexuality in the Philippines. Drawing on literature, poetry, colonial records, political essays, travel narratives, and visual culture, Coráñez Bolton traces how disability politics colluded with notions of Philippine mestizaje. He demonstrates that Filipino mestizo writers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries used mestizaje as a racial ideology of ability that marked Indigenous inhabitants of the Philippines as lacking in civilization and in need of uplift and rehabilitation. Heteronormative, able-bodied, and able-minded mixed-race Filipinos offered a model and path for assimilation into the US empire. In this way, mestizaje allowed for supposedly superior mixed-race subjects to govern the archipelago in collusion with American imperialism. By bringing disability studies together with studies of colonialism and queer-of-color critique, Coráñez Bolton extends theorizations of mestizaje beyond the United States and Latin America while considering how Filipinx and Filipinx American thought fundamentally enhances understandings of the colonial body and the racial histories of disability. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

In Crip Colony: Mestizaje, US Imperialism, and the Queer Politics of Disability in the Philippines (Duke UP, 2023), Sony Coráñez Bolton examines the racial politics of disability, mestizaje, and sexuality in the Philippines. Drawing on literature, poetry, colonial records, political essays, travel narratives, and visual culture, Coráñez Bolton traces how disability politics colluded with notions of Philippine mestizaje. He demonstrates that Filipino mestizo writers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries used mestizaje as a racial ideology of ability that marked Indigenous inhabitants of the Philippines as lacking in civilization and in need of uplift and rehabilitation. Heteronormative, able-bodied, and able-minded mixed-race Filipinos offered a model and path for assimilation into the US empire. In this way, mestizaje allowed for supposedly superior mixed-race subjects to govern the archipelago in collusion with American imperialism. By bringing disability studies together with studies of colonialism and queer-of-color critique, Coráñez Bolton extends theorizations of mestizaje beyond the United States and Latin America while considering how Filipinx and Filipinx American thought fundamentally enhances understandings of the colonial body and the racial histories of disability. Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/southeast-asian-studies

In Crip Colony: Mestizaje, US Imperialism, and the Queer Politics of Disability in the Philippines (Duke UP, 2023), Sony Coráñez Bolton examines the racial politics of disability, mestizaje, and sexuality in the Philippines. Drawing on literature, poetry, colonial records, political essays, travel narratives, and visual culture, Coráñez Bolton traces how disability politics colluded with notions of Philippine mestizaje. He demonstrates that Filipino mestizo writers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries used mestizaje as a racial ideology of ability that marked Indigenous inhabitants of the Philippines as lacking in civilization and in need of uplift and rehabilitation. Heteronormative, able-bodied, and able-minded mixed-race Filipinos offered a model and path for assimilation into the US empire. In this way, mestizaje allowed for supposedly superior mixed-race subjects to govern the archipelago in collusion with American imperialism. By bringing disability studies together with studies of colonialism and queer-of-color critique, Coráñez Bolton extends theorizations of mestizaje beyond the United States and Latin America while considering how Filipinx and Filipinx American thought fundamentally enhances understandings of the colonial body and the racial histories of disability. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

In Crip Colony: Mestizaje, US Imperialism, and the Queer Politics of Disability in the Philippines (Duke UP, 2023), Sony Coráñez Bolton examines the racial politics of disability, mestizaje, and sexuality in the Philippines. Drawing on literature, poetry, colonial records, political essays, travel narratives, and visual culture, Coráñez Bolton traces how disability politics colluded with notions of Philippine mestizaje. He demonstrates that Filipino mestizo writers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries used mestizaje as a racial ideology of ability that marked Indigenous inhabitants of the Philippines as lacking in civilization and in need of uplift and rehabilitation. Heteronormative, able-bodied, and able-minded mixed-race Filipinos offered a model and path for assimilation into the US empire. In this way, mestizaje allowed for supposedly superior mixed-race subjects to govern the archipelago in collusion with American imperialism. By bringing disability studies together with studies of colonialism and queer-of-color critique, Coráñez Bolton extends theorizations of mestizaje beyond the United States and Latin America while considering how Filipinx and Filipinx American thought fundamentally enhances understandings of the colonial body and the racial histories of disability. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

In Crip Colony: Mestizaje, US Imperialism, and the Queer Politics of Disability in the Philippines (Duke UP, 2023), Sony Coráñez Bolton examines the racial politics of disability, mestizaje, and sexuality in the Philippines. Drawing on literature, poetry, colonial records, political essays, travel narratives, and visual culture, Coráñez Bolton traces how disability politics colluded with notions of Philippine mestizaje. He demonstrates that Filipino mestizo writers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries used mestizaje as a racial ideology of ability that marked Indigenous inhabitants of the Philippines as lacking in civilization and in need of uplift and rehabilitation. Heteronormative, able-bodied, and able-minded mixed-race Filipinos offered a model and path for assimilation into the US empire. In this way, mestizaje allowed for supposedly superior mixed-race subjects to govern the archipelago in collusion with American imperialism. By bringing disability studies together with studies of colonialism and queer-of-color critique, Coráñez Bolton extends theorizations of mestizaje beyond the United States and Latin America while considering how Filipinx and Filipinx American thought fundamentally enhances understandings of the colonial body and the racial histories of disability. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Living Legacies: LARRY THE MUSICAL x MISTER REY TRIBUTE Host Aisa Villarosa covers “Larry the Musical” a new theatrical production based on the book “Journey for Justice: The Life of Larry Itliong” written by Gayle Romasanta and the late Dr. Dawn Mabalon. Nomi aka Power Struggle and Aisa also honor an anchor and leader of the Bay Area Filipinx and civil rights community –  Mister REY. Links to Episode Features: Larry The Musical website: https://www.larrythemusical.com/   Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales: https://www.instagram.com/pinayism/?hl=en Billy Bustamante: https://www.billybustamante.com/ Mister REY Memorial GoFundMe https://misterrey.bandcamp.com/album/wonders-mysticisms-beat-tape Power Struggle https://soundcloud.com/mario-de-mira Show Transcripts Living Legacies: Larry the Musical x Mister REY tribute Opening: [00:00:00] 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 Aisa Villarosa: [00:00:28] You're listening to Apex Express on 94.1 KPFA Berkeley, 89.3 KPFB Berkeley, 88.1 KFC at Fresno and online at KPFA. org. Welcome, welcome, welcome. I am your host, Aisa Villarosa. I'm an artist, attorney, ethnic studies advocate, general rabble rouser, and lifetime fan of the Apex Express crew. Shout out to my homie Miko. Get comfy, get cozy. We have a wonderful show for you tonight. It's a show about a show, that is Larry The Musical, which is based on the book Journey for Justice: The Life of Larry Itliong, written by Gayle Romasanta, and the wondrous late great Dr. Dawn Mabolon. The story and songs are influenced by and honor our ancestors, and the musical debuts at San Francisco's very own Brava Theater running March 16th through April 14th, 2024. That means, seats are limited. So, in addition to checking out the show we have for you tonight, visit www.larrythemusical.com to get your tickets today, learn about this cast and crew. Now for our show. First up we'll hear about Larry Itliong's legacy of organizing, resistance, and community power building from Dr. Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales. Next, Larry The Musical director Billy Bustamante, previews the heart, soul, and talent behind this production. And, because we're pretty big of a deal here [laughs] we'll also hear a sneak peek of two songs from Larry The Musical. Finally, the artist Power Struggle will help me wrap up this episode by honoring an anchor and leader of the Bay Area Filipinx and civil rights community and our friend, Mister REY. Rest in power. All right, that's the show. Let's dig in. I'm here with Dr. Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, one of the country's leading Ethnic Studies and Filipinx studies scholars and professors, co-founder and director of Community Responsive Education, and the educational consultant for Larry The Musical. Allyson, it's so wonderful to have you here. Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales: [00:02:34] My gosh, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate this show and all the work that you've been doing for many years. Thank you so much. Aisa Villarosa: [00:02:41] For our dedicated Apex Express listeners who may not be familiar with the wonderful Larry Itliong. Can you talk a little bit about who he is and who he is to this particular Civil Rights Movement? Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales: [00:02:57] Larry Itliong. He was born in the Philippines, in San Nicolas Pangasinan. He came here at 15 years old. Imagine coming here at 15 years old. He only had a sixth grade education. And he came here, actually in order to pursue his studies and he moved to the United States in 1929. As you probably know, because of the Great Depression, it was difficult to find jobs. He was forced to work in the railroads and then eventually became a migrant farm worker. And he traveled all the way from like Montana, South Dakota, Washington, and finally landed here in California. So during that time, Larry Itliong learned of the plight suffered by Filipinos and other immigrants working in the fields. Larry Itliong was a prominent leader in one of the most important social justice movements in the US, and we call that the Farm Worker Movement. A lot of Filipinos involved along with Mexicanos. He organized a group of 1500 Filipinos to strike against the grape growers in Delano, California. Some people call that the great Delano Grape strike of 1965. Basically they were trying to fight for workers' rights. They had this strike for eight days. And there was tons of violence by the growers, hired hands, and even the sheriff department, and they were thrown out of the labor camp. Larry Itliong. He was strong and he remained tenacious and resilient. And he called upon someone very famous that many of us know Cesar Chavez, and Cesar Chavez' community, to join forces with the Filipinos and they striked again. Because of Larry Itliong, the two groups combined and they ended up becoming the United Farm Workers. And a lot of us know the United Farm Workers and a lot of it is attributed to Cesar Chavez, but really Larry Itliong really pushed that ability to create a coalition. To create a connection to really fight for collective liberation. So this unification between the farmworkers of all different ethnicities, not just Filipino and Mexicano was really unprecedented. And really set an example for many of us—many of us meaning workers and organizers—many of us learned from that movement, how to really create alignment, how to really create a coalition, how to really fight alongside each other. And that movement was very successful. You may or may not know this, but Larry Itliong also was the president of the Filipino American Political Association, the first national political Filipino American organization. And it was very crucial, between Filipino professionals and laborers, that grew out of the Delano Grape strike. Larry Itliong was instrumental in founding lots of things including the Pablo Agbayani Village, a Retirement Home built by volunteers for retired Filipino Manos, who no longer had families and needed a place to call home. I recently visited Agbayani Village with my family. Even in my own family, my husband, his father was one of the farm workers, and it means a great deal to actually be there at Agbayani Village, quite literally, you feel the spirits. And having, having brought my daughter there and she got to, you know, see, where our ancestors lived. Larry Itliong, he passed away in 1977 at the age of sixty-three, very young. He left behind his wife and seven children. But his accomplishments and his legacy, continues to live and we really reap the benefits from all the work that he did. Aisa Villarosa: [00:06:41] I got shivers at several points when you shared Allyson. Thank you. And I am told that as part of your work as educational consultant for Larry The Musical, that one of your unique roles is helping the cast see history in this moment and see what Larry's struggle and Larry's story is to them and their families. So I love that sort of full circle practice. It also means that for a musical to take on you know you've named some, some pretty heavy things, right? You're naming organizing struggle, you're naming the struggle against white supremacy. Can you talk a little bit about what makes this musical special and, and even to be able to do right by Larry and his story, how did you all bring this to life? Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales: [00:07:33] Whoa. That's a really important set of questions and I really appreciate the connections between what's happening on the stage and what's happening in our classrooms and, you know, what's really happening in our communities. It is a really important show. I think a lot of shows have said, “Oh, we're a hundred percent this, we're a hundred percent that.” But when I go into working with the cast, I really see a hundred percent Filipino, Filipina, Filipinx Americans who are really telling a story that is important. Larry's story is not glamorous, [laughs] you know, and I say that because I've seen a lot of Broadway shows. You know, I have a child who's a performer and I spend a lot of time in New York, and I really do love watching musicals. And so this genre is like happy times for me, right? I go in and I get, I mean, they start singing and I, I just want to cry right away [laughs]. But there's something so powerful, yes, about a hundred percent Filipino cast, but also telling a story about struggle, and about labor, about someone who's working class, who really has changed our lives. I think sometimes when I go to musicals, I try to find myself, you know, like on stage I'm like, which character am I? You know? And in this musical I really feel like I'm all the characters. And you will see this, you know, because there's Larry, of course, this, it's a story about Larry Itliong, but you will see characters, and the creative team has wonderfully weaved characters from different parts of that era, and then also maybe even parts of their own lives and their own families, and they land on stage. They are telling this story alongside Larry, and it's beautiful and I'm really, really excited for people to see it. I'm not going to, I'm not gonna give too much away. Aisa Villarosa: [00:09:39] [Laughs] People gotta buy tickets. Yes. Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales: [00:09:41] Buy your tickets and bring your tissue [laughs]. Because I really feel like people are going to not only see Larry on stage, but they're gonna see themselves, their families, their parents, their community, their ancestors, all of them there. I will say that, I had the fortune of working with the cast, specifically on a project called Tatlong Bagsak Talambuhay and what I said to the cast was, this work has to be different. This work cannot just be about telling one man's story. And so it's really important for them to understand their own story, their own family's legacy, and why they're doing this work. And so at the beginning of each of the rehearsals, there's one cast member who tells their story. Talambuhay, you know, telling their life story. So that every person is allowed to share their story on the stage, quite literally. And also to be able to make the connections to why they're there on that stage. I had one cast member come up to me last week and say, “I've never been part of a [laughs] a show like this. You know, like where I was seen.” And that's the power of Larry The Musical. It, it's definitely about Larry and how he has inspired us, but it is so much more. And so I'm really excited for people to be able to experience that. Aisa Villarosa: [00:11:18] I was lucky enough to attend the community preview y'all had put on in the fall. It was smashing and I could feel Dawn Mabalon's love and spirit in the room because so much of what you're saying is how are we creating a living archive, right? And there's so many stories that make up history that ultimately is intentionally not told or kept away from people. So it sounds like this is hopefully one of many opportunities for folks to either learn that history for the first time, or to learn it in a really freeing way. I want to talk a little bit about women. If we look at various movements across labor, thinking about the figures of labor, you know, you have Larry, you have Philip Vera Cruz. I am sure there are some strong, strong women in Larry. And as a Filipina we also see that the value of care work, of women really it's often invisibilized by history. Talk to us a little bit about, you know, what can we expect to see from the women in Larry? Are there any toxic narratives that are reversed or addressed by the musical? Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales: [00:12:32] I feel like you saw the script. [Laughs]. Aisa Villarosa: [00:12:34] I didn't. I did not. [Laughs]. Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales: [00:12:36] Oh, okay. Okay. I can't give up too much. It'd be really unfair, but I'll say that this begins with the strong women who did the research and who wrote the play, the musical, the book, the script. And I'll start with, a lot of the work is rooted in Dr. Dawn Bohulano's research. I mean, she really was going to tell Larry Itliong's story in an academic book. And before she passed, she was able to write Journey for Justice with Gayle Romasanta. It was, it quite literally went to press the day that she passed. Dr. Dawn Bohulano Mabalon had a dream to really tell Larry's story, but I know deep inside it wasn't just about Larry's story, it was a story about her family. It was a story about her ancestors, including the women. And so I think how beautiful it is to have quite literally the voice and research of Dr. Dawn Bohulano Mabalon in the script that Gayle Romasanta really was able to bring forth. So we have writers like Gayle Romasanta, Kevin Camia, and then writing the music we have Brian Pangilinan, and then you'll hear the sounds of course of Sean Kana. But when we talk and think about the women, the voices quite literally, the singing voices of the women are so powerful. I think sometimes people imagine women during that movement as being behind the men. In this show, that's not the case. I think of the work of Stacey Salinas, Dr. Stacey Salinas, who writes about Filipina farmworkers in the movement. She has some beautiful archives of Filipina women during that time. And you literally see them on the stage and you see them challenging men and you see them saying yes, we are part of this struggle. And so, although it's called Larry The Musical, Larry definitely isn't the main character by himself. Aisa Villarosa: [00:14:40] I love that. And what you shared also reminds me of thinking about the people power movement and the phrase makibaka huwag matakot, where there is power in struggle, right? If, if we can come together collectively. Turning to the musical, it's going to premiere soon. We hope that folks visit the Apex Express website [kpfa.org] where y'all can buy tickets. Please support this incredible work. What is your greatest hope for this musical? Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales: [00:15:11] Ooh, that's a good question. It caught me off guard. I secretly hope that this musical goes beyond the Bay Area, potentially travels, potentially goes to Broadway, maybe the Philippines. You know, I want people to know how wonderful our story is, our story. And you will really see our story in this. So yeah, I hope it makes it big. [Laughs] I, I really do. We deserve it. Aisa Villarosa: [00:15:41] Well, it's not a secret anymore. You, you manifested it, so now it's gotta happen, right? [Laughs]. Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales: [00:15:47] Yeah, I really do. I mean, I hope, I hope for all of that. And to be honest, I don't think the Pinnacle is Broadway in my mind. It might've been when we first started the project, but really, I, I feel like most importantly is for people to know the stories of our people. And Larry The Musical can really bring that out. And I hope people can see themselves on stage. I mean, that is a big goal for them to be able to see themselves on stage. Aisa Villarosa: [00:16:13] Allyson, it's been so wonderful talking with you. Before we head out, is there anything else you'd like to share with the listeners? Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales: [00:16:21] There's so many struggles going on right now in the world, whether that be, like the manifestation of colonialism and imperialism everywhere, to what's happening in our classrooms. I feel like really key that Larry The Musical is ethnic studies. I think [it's] important that people know that the goal of ethnic studies is collective liberation and we do that by centering the voices of people of color in the first person, ultimately to eliminate and eradicate racism and white supremacy. I mean, like it's all of that. Aisa Villarosa: [00:16:50] Yeah. Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales: [00:16:51] But I want people to know that Larry is that, and I think sometimes we get stuck on wanting representation, like, oh, I wanna see a Filipino on stage. And so we vote for people on those shows and we get so excited. Aisa Villarosa: [00:17:05] Or that becomes the ceiling, right? Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales: [00:17:08] Exactly. It becomes the ceiling. We have made it because we've seen ourselves on TV or we've seen ourselves on a stage on Broadway, but I think it's not enough. Because those stories oftentimes are not the stories of our own people. We often play characters who are not ourselves, and we oftentimes have to compromise our integrity to actually become famous. And so for me, when I think about Larry The Musical, it does not compromise. It does not compromise. And it really is about our stories and us telling our stories in the first person. I'll leave it at that. Aisa Villarosa: [00:17:44] I love that. It's such a great way to send us off. And as someone who used to work in the arts and has been shushed at primarily white events, I love the decolonization of the arts as well. It's arts and ethnic studies. So many folks in our work do this work because of a really important moment in ethnic studies that came to them. Unfortunately, because of the forces that are out there trying to stop ethnic studies, for many that revelation comes kind of late in life or sometimes doesn't come at all. So, please let us have more Larry, more stories like Larry and more ways for folks to access this sort of awakening. Thank you so much, Allyson. It has been a pleasure. Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales: [00:18:31] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all the work that you do. Aisa Villarosa: [00:18:34] As Allyson shared, Larry The Musical is a lesson in living civil rights history, a chronicle of the racial violence faced by Filipinx organizers and how they mobilize to overcome it. This plays out in the musical's track, “Watsonville,” which we're about to preview. In the 1930s, violence against Filipinos was a daily occurrence. It was not out of the ordinary for Filipinos to get shot at, be beaten, or have their campos bombed. Two major events happened in January 1930, the Watsonville Riots and the bombing of the Filipino Federation of American Building in Stockton California. The Watsonville riots saw hundreds of Filipinos beaten and Fermin Tobera killed over four days of mob violence. White mobs beat and shot Filipinos, and in the end, no one was arrested. “Watsonville” follows our characters as these historic events unfold. It was written by Gayle Romasanta and Kevin Camia, music composed by Bryan Pangilinan and Sean Kana. Let's take a listen. SONG Aisa Villarosa: [00:19:39] You're listening to Apex Express on KPFA Radio with me, Aisa Villarosa. That was a special preview of “Watsonville” from Larry The Musical. I'm here with acclaimed New York City-based theater artist, director, performer teacher, and community-driven artivist Billy Bustamante, director of Larry The Musical. We are so honored to have you join us, Billy. Billy Bustamante: [00:21:02] Hi there. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so thrilled to be here. Aisa Villarosa: [00:21:06] Awesome. Well, we are going to dive into Larry The Musical. And a few months ago I had the honor of catching the community preview at the Brava Theater in San Francisco and it blew my socks off as a mentee of the great ate Dawn Mabalon, a hero and mentor gone too soon, it was beautiful to see her archiving come alive in song. For those who are new to Larry The Musical, can you tell us a little bit about what audiences can expect? Billy Bustamante: [00:21:38] Sure. When you come to the Brava Theater this spring, you will see a story about our shared Filipino American history, but even greater our shared American history brought to life on stage. You will see a story that centers Filipino Americans in the telling of that history. It is a musical that will make you laugh, will make you cry, will make you dance in your seat, and will hopefully make you step back out into the world as you leave the theater with a little more power in your hands. Aisa Villarosa: [00:22:06] Those all sound so incredible. Billy, can you share more, as someone who has been in the arts world for so long, why is this project near and dear to your heart? Billy Bustamante: [00:22:18] Larry means so much to me for so many reasons. I've been making theater now for a little over 20 years professionally. And throughout that time I have kind of had to hold two sides of myself in various capacities, right? I have my American-ness, and I have my Filipino-ness. As a born and raised Filipino American here in the States, I have always had to examine unconsciously how much of myself I can bring into an artistic space just because those spaces have predominantly been white led. Now that we are in a space that is created for by and about Filipino people telling a story that is for by and about Filipino people that really centers not just Filipino story, but the Filipino identity, not just in the product but in the process, that is a feeling I have literally never had before in my 42 years on this planet. And every time I step into this space, I am amazed at how much more myself I feel, and I can see that sensation flashing in every single person in the room. And it's on one side beautiful. It's like a beautiful thing to witness us all kind of come alive a bit more, expand into the space, be more of ourselves. And it's also a bit infuriating to know that it's taken me 42 years to get to this moment. This feeling of true belonging is something that I have grown more and more addicted to and that I continue to chase in any other experience that I have. Aisa Villarosa: [00:23:46] Wow. I'm getting a little goosebumps over here. I am hearing that it's, it's almost like coming home to yourself, that often, and I too have a Filipino family, grew up here I'm second generation, and often the dominant culture's understanding of Filipinos is limited to very simplistic notions, whether that's our food, even if food is very political. Billy Bustamante: [00:24:11] Yes. Aisa Villarosa: [00:24:11] There's often sort of a niceness, and the arts and culture world is no exception. So thank you for sharing. And in thinking about the cast of the musical, can you share what makes this cast special and unique? Billy Bustamante: [00:24:29] I am a firm believer that theater artists of any background are some of the most exhilarating people in the world [laughs]. As a theater artist, specifically as a musical theater artist, there is so much skill you must be able to access in order to do your job. It's not just one thing at a time, it is all things at a time. So we are making a show that sings, acts and dances all the time [laughs], and within that there's that triple threat of skill while also incorporating this fourth ingredient of identity and shared history. So each of the actors that we have brought into this cast has really shown up with not just those first three skills in brilliant capacity, but also a hunger and an enthusiasm to be generous about how they bring this fourth ingredient into the process. Again, another thing none of us have been able to do in an artistic space before. For so many of us, it's our first time bringing ourselves to the work in this way. Because none of us have had a chance to do it. So many of us have never played Filipino on stage before, let alone Filipino Americans specifically. I know I've been lucky to have played Filipinos on stage and have been telling Filipino stories, but none of those have been led by Filipinos or written by Filipinos. So there's a level of not just authenticity, but integrity to the work and the story we're telling that allows each of these cast members to be greater like artistic citizens and contributors to the work. Aisa Villarosa: [00:25:58] I love that. There's in Filipino culture, the word kapwa, right? Which is collective identity. And I was reading a quote from you and you said, “My favorite thing about Filipinx culture is creating community. If you've shared a meal with a Filipinx family, you're family.” And it sounds like here you're talking about a meal but this theater experience and all the prep that y'all did, there's a family feeling to that, and can you share some of the behind the scenes love and care and intentionality that went into creating Larry? Billy Bustamante: [00:26:33] Yes. Yes. I, I love that you found that quote. I can't remember when I said it, but I know I say it a lot. [Laughs]. Aisa Villarosa: [00:26:39] I was creeping on the internet. [Laughs]. Billy Bustamante: [00:26:40] I love it. I, and I do firmly believe, like that's one of my favorite things about Filipino culture. Yeah. If you sit at my table, you leave as a family member, right? And I do think that's the environment we wanna create for the audience as well. This piece of art that we are creating is what I hope will be a fully nourishing seven course meal of artistry that again, audience members come into the theater as guests and they leave as family. That is my hope. How we get there is, has been a thrilling experiment, again, as a theater maker for like 20 plus years, the pandemic, this pandemic pause that was forced upon us as artists, really forced me to examine, but I think forced the greater industry to examine the dysfunction in how we do what we do. And now that we have started creating theater again, I've personally been on this, you know, mission to honor the science experiment that we're all on in terms of a, how to be in a room together and then how to create art together and hopefully a healthier more empowering way across the board. So knowing that's been a mission I've been on with any theater project I take on, for this one specifically there is so much more importance laid onto that particular ingredient, right? How do we make a healthier room? How do we make a more restorative healing process for everyone? Recognizing that the story we are telling impacts the actors and their bodies in a way that no other story does, right? There is an additional toll and cost to reckoning with your own history on stage. And it's, it's a privilege to get to do that, but that does mean we need to reexamine what supportive systems and structures we are creating in the room. Again, this is all an experiment [laughs] and it's going well so far, but some steps we have taken or to gather our company. Our company, on the first full day of rehearsal when we got all the actors together. One thing I was excited about our first day of rehearsal was that we took a good amount of time to sit in a circle and create what we called community commitments. Like a set of shared agreements that we all were participatory in creating that gave us all a guideline of how we treat each other in this space. So now it's thrilling, it's freeing to have this social contract in place that we have all agreed to, that not just allows for the pursuit of an ideal space, but also a way to kind of move through conflict as we pursue that space. So to me that feels really helpful. Another thing we just did in rehearsal yesterday, was we brought Allyson in to lead a facilitation of how we bring our personal individual stories to this greater story that we are telling. We are telling a history and we are living history in this moment. So it was amazing to hear Allyson give us a technique for how we share our individual stories as humans to the rest of the company, which is a practice we will start incorporating at the beginning of every rehearsal. And I can only wait to see how much that impacts the art that we make on stage, knowing that everyone will know more and be more invested with each other as humans. Aisa Villarosa: [00:29:32] And you're talking about living history, right? And as you were sharing, I wrote down safety to create. It's rare that we as folks of color as Filipinos can be in these safe liberatory spaces. Taking it a little personal, has your family seen Larry yet? Billy Bustamante: [00:29:50] Well, I mean, no one really has, [laughs] you know, our world premiere in March will be a world premiere. No one will, even if people have seen every workshop, this is a version of the musical in its fullest form that no one will have ever seen before. So in that way, I'm very excited. With that said, my parents have been keeping up with all the filmed workshops and the interviews, and that's all been amazing. Both of my parents are on the east coast. They're in the DC area, which is where I'm from. So they're keeping up with it virtually. But I am so excited for them to fly out here, to catch opening weekend. I'm getting a little emotional talking about it right now, but my parents are incredibly supportive as is the rest of my family. And they do a great job at coming to see and support whatever I do. And this one, having them in the room to watch this one, I think will be a really special experience. Aisa Villarosa: [00:30:43] I, I can feel love and as a huge fan, a mentee of folks like Dr. Allyson and Dawn Mabalon there's a moment where a lot of Filipinos, Filipino organizations are trying to archive the struggle, the triumphs of the past, and it's incredible that through theater y'all are doing that in a way that will be fresh for new generations. And speaking of theater, you are always creating, you wear so many hats. Tell us what is coming down the road for you in addition to Larry, would love to hear more. Billy Bustamante: [00:31:26] Yeah. I'm gonna put this into the ether here. I, my hope is that this world premiere of Larry will be the first of many steps for this musical. So what I hope is that the next few years includes more productions of Larry at a bigger and wider scale. With that said, there are a few other projects that I'm really excited about. I am a theater leader, but also an educator. So I'm on teaching faculty at Circle in the Square Theater School, which is the only theater training ground attached to a Broadway theater. So, in that way I feel really excited about the work I get to do with young artists there. We are developing a new musical called The Rosetta Project, which I hope everyone checks out. It's gonna be amazing. I'll be directing that. From there I have a couple of, you know, other pots on the stove. I'll be directing, choreographing a new off-Broadway show called Straight Forward in spring of 2025, which I'm very excited about. There are a couple of other things that I cannot release at this moment, but if you want to keep up with the [laughs] shenanigans I am up to, please check out billybustamante.com because I'll be sure to be shouting from the rooftops with excitement once I can. Aisa Villarosa: [00:32:36] Beautiful. And we will include links to your website, Billy, as well as links for folks to get tickets for Larry at the Brava Theatre. And folks can check that out on the Apex Express website [kpfa.org]. And Billy, before we go, is there anything else you want to share? Billy Bustamante: [00:32:55] I think there is one thing. I'm usually not a person who really is enthusiastic about promoting my projects [laughs]. I've always kind of felt some sense of ickiness around that. Some sense of like transactionality around that [laughs]. But Larry is so special to me and there's a spirit that we are creating in this piece that I think everyone needs to experience and be a part of. And I also recognize that, you know, where audience members choose to spend their money is a big investment and a big decision and I hope that everyone who is excited by anything I've said today or anything we've talked about today finds a way to grab a ticket and join us at the theater. This time will be fleeting and it's gonna be over before we know it, and I really hope everyone gets to be a part of it because I think it's gonna be really special so get those tickets if you can. Aisa Villarosa: [00:33:49] Adding a plus one to that. And Billy, you earlier mentioned the impact of these covid pandemic years and yeah, that was the longest period of theater closures, right? Since World War II. As someone who used to work in the arts I also recall that often there's sort of an elite nature to the arts and one of my favorite things when I go to the Larry website is there are so many people who gave all sorts of amounts to make this happen, right? There's folks who gave like 50 bucks. It's such a welcoming site, so I too hope that this is only the beginning. Billy Bustamante: [00:34:28] Awesome. Thank you so much and thanks to everyone who supported us so far. I'm so grateful. Aisa Villarosa: [00:34:32] Our final track from Larry The Musical is called “Train,” which is about Filipinos jumping trains throughout the western United States, traveling from town to town in search of work in the 1920s and 1930s. Train was written by Gayle Romasanta and Kevin Camia, music composed by Brian Pangilinan and Sean Kana. They wanted to create a broad picture of how the thousands of Filipinos must have met each other, built friendships, planned labor meetings, and all while traveling. Here is the exclusive preview. SONG Aisa Villarosa: [00:35:03] You're listening to Apex Express on KPFA Radio, and I'm your host, Aisa Villarosa. That was a preview of “Train” from Larry The Musical. You just heard Dr. Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales and Billy Bustamante talk about what makes the world premiere of Larry The Musical so special. Larry debuts at the Brava Theatre in San Francisco March 16th through April 14th, 2024. Seats are limited, so visit www.larrythemusical.com to buy tickets today. Finally, tonight's episode of Apex Express is dedicated to the life and legacy of Reynaldo Timosa Novicio Jr. a father, son, friend, and prolific sound producer, artist and guiding light of the Filipinx American and Bay Area Music and Civil Rights community. Rey passed away on February 2nd, 2024. I'm joined right now by a friend, a colleague, an incredible artist, activist dad, and a martial arts practitioner, Nomi, AKA Power Struggle. Nomi, it's so great to have you on the show today. Nomi (Power Struggle): [00:37:12] Hey Aisa, thank you for having me. Thank you to the KPFA and the Apex Express listeners. What's up Bay Area? Aisa Villarosa: [00:37:19] Nomi, you rep the Bay Area hard. I think a good way to start our conversation is given all the hats you wear, all the ways that you're making change: What does it mean to be Filipinx American in the Bay Area right now? Nomi (Power Struggle): [00:37:34] I think right now it is a really important moment to, there's been so much happening in this particular moment around the liberation of Palestine and the end of the genocide in Gaza, and I think that a lot of folks in our community have been really seeing this moment as a way to express their solidarity and mobilize and take action against what's happening to the Palestinians. And I think that is just reflective of the bigger, historical context that a lot of Filipino, Filipinx, Americans, immigrants, have experienced and live under, right? So I believe like a lot of folks are just seeing those connections between colonization, the colonization of the Philippines from various different occupation nations and armies, to what's happening in Palestine. And they make those connections and they even are not that far removed, maybe like two generations removed from the experiences of their grandparents that went through the Japanese occupation during World War II and lived through some of those horrors and they remember that stuff and the stories that they were told and I think that informs a large amount of our community to, to mobilize and take action. I'm not saying that, we don't have more conservative folks in our broad community across the Bay Area, but I believe for a lot of young folks, a lot of folks that have taken time to be part of other movements, whether it be the movement for Black Lives, or Indigenous movements, or even for liberation movements in the Philippines, they kind of understand all these connections, and are building bridges and building solidarity with folks. Aisa Villarosa: [00:39:16] Yeah, it's the young and it's the young at heart, right? I think folks who can be ever curious, and, you know, we have made some headway in ethnic studies where folks are connecting the dots, right, between those shared histories, those living histories of struggle. Tonight's episode started off with a tour of Larry Itliong, the new musical coming out. And it's quite clear that to be Filipino in so many ways means to resist. And as it relates to Larry The Musical, resistance through music is such a powerful form of political organizing. Nomi, you're here today because this episode is also a tribute to our friend who passed away, the wonderful Mister Rey, who you have collaborated with, you have made music with. Can you start by just sharing a little bit about who Rey was to you and maybe talk a little bit about what made your musical collaboration so special? Nomi (Power Struggle): [00:40:27] I'm really thankful for this opportunity to just share the story of Mister REY with the entire Bay Area with the country. Mister REY, Reynaldo Novicio, and I worked on one of our first records together. It was called Remittances. And I met Rey back in around 2009. I can't remember specifically where we met. It just happens in life, especially in the art community, you start talking with people and collaborating, and he would invite me to a spot in Daly City, where he was living at the time with his family, and every Saturday morning we would session. I would go over there with Dennis and Kane, Drew, Vi, and we would just, he would just play beats that he had made, and we would write. And after a few months of that, we slowly started to create this body of work that was starting to be more cohesive that would be like the material for the album, Remittances. A couple months after that, we decided to move in, him and his partner, and their family were moving into a spot in the Excelsior District and they had an extra room. I think I was going through a displacement. I think I was going through an eviction in the mission. And so it all kind of worked out and I ended up moving in with them. And that really was just a great opportunity to live together and continue this process of working on this album, which is to me my favorite piece of work. It's so meaningful. The title Remittances. You know, is a remittance obviously, when you send money to your family back home or abroad, was just such a symbol of the immigrant experience, especially for our community and the Filipino community. And so the title was like an offering of culture and love, for our community through music. And that's why we chose that title Remittances and that offering and love transcends beyond just this neighborhood, but also across the seas to our homelands and throughout our diaspora. That project was just really important. For all the artists out there, when you go through a creative process you're partnering with someone and you live with them it's just like a deeper level of connection and struggle [laughs] as well, right? Because, you live together so and Rey has two twin daughters he has one more now. But at the time, and so, you know, you're just really immersed with the family. And for me, it was also such a beautiful experience because Mister REY was a bridge builder. He really was a tulay. He immigrated from the Philippines at a pretty young age, I think late elementary school or middle school, still very much had the identity of the migrant community you know, Tagalog was his first language a lot of his folks, his homies were a lot of recent immigrant hip hop heads and folks from that community. But he was also able to just because there, there is this kind of conception that there's a divide often between immigrant communities and first or second generation Filipino Americans. And it is true to an extent. I've seen it manifest in high schools and on the streets and things like that. But Rey was really able to bridge these differences and connect folks. And so for me, especially someone that grew up in the Midwest, that didn't really grow up around Filipinos, getting to experience living with Mister Rey and his family and living in the Excelsior District, which has the highest concentration of Filipinos in San Francisco, was just such an immersive and beautiful thing and a reconnection to our culture, on so many levels, and I'm already in my, late 20s at the time, and so to go through this experience was really powerful and eye opening. I think it also related to just like what we're fighting for in San Francisco. You know what I mean in the sense of upholding this identity of being a city of multiple languages, a city of multiple classes and incomes. And, and this is what, like, that experience really upheld. At the time I was also doing a lot of work with the Filipino Community Center as a worker's advocate. I was doing some organizing with Migrante, which is a migrant workers organization. And, for all of these kind of different things, from like the organizing work, to my day job, to living with Mister Rey, and being with the Filipino community in the Excelsior, coming together was like one of my favorite periods of my life where I was really understanding more about our culture, our history, our positionality in society and on a local level, on a national level, and on a global level to really understand how politics and history have brought us to America and to really experience it, right? All of these things were super impactful, and I feel like they helped inform and mold what that album, Remittances, was about. And Mister REY was such a huge part of that, right? He was, you know, he wasn't like this crazy political scientist but through his lived experience and his own way of analyzing his life and things he had been through was very sharp and also informing the kind of political influences of this record. So yeah, it was just such a really important time. I don't think I can ever come close to doing something like that again. I just thank him for that year or two that we lived together, embracing me and letting me come into their family life and just being in community with them. His work in terms of, if you visit his catalog of albums, which I highly recommend folks to check out his bandcamp. And it's just Mister REY, M-I-S-T-E-R R-E-Y, check that out and you can hear all of his work. So much like high level art, beat production wise is really sophisticated. He still embraces most of all of his writing and his rapping is in Tagalog. He sprinkles a lot of English in it too but it's just a really beautiful body of work where people in our diaspora can really identify with and just get a lot of nourishment from. So I really suggest folks go check out his catalog. It's really accessible on Bandcamp. Aisa Villarosa: [00:46:40] Nomi, thank you for opening your heart and sharing about what sounded like a really intimate process, right? To make music with someone. And I know the last time I was at Rey's place, he loves his kitchen so I feel like y'all also broke bread, right? Not just making the beats. I was also struck by Rey was such a multi-dimensional advocate, right? Whether it was mental health, whether it was youth issues, right? All of the sort of organizing he did to challenge juvenile curfew laws, for example. You've today brought a track that you worked on with Rey. It's titled “ArtOfficial Freedom” and I'd love for you to cue up the track and just share a little bit about the music. Nomi (Power Struggle): [00:47:31] This was a signature single on the album. It was produced by Mister REY and it also features Mister REY singing the chorus, where he just does a pretty basic refrain where he says, “round and round.” This was like, I feel like for me at least, or many hip hop artists, I think they have that one single on every album that represents the whole album, and I think this is the one. Like I mentioned earlier, around like all the different things that I was doing at the time in terms of community organizing and workers organizing and all the stuff that he was doing, at that time, he was really focusing on mentoring a lot of Tagalog hip hop rappers in the community. And so all these young cats would be at the apartment all the time [laughs], recording in the kitchen. And it was really a lesson for me in Tagalog where I had to like try to learn as much as possible. For all these things to come together, I think are reflected in the song. This song, “ArtOfficial Freedom” is just a great representation of the album. And the title itself is just like a play on words. It spelled art official freedom, to mean that like through art, we can try to aim towards some sense of freedom, some, you know, towards the goal of freedom using art, but then a play of words of artificial freedom that what we are currently existing in and under is an artificial form of freedom. Through this, capitalistic, imperialistic, racist society [laughs]. So that's kind of the play on words, artificial freedom. That was a long time ago. That was like 10 years, no, 14 years ago that we dropped that album. It's great to, I'm glad you're bringing it back on the airwaves. And I just want to give a shout out to also Fatgums, who was the number three part of this record. Lives in LA and is also the CEO of Beatrock Music and Beatrock Art Collective but he was just also a big part of this record. So shout out to Fatgums. Aisa Villarosa: [00:49:25] Here is ArtOfficial Freedom from Mister REY and Power Struggle SONG Aisa Villarosa: [00:53:29] Nomi before we go, is there anything else you'd like to share with the listeners tonight? Nomi (Power Struggle): [00:53:34] When our people leave us in the physical world, there's so many ways that we can continue for them to live on and their legacy to live on, especially through art, and especially through the technologies that exist now. Like I said before, please, check out Mister REY's catalog on Bandcamp, it's just Mister REY, M-I-S-T-E-R R-E-Y and look up his music. He also has a project with MrRey and Aristyles called America is in the Dark. That's a beautiful EP. Please check those things out and promote and propagate them, share them with your friends, download them. It's great music. If I could also please plug, to support his family, Mister Rey leaves behind two twin girls and a young son of the age of nine and their mother. And so if you could please donate to the GoFundMe, if you just look up Reynaldo Novicio, his name will pop up, and any donation is greatly appreciated. Lastly, on March 15th Fifth Elements and Hummingbird Farm is going to be organizing a life celebration, for Mister REY, his creative life and his legacy. It's going to be at Hummingbird Farm, which is in the Excelsior District right by Crocker Park, behind the soccer fields. Check that out on March 15th, 4 to 8 pm. The program is still being crafted, but I guarantee it's going to be a really special time. I think there's going to be some films, there's going to be performances, music, and the space in general, Hummingbird Farm, is a really dope community space that is really people power driven. So please check those things out. And again, just really appreciate this time to share about Mister REY and our work together. Aisa Villarosa: [00:55:14] Thank you, Nomi. And Rey would talk about how the Guitar Center in SoMa was a hub for him early on, and he would just meet people, and you have called Rey a bridge builder. So thank you for being with us here tonight and paying it forward with love. Please check out our website kpfa.org to find out more about Larry The Musical, Mister REY, Power Struggle, and the guests we spoke to. We thank 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 Aisa Villarosa, Anuj Vaidya, Ayame Keane-Lee, Cheryl Truong, Hien Nguyen, Jalena Keane-Lee, Miko Lee, Nate Tan, Preti Mangala-Shekar, and Swati Rayasam. Tonight's show was produced by Aisa Villarosa and edited by Ayame Keane-Lee. Have a great night. Mga kababayan. Makibaka, huwag matakot. The post APEX Express – 3.14.24 – Living Legacies Larry the Musical appeared first on KPFA.

How is Occupational Therapy helpful for new parents? And what the heck is it? This is something we hadn't even considered until speaking with Matrescence OT, but it makes so much sense! Tune in to learn about how to put the pieces of motherhood together with occupational therapy with Gayle.Gayle Schwee is a Filipinx-American, born and raised Texan, board-certified occupational therapist, and Co-Founder of Matrescence Occupational Therapy. Just as the pandemic shut down the world, Gayle birthed her first child. Her passion for advocating and empowering birthing individuals through the transition from pregnancy to parenthood was then ignited. Certified in Perinatal Mental Health, she commits to increasing awareness and offering direct support for those affected by Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADs). Her goal is to empower moms to find strength within themselves to do what they want, need, and have to do.Website: www.momsOT.comInstagram: @‌matrescence_OTPlease feel free to reach out to us with any recommendations for show episode ideas. If you'd like to be a guest, email us with some information about yourself and what type of podcast you'd like to record together. Thank you for all of your support and don't forget to follow and review our podcast, Birth, Baby!Instagram: @‌BirthBabyPodcastEmail: BirthBabyPodcast@gmail.comWebsite: https://birthbabypodcast.transistor.fm/Intro and Outro music by Longing for Orpheus. You can find them on Spotify!

Our busy lives rarely afford us time to reflect on what's truly important. Remembering what matters most empowers us to engage meaningfully.About La Sarmiento:La Sarmiento is the the guiding teacher of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington's BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ Sanghas and a mentor for the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program and for Cloud Sangha. They graduated from Spirit Rock Meditation Center's Community Dharma Leader Training Program in 2012. As an immigrant, non-binary, Filipinx-American, La is committed to expanding access to the Dharma. They live in Towson, MD with their life partner Wendy and rescue pups Annabel and Bader.To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Finding Purpose: What Matters Most?” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

MESEARCH talks to Tianna Mae Andresen, a Filipino American history teacher educator residing in Seattle, Washington. As of the 2022-2023 academic school year, Seattle Public Schools offers a new yearlong course on Filipino American history for high school students which shall satisfy the district's US history graduate requirements! In this episode, Tianna shares how this was possible and why this is important for future generations. Follow Tianna at @tiannama3. Stay connected with MeSearch at https://www.mesearchpodcast.com/ and via social media (@mesearchpodcast): Twitter: https://twitter.com/MeSearchPodcast Instagram: https://instagram.com/MeSearchPodcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mesearchpodcast --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mesearchpodcast/message

Cultivate resilience by choosing to turn towards joy, and transform difficult times into growth opportunities and heartache into gratitude.About La Sarmiento:La Sarmiento is the guiding teacher of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington's BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ Sanghas and a mentor for the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program and Cloud Sangha. They graduated from Spirit Rock Meditation Center's Community Dharma Leader Training Program in 2012. As an immigrant, non-binary, Filipinx-American, La is committed to expanding access to the Dharma. They live in Towson, MD with their life partner Wendy and rescue pups Annabel and Bader.To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Opening to Joy,” or click here: https://10percenthappier.app.link/content?meditation=ad5f5edb-d41b-4419-8cdd-cbe4155ef6ae.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our busy lives rarely afford us time to reflect on what's truly important. Remembering what matters most empowers us to engage meaningfully.About La Sarmiento:La Sarmiento is the guiding teacher of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington's BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ Sanghas and a mentor for the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program and Cloud Sangha. They graduated from Spirit Rock Meditation Center's Community Dharma Leader Training Program in 2012. As an immigrant, non-binary, Filipinx-American, La is committed to expanding access to the Dharma. They live in Towson, MD with their life partner Wendy and rescue pups Annabel and Bader.To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Finding Purpose: What Matters Most?,” or click here: https://10percenthappier.app.link/content?meditation=c83def97-a4b0-420b-b7b2-223636f3546e.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nourish yourself with some kindness and shift away from self-criticism towards accepting yourself fully, even your hardest parts.About La Sarmiento:La Sarmiento is the the guiding teacher of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington's BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ Sanghas and a mentor for the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program and for Cloud Sangha. They graduated from Spirit Rock Meditation Center's Community Dharma Leader Training Program in 2012. As an immigrant, non-binary, Filipinx-American, La is committed to expanding access to the Dharma. They live in Towson, MD with their life partner Wendy and rescue pups Annabel and Bader.To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Dismantling Perfectionism, Accepting Yourself,” or click here: https://10percenthappier.app.link/content?meditation=dd701886-ad66-417a-b466-cdefb92ff5c8.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On today's episode, I connect with Justine aka Miss Financial Fitness. She is a fellow FilipinX American that is spreading her positive message in education around the world. We talk through: Her early money lessons Traveling abroad Mission of creating a school in the Philippines I want to thank her for her time and sharing her message with the world. Feel free to follow her and book some time via her Calendly, below. -- Justine Social Twitter: @msfinancialfit Instagram: @missfinancialfitness Book time with her: https://calendly.com/missfinancialfitness/ -- Road to Wealth Social Twitter: @roadtowealthpod Instagram: @roadtowealthpodcast

“The deeper you look into your ancestry, you will see both.” - Lisa Factora-Borchers In today's episode, we have Lisa Factora-Borchers, a Filipinx American writer, activist, and co-publisher of Guernica magazine. She was recognized by Rewire. News as one of the five revolutionary Asian American activists who are leading the fight for reproductive freedom. She is a board member for Zora's House, an entrepreneurial think tank and haven for women of color, and a political thought leader for OPAWL (Ohio Progressive Asian Women's Leadership). She cofounded and cofacilitates a healing justice group Feminist Grounding where AAPI women and nonbinary folx reflect upon the intersecting points of identity, trauma, and liberation. Lisa is also the founder of The End Writers Collective, a decolonizing-in-practice community space for BIPOC writers finishing their literary manuscripts. In this conversation, Leslieann and Lisa talk about what love really is, about Catholicism and indigenous spiritual practices, the friendships that die, and how ancestral inheritance--both trauma AND abundance-- ties it all together. When one's ancestor survives being a prisoner of war, what is passed down? How can we carry forward the abundance and transmute the trauma into ways that can uplift our descendants? Listen in to this very rich conversation between two Pinays who live in the Diaspora and understand the world and the idea of home from a “neither here nor there” perspective. * Follow me on Instagram for Maverick Mondays, Free Verse Fridays, and some real talk about healing, poetry, AND play: @leslieannhobayan or email me at leslieann@suryagian.com * Sign up for Joyful Meditation, a 5-part introductory series to meditation. Each recorded class is just a half hour. Five classes to create self-awareness and inner peace-- for just $11.11! Today's poems/ Books mentioned: “I Want Both Of Us” by Hafiz “Elegy For A Song Between” by Jennifer Kwon Dobbs Courses/Exclusive Content Mentioned: Joyful Meditation : https://suryagian.com/joyful-meditation The Story of Joy: https://suryagian.com/subscribe

Dr. Kevo Rivera is a psychiatry resident and soon-to-be child and adolescent psychiatry fellow at the University of Iowa. They identify as a queer, agender, Filipinx-American, and they respond to all pronouns. In addition to being a first-generation physician, Dr Rivera is actively involved in their community as an appointed member of the Iowa City Truth and Reconciliation Commission and as a worship leader for Sanctuary Community Church.

In this episode, Leah and Jenn take a deep dive into astrology with Oak and talk about how it is a powerful framework for self-actualization and liberation. Oak shares his own personal story and provides a beautiful framework for us all to be able to understand what astrology can provide for each of us. As Oak says, the possibilities and the potential are limitless.   About Oak: I am certified by the NCGR- Professional Astrologers Alliance and have had my astrology consultation practice for the past 7 years. I have been engaged in the healing arts for over 10 years. My practice is influenced by classical astrology, modern psychological astrology and my studies in the healing arts. As an herbalist, I weave astrology with my deep connection to the earth and the body.  My work with astrology is informed by my experience as a queer first generation Filipinx American (they/them). I use astrology as a guidepost for the navigation of the material, ancestral, cosmic and practical. I am honored to share this work that has fully changed my life and continuously graces my life with knowledge, guidance and depth. I have been blessed to draw close to other healers as students, especially BIPOC, LGBTQ and other Filipinx healers.  As a teacher, I am clear, practical and magical. Teaching astrology is to share divine love, it is the grace of the universe and the language of all things.   In this episode we discussed:  Astrology as a cosmic mirror Deep acceptance of who you are How attachment to tools can be limiting Our unlimited potentiality We can not heal until we take the steps to see with clairty   Links: Oakastrology.com Oakastrologyschool.com Instagram @oakastrologyschool and @krstopher_oak   Stay in Touch:  Website Instagram @deepchatspodcast  Watch our interviews recorded live on YouTube   About Leah & Jenn Leah Morris is a Life & Relationship Transition Coach, founder of Life Remade, published writer, and motivational speaker... She helps people to authentically process their feelings, thoughts, and emotions in order to give them a deeper understanding of themselves and others. Using a range of modalities including art, coaching,  guided visualization, and even her own story and experience of marriage, divorce, and finding herself again - Leah specializes in helping you gain a solid sense of Self Worth, develop unshakable Confidence, and heal after emotional Heartbreak. The biggest lesson she's learned in life thus far is that "there is no greater place to begin putting your life together than when it's been broken apart. Connect with Leah at www.LifeRemade.com or on Instagram @leahemorris   Jennifer Butler is a Love and Transformation Coach who is dedicated to helping women fall deeply in love with themselves and awaken to their own internal power to create joy, love, and freedom in their lives. Working with women in three areas: Conscious Uncoupling, Calling in “The One,” & Self-Discovery, Jennifer teaches clients to identify and transform internal obstacles and expand their capacity to love and be loved. Jennifer received her Masters in Clinical Social Work from New York University in 2002. After working as a trauma social worker in the hospital system, she took time off to become a mom and write a book. Jennifer authored Excerpts from the Heart of a Mom, inviting readers into her personal life and parenting journey, and sharing fundamental insights to a conscious approach to parenting. She also began “Live Through the Heart,” a blog that inspires readers to live more consciously in their daily lives. Connect with Jennifer at www.jennjoycoaching.com or on Instagram @jennjoybutler_lifecoach Subscribe + Review Never miss an episode! Subscribe to the podcast!

Family oriented, dreamer and scholar, Edwin Carlos (he/him/his) is a 2nd generation Filipino American currently residing on Duwamish land in Renton, WA. Born in FL and raised in HI for 12 years, Edwin began his Filipinx American journeys during undergrad, and is continuing that as he pursues a doctorate in school psychology at UC Berkeley by serving as a chairperson for the Northern California Pilipinx American Student Alliance and an intern at the Bulosan Center. Edwin does research on ethnic-racial identity attitudes in Filipinx American communities, participatory action research with Filipinx workers and caregivers, and Filipinx studies curriculum in K-12 and college.  On the side when he is not busy with his academic work, Edwin is also an avid fan of video games, singing, basketball, tennis and cooking. About: What is Kasamahan Co. a platform that not only amplifies the voices of Filipinos in Hawai'i but seeks to serve a purpose in creating stories that empowers the next generation to bring out their creative expression and side to them. By building connections between community members with those in the diaspora and the homeland we hope to foster the next revolutionaries across different industries. SUPPORT US BY DONATING ON OUR VENMO AT @KASAMAHAN-CO This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/kasamahancollective/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/kasamahancollective/support

Norman and I welcome Alan Quismorio, former chair of GAPA – the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance social welfare organization, a former longtime artistic director at Bindlestiff Studios – he's an actor and a director – he directed me for 2011's Stories High. Norman, Alan and I talk about Alan's upbringing in the Philippines, how he came to the bay, his thoughts on theatre and where he sees himself in the future. Alan is starting up another company with Eli Sonny Orquiza (Episode 139) and Krystle Piamonte Jong (Episode 97) called The Chikahan Company (https://www.facebook.com/ChikahanCompany). It's a new Filipnx American theatre and parforming arts company based in SF, bay area - it's goal is to present authentic Filipinx American stories to introduce our language, culture, history and stories into the mainstream. Check out their facebook page to learn more. You can directly contact Alan via Facebook. SHOWS: Afro Solo MY STORY by Vernon Medearis Norman Gee director https://youtu.be/zlWeZWkAgx8 MANIFESTO Brava presents a Rotimi Agbabiaka film brava.secure.force.com/ticket June 20th - 7pm Pulp Scripture a series by Bill Bivins https://player.captivate.fm/episode/906429de-94ef-4796-bf55-e8a1ed17c495/?fbclid=IwAR1vFbGwwVw6kOx9R8uj61NVdtx3T9L6RHUFBqM4DVYCdnymrw0W_8i9now What's In A Name (Theatref1rst) July 23 – Sept 1 (streaming) Jon Tracy (Episode 169) is directing the show https://theatrefirst.com Circus (Cabrillo Stage) July 9-11 Brennah Kemmerly is in the show https://www.cabrillostage.com Shylock (Tabard Theatre) June 4 – 20 Jonathan Rhys Williams (Episode 158) is directing the play https://tabardtheatre.org/shylock/ Hold Me The Forgotten Way (About Face Theatre) June 16 – Dec 31, 2021 One piece directed by Ely Sonny Orquiza (Episode 139) Pillow Talk (Theatre Rhinoceros) June 11 – 20, 2021 http://therhino.org Intimate Apparel (Lorraine Hansberry Theatre/Z Space) Streaming now Jenuee Simon is in the play https://www.lhtsf.org/intimateapparel Oakland Theatre Project Begin The Beguine (co-directed by Dawn Troupe) May 28- Jul 3 www.oaklandtheatreproject.org ShakesPod – Titus Andronicus & Richard III Titus Andronicus – available June 26 Alan Coyne (Episode 29) is Demetrius Richard III – available August 28 Lamont Ridgell (Episode 122) is Richard III Cynthia Lagodzinski (Episode 96) is the Dutchess of York and others https://www.svshakespeare.org/our-season/shakespod/ QUICKFIRE MONOLOGUE COLLABORATION FOR WRITERS AND ACTORS 
Based on a weekly prompt, writers write monologues, and actors record them. We are trying to get past our own perfectionism and play with "just doing". You can post your recorded monologues here. To join as an actor or writer or both, email quickfiremonologues@gmail.com

Anna Dugan is a first generation Filipinx American artist based in Salem, Massachusetts. Her vibrant folk-art inspired murals, chalk art, and digital work create space for mental health discussions and celebrates her mixed race identity. She works to create public art that engages communities & creates healthy dialogue that challenges the viewer to learn, reflect, or act. Before she dove head first into becoming an artist, Anna held a corporate job. Hear how she was able to leave the stability behind and follow her heart and happiness.

This is part 4 of my new "Gay Pride & Prejudice" podcast series in celebration of LGBTQIA+ Pride this month of June.In this episode, I am joined by Brandon English.Brandon is a Filipinx-American actor and filmmaker based in LA, he is the writer of the short film Bakla which is now streaming on QueerBee and he is working on a few upcoming projects including Madcaps the WebSeries and Eastside Queer Stories.Hear Brandon's story on how he developed his short film "Bakla" and what his inspiration was. In addition, find out his take on the LGBTQ identity,  gay stereotypes, and what Gay Pride means.

110: “There's a history of the Pinay being silenced. The more we can invest in ourselves, the better we can build self-sustaining communities.” TFAW Project @ AAPA's Inaugural Asian Podcast Festival Last week, TFAW Project had the opportunity to participate in the Asian American Podcasters Association's Inaugural Asian Podcast Festival! This episode is a snapshot from the festival's live recording, where co-hosts Jen & Nani get into the origins of the podcast & sisterhood they've built together along the way, the radical impact the show has had on the Pinay community, & how they're using podcasting to evolve our cultural narrative. Want more?  As we continue to stress how TFAW Project is giving a voice to the Filipinx American community, we urge you to dive into our academic research paper - Pinay Podcasters: Building A Self-Sustaining Community Through Storytelling, Collective Healing & Learning, and Collaboration in our latest project for The Bulosan Center for Filipinx Studies of UC Davis at http://pinaypodcasters.com/ (www.pinaypodcasters.com) In this long love letter to our kumares, we share how we've used our podcasting platform to carve space for ourselves to practice new forms of activism, decolonization, and citizen journalism. Expanding on the Maria Clara archetype, we explain how this historical narrative has impacted our cultural identity as Pinays & the many ways we embody patriarchal ideals that have been pushed upon us as Filipinx women today. Fireside Chat w/ Filipino Momcast: Watch the replay *for a limited time only* of the last workshop in our launch series collaboration with the nanays of the Filipino Momcast for Tsismis w/ Jen & Nani (TJN) at https://youtu.be/uxN69VluHkg (https://youtu.be/uxN69VluHkg) -- LOVE OUR SHOW? Show your support by visiting http://www.buyusboba.com/ (http://www.buyusboba.com/) Read what's new with our show: https://mailchi.mp/5857e89015a1/tfawproject-7952677 (https://mailchi.mp/5857e89015a1/tfawproject-7952677) FREE ONLINE COMMUNITY: Receive the latest stories and life lessons from our community by subscribing to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/cO0bif (http://eepurl.com/cO0bif) WE ARE NOW ACCEPTING GUESTS FOR 2021! Apply today: https://forms.gle/6cyCnXdNQMDznFt58 (https://forms.gle/6cyCnXdNQMDznFt58) ABOUT US: Welcome to the Filipino American Woman Project - A Podcast Show that shares stories and life lessons told by individuals living (or have lived) in America, that are of Filipino descent and identify as female or non-binary. UPCOMING BOOK: Special thanks to the Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies at UC Davis for the opportunity to present our academic paper, Pinay Podcasters: Building a Self-Sustaining Community Through Storytelling, Collective Healing & Learning, and Collaboration. The initial draft is now available! Read more at http://pinaypodcasters.com/ (http://pinaypodcasters.com/) RECOGNITION: December 2020, we received an Honorable Mention at the Asian American Podcaster's Inaugural Golden Crane Podcast Awards. August 2020, Jen Amos participated as a speaker on behalf of TFAW Project for PodFest Global, which now holds the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for Largest Attendance for a Virtual Podcasting Conference in One Week. May 2020, we were recognized as “Amplifying Asian Women Voices” on Spotify during AAPI Heritage Month. We've also been featured in Realtime Community Oakland, Mochi Magazine, Ossa Collective, SUPERBANDS, Chopsticks Alley, FoundHer by Entrepinayship, Spotify, PodFest Expo, Philippine American Foundation for Charities, When In Manila, You Are Collect;ve, San Diego Union Tribune, NBC 7 San Diego, and much more! Read more at: https://linktr.ee/tfawproject.featured (https://linktr.ee/tfawproject.featured) CONTACT US: Find us on social media: Instagram @thefilipinoamericanwoman, Facebook @thefilipinoamericanwoman, Twitter @thefilamwoman, YouTube...

In this episode, Naina interviews Jensen Reyes, a multi disciplinary artist based in Los Angeles. They identify as a second generation Filipinx American as well as transgender nonbinary. They discuss the intersectionality of their racial and gender identities, including experiences with American and Asian notions of gender. Jensen also speaks on his experiences with fetishization, his journey with self-expression, and finding community with fellow queer people of color.

107: “So much of being Filipino is defined by our relationships.” Learning the language to make sense of our experiences through storytelling and the Filipinx-Canadian experience with Catherine Febria This episode is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/JkW0GQL3RWQ (https://youtu.be/JkW0GQL3RWQ) Freshwater Ecologist, boundary spanner, Filipinx settler on Turtle Island and Pinay-Canadian Catherine "Cat" Febria joins TFAW Project to officially marry the Filipinx-American & Filipinx-Canadian families.  We discuss the intricacies of understanding who we are & what our purpose is as a colonized people spread out across a global diaspora, and how the relationships we have with each other are at the heart of how we identify, both as individuals and as Kapwa. Growing up in Toronto, an immigrant community that encourages its members to learn about others' indigenous cultures as well as embrace their own, set the stage for Cat from an early age to walk through life aiming to make sense of her life events in the context of this collective. Her mission as a Freshwater Ecologist is to use science to connect land, water & people for the benefit of future generations. Her lab employs a unique storytelling approach to humanize the land & water in their scope of work and engage people in dismantling the “pale, male & stale” oppressive systems that have displaced marginalized communities for so long.  Cat reminds us there's a time limit for how much longer we can continue to use & abuse both each other and the land we occupy, and urges us to center our focus on intentional connection. It's only through sharing our stories that we learn the language to make sense of our experiences, and recognize the hard truths of our ancestors that prove we are all here today as a result of love. Want to learn more about Cat and the meaningful work she's doing? Connect with her on Facebook or Instagram @healthyheadwaterslab or visit her website: www.healthyheadwaterslab.ca -- Love our show? Come vote and participate in the Quill Podcast Awards! Visit https://forms.gle/sLwLoCkQDey1zS1V7 (https://forms.gle/sLwLoCkQDey1zS1V7) Only one vote per person. Voting closes May 26th, 2021. Anyone and any podcast can submit to the Quill Podcast Awards for free (there is zero cost to participating in the awards). You do not need to be the podcast owner or work at the company being submitted to vote! ***NOTE: Make sure you copy and paste one of the following podcast links when nominating our show: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-filipino-american-woman-project/id1469848967 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-filipino-american-woman-project/id1469848967) Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3zGWoWm114ybl69EDL7LkJ?si=SxK1L4NCSMmtF6pHHflG6g (https://open.spotify.com/show/3zGWoWm114ybl69EDL7LkJ?si=SxK1L4NCSMmtF6pHHflG6g) The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies Conference Committee, has accepted our proposal for the 2021 Bulosan Filipinx Studies Virtual Research Conference! For a couple of weeks now, Nani Dominguez, Stacey Anne Baterina Salinas and Jen Amos have been working on an academic paper about The Filipino American Woman Project titled, “Pinay Podcasters: Building a Self-Sustaining Community Through Storytelling, Collective Healing & Learning, and Collaboration.” We can't wait to share more! Until then, SAVE THE DATE for Friday, May 28th from 1-5:30PM and Saturday, May 29th from 1-6PM (PST) or register for FREE at https://bit.ly/3tLp7cI%C2%A0 (https://bit.ly/3tLp7cI )or sign up for our workshop on May 28th at 3:15 PM (PDT) / 6:15 PM (EDT) at https://tinyurl.com/PinayPodcasters?fbclid=IwAR10hf_Czcil64Iwuf4Fs9vkuyxN1ldE67qRszZ5PeViuQRn_IBRhNC5GPc (http://tinyurl.com/PinayPodcasters) Jen & Nani will be doing a LIVE recording of our show at the Asian American Podcaster's 1st Annual Asian Podcast Festival to be held on May

As a first-generation Filipinx-American, I was raised to believe that when things get hard, you push through, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, get tough and work harder. So when I first heard of self-compassion, I thought it was just for people that didn't know what “real” suffering was like.  I thought self-compassion was for wimps. As I’ve worked with many clients over the years, I’ve found that I’m not the only one who finds self-compassion to be a foreign (no pun intended) concept. Thankfully, one of my first teachers, Geshe Tsultrim Gyelsten, introduced me to Tonglen practice, and this compassion practice became one of my main transformative experiences. So there was a piece of me that knew if I could take the powerful energy of compassion and turn it towards myself, it could change a lot. After having a regular practice since 2019, I realize now that self-compassion is a secret weapon! It’s what makes us resilient, helps us move on from difficult situations, and keeps us on the healthy path of growth.  In fact, research shows higher levels of self-compassion in military service people is associated with lower risks of PTSD, and veterans who learn self-compassion have less risk for suicide and way fewer PTSD symptoms. Self-compassion is not for wimps. It is for soul warriors - like you and me. Compassion can be easily defined as “being moved by the suffering of others, and being motivated to reduce that suffering.” Self-compassion is the same, but directed toward ourselves. If you still can't picture what self-compassion as a practice would look like, try imagining that a dear friend or loved one is having a difficult problem. What would you say to them? What simple message would you deliver, heart to heart?  Now, see if you can offer that same message to yourself. That’s the start of self-compassion – making friends with ourselves. It sounds corny. But it’s powerful. And just like compassion toward others, it’s vital to have compassion for ourselves, too. It doesn’t make us weaker or softer or more vulnerable. In fact, research shows that those who practice it regularly can handle difficult life circumstances and trauma more effectively. How does self-compassion do this? On an emotional level, when we come up against a difficult emotion or situation, our natural stress response of fight/flight/freeze kicks in. These three can only bring on some seriously unhelpful reactions:• We fight ourselves (self-criticism)• We flee from others (isolation)• We freeze (rumination and being stuck in our thoughts) In contrast, when we learn self-compassion, we can use self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness to counteract these responses. But the stress response is also physical. When we criticize ourselves, we tap into our threat-defense system (sometimes called our reptilian brain). It’s the quickest response we naturally give when there is a perceived danger. This releases a host of hormones that tells us to fight/flight/freeze. It’s highly emotional, and a brain stuck in emotion is not an intelligent or wise mind. Thankfully we’ve got more capacity than reptiles.  As mammals, our young are born vulnerable. To keep them safe until they can grow and adapt to their environment, the mammalian care system was evolved. When this activates, important positive hormones are released, which reduce stress and increase feelings of safety and security. Self-compassion is linked to that care system. When we are compassionate toward ourselves, we begin to feel safe and cared for again. This helps us step into a place of wisdom and readiness. When we practice these components of self-compassion, we are DEactivating the threat-defense system and activating the CARE system. And once that care system is activated… once we are taking time to care for ourselves, nourish ourselves, and love ourselves… we can show up to do the same for the world! Doing this is sometimes hard as hell, and there are some of us who find this more difficult than others. Those with a strong inner critic are set up to gain the most from this practice (you know, the ones who tend to stuff it down, buck up, and move on?). However they are also more resistant to self-compassion. Ask me how I know;) In this pod, I’ll also teach you one of my favorite ways to practice self-compassion: the Self-Compassion Break. That alone is worth the listen! Topics in this week’s podcast:// The three core components of self-compassion// How to use self-compassion to combat our inner critic, isolation, and being stuck in negative thoughts// How self-compassion combats our stress responses// Why is self-compassion so hard for some and easy for others?// How to take a self-compassion break Resources:// If you’re new to the squad, grab the starter kit I created at RebelBuddhist.com. It has all you need to start creating a life of more freedom, adventure, and purpose. You’ll get access to the private Facebook group where you can ask me questions! Once you join, there’s also a weekly FB live called Wake the F*ck Up Wednesday, where you can ask questions that come up as you do this work – in all parts of your life.  // If you’re interested in finding out more about self-compassion, join Freedom School. Enrollment is open, and we are diving DEEP into how to be mindfully self-compassionate all this month! There are also some sweet bonuses for you. It will set you up to live the best version of you in the year to come. This is an amazing group of rebels committed to creating lives of freedom, adventure and purpose. You can even gift a Freedom School membership to someone that you know could use the boost and come together! You’ll dive into getting clear about: what you want, how to clear your life of the things you don’t, skills for living an authentic life so you are out there being YOU and not what other people want you to be, and more.

Classical musician and composer Jay Julio is a first-generation FIlipinx-American who has parlayed their talents into activism with their non-profit organization Sound Off: Music for Bail. Created in the summer of 2020 amidst increasing racial and political tensions, Sound Off became a way for Julio to use music shows and their platform as a member of the Western classical music community to educate a sometimes unaware audience about the realities of the prison industrial complex and how it affects Black and Brown people while raising money for national bail funds. Julio's passion for this cause has always been present considering they grew up in a family that experienced poverty, criminalization, and gun violence. Music offered healing for Jay Julio and they continue to use it to offer empowerment to others. To learn more about Sound Off: Music for Bail and Jay Julio's story, check out our podcast! Music: Florence Price - Andante moderato from String Quartet in G Major. Recorded at Broadway Presbyterian Church by Sound Off: Music for Bail at the January 16th Groupmuse concert in partnership with Bass Players for Black Composers.

Welcome to Part 2 of our discussion on parenting Filipinx kids! We talked for over 2 hours and felt this episode would be great in smaller increments (you know... a lot to process and reflect). In this particular episode, we continue to examine which Filipino parenting traits we would like like to keep/toss as we navigate our own parenting styles and we also call bullsh*t on White parenting techniques. This episode made us realize that navigating parenting as a Filipinx American caregiver is supeeerrrrrr complicated!!!! AHHHH!!! If you know of any BIPOC parenting IG accounts, please let us know! Apparently we need more BIPOC parenting voices on our IG feed. OOH! And we have a new listener voicemail! xoxo, Rissa & Zee Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/dirtynanay Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/dirtynanay Join our interactive private Facebook group (open only to Filipinx parents/caregivers/caregivers of Filipinx children): search "Dirty Nanay: Happy Hour" If you feel inspired and want to help with the success of our podcast, consider joining our Patreon page, become a monthly patron, and receive some fun benefits and rewards exclusively from us (www.patreon.com/DirtyNanay). If you want to show us some love, you may email us at dirtynanay@gmail.com And you can now leave us a voicemail/text message to show some love! Reach us at: (805)83-NANAY Maraming salamat! Intro/Outro Music: "6 Months Old" - Shubzilla & Bill Beats

Stop Asian hate. That's the episode. We welcome back Mitchy who is Filipinx American and grew up in Atlanta to discuss what it was like growing up there. We reflect on the recent shooting in Atlanta and rise in anti-Asian attacks. Thanks for staying with us...

We invited some friends to our 3rd episode and we are enjoying our virtual happy hour! Welcome Shubzilla (@shubzilla) and Matt DC (@iamyourhomie), two Filipinx American artists from Washington State. One of them is a Steve Kornacki (@steve01450) fan. Can you guess which guest is obsessed with him? We have an extensive drink menu tonight and we play a game of "Tabo" to help us reflect on what makes Filipinx folks unique. This is a fun one, y'all! Join us for all the laughs and shenanigans a la "Dirty Nanay style". And special shoutout to Rachel Bloom (@racheldoesstuff), Marcia Griffiths (@marciagriffiths_queenofreggae), Jokoy (@jokoy), and the Gap (@gap)! xoxo, Rissa & Zee Follow us on Instagram: @dirtynanay Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/dirtynanay Join our interactive private Facebook group (open only to Filipinx parents/caregivers/caregivers of Filipinx children): search "Dirty Nanay: Happy Hour" If you feel inspired and want to help with the success of our podcast, consider joining our Patreon page, become a monthly patron, and receive some fun benefits and rewards exclusively from us (www.patreon.com/DirtyNanay). If you want to show us some love, you may email us at dirtynanay@gmail.com. And you can now leave us a voicemail/text message to show some love! Reach us at: (805)83-NANAY Maraming salamat! Music: "6 Months Old" - Shubzilla & Bill Beats

Filmmaker Brodie Shapiro joins Christopher in this episode to talk about expectations and pressures youth his age are facing, especially in the Filipinx-American community. Then, Brodie opens his heart and shares a circumstance in his life that will leave you inspired and empowered. Follow Brodie on IG @bro_shappy --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/christopher-aguilar1/support

Born in Guåhan, raised in Waipahu, Hawai’i, and currently living in San Francisco, California: Kiara Gail/Kiara/K.G. goes by a lot of different names. K.G. identifies as a Queer second-generation Filipinx American and Chamorru living on colonized Ohlone Land. Finishing their Undergraduate Degree double majoring in Cinema and Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, they have taken part in being a part of the SF/Bay Area's Filipin@/x American community through the Pilipinx American Collegiate Endeavor, Kappa Psi Epsilon, and other Filipin@/x-interest organizations. With storytelling being one of their biggest passions, K.G. seeks to support the social justice needs of the community, while also telling their stories through spoken word, film, and other creative artivism mediums. Edited by: Chachie Abara  | ABOUT | Reclaiming Filipinx Identity exists to capture the narratives of Filipino Americans in Hawaii and a platform to bring solidarity to our fellow Filipino Americans and Filipinos from around the globe.   Ultimately, we aim to provide a platform that will allow others to freely talk about topics within the Filipino diaspora and community. | CONNECT WITH US | ●  SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZl2ysSzPtDzDgXSCpr4XZQ ● INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/reclaimingfilipinxidentity/ ● OFFICIAL WEBSITE: https://reclaimingfilipinx.wixsite.com/home ● SUPPORT us on AnchorFm by donating to help keep the platform from creating content for you! Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/reclaimingfilipinxidentity/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reclaimingfilipinxidentity/support --- --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/reclaiminfilipinxidentity/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reclaiminfilipinxidentity/support

An LA native dedicated to staying in the Lenape Territory for awhile. Melani De Guzman is a Filipinx-American multidisciplinary dance artist, actor, educator, community facilitator, and healer. The heart of her work is rooted in healing, sensual embodiment, and reclaiming ancestral lineages. She has integrated her diverse practices and collaborative partnerships into site-specific solo works, dance films, and movement offerings. Melani reclaims her power and truth studying somatic movement practices, mysticism through astrology, community activism, and forever being a student. Her evolving purpose is to create potent and inspiring medicine- projects, initiatives, works, spaces, movements- to help elevate the way all bodies exist. Melani's offerings include a Bahala Na breathwork and meditation pop up through https://www.wuwu828.com/practice (wuwu), free weekly 30 min somatic meditation exploration at https://www.askrose.com/ (Rose), an in-person sound bath Fridays at https://www.fotografiska.com/nyc/event/mindfulness-fridays-soundbath/ (Fotografiska NYC), and a collaboration with visual artist https://www.florencemontmare.com/ (Florence Montmare) starting Dec 11 onwards. You can connect with Melani on IG https://www.instagram.com/breathemelani/ (@breathemelani) and through her https://www.melanideguzman.com/ (website).

Kyla and Leigh talk about their experiences growing up as 2nd-gen Filipina-Americans and navigating bicultural identities. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/twtwkpodcast/message

In this episode of the Artists at Play Podcast we discuss the importance of Filipino novelist Carlos Bulosan and ALLOS, a play about his life and work.Joining us for this lively conversation, facilitated by AAP's Marie-Reine Velez, are Noel Alumit (actor, author, pastor), Lucy M. Burns (Associate Professor at UCLA's Asian American Studies Department), Ginger Leopoldo (Artistic Director, Circa Pintig) and Giovanni Ortega (writer of ALLOS).With topics spanning the farm labor movement and the role of art and activism in Carlos Bulosan's work and the Filipinx American artist community, our amazing panel turned the gathering into a virtual party.Noel Alumithttp://noelalumit.comLucy BurnsRappin’ with Ten Thousand Carabaos in the Dark, poems by Al Robles California Dreaming: Movement and Place in the Asian American Imaginary Ginger LeopoldoCIRCA Pintig Upcoming Events with CIRCA Pintig Talinhaga Laban sa Tirano: Raising Voices Against Tyranny Giovanni Ortegahttps://giovanniortega.comEpisode Credits:Edited by Nicholas PilapilPodcast theme by Eloise WongProduced by Marie-Reine Velez

This week, we greet you and each other after what feels like a decade filled with U.S. American political stunts during Filipinx American History Month and after the Full Moon in Aries! We say songs (we don't sing them), and we talk the Big 3 for each of the main characters in CBC's show Kim's Convenience. Paola reads about Mercury opposing Uranus, and Janice reads "Gyoza" by poet Kazumi Chin. -- 00:00:00 Intro 00:21:24 - Game! 00:36:14 - Kim’s Convenience 01:34:42 - Pao’s Reading: Mercury opposite Uranus - The Prelude to Mercury Retrograde 01:41:48 - Janice’s Reading: “Gyoza” by Kazumi Chin 01:50:37 - Shout-outs!

(S3, EP 9) Kristina Tendilla joins me as my guest for this Season 3's theme "Where Do We Stand?" Kristina is a queer Filipinx-American community organizer in Chicago and current Executive Director of AFIRE (Alliance of Filipino Immigrant Rights and Empowerment). She discusses what prompted her to be involved in community organizing, and her role with AFIRE, particularly with elders and careworkers affected by Covid-19. She talks about the challenges in having difficult conversations with the Filipinx / API community on anti-Black racism and colorism, and the critical need to involve her community on key issues for this upcoming election. Check out this episode to learn more about Kristina's work! Recorded on July 9th. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special thanks to my sponsor, Lawrence and Argyle, a Viet-American owned merchandise line representing immigrant empowerment. Get yourself a pin, hoodie or t-shirt and show off your immigrant pride. Visit them at www.lawrenceandargyle.com or on Instagram @lawrenceandargyle or on their Facebook page. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bio: Kristina Tendilla (she/they) has been a life long Filipinx organizer and community worker. Most recently, Kristina was a national organizer with the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum working with chapters across the country to fight for reproductive justice. Before that, they were a community organizer with Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago for several years working on the city and state level. Kristina joined i2i to build solidarity with the queer and trans AAPI community. For 10 years, Kristina organized alongside families and people in the immigrant and refugee community to engage in the fight around worker rights, healthcare access, Illinois TRUST Act, rejecting anti-Muslim and xenophobic executive orders, & other immigrant/racial justice issues. Kristina was recognized as a National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum Everyday SHEroe and a Chicago Women and Femme to Celebrate. Through their work and other LGBTQIA+ AAPIs, i2i received the National Queer Asian American Pacific Islander Alliance Advocacy Award in 2016. Kristina is currently the Executive Director with AFIRE (Alliance of Filipino Immigrant Rights and Empowerment) since 2019. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/banhmichronicles/support

1. Icli Zitella - Zona, for violin soloist and 10 string instrumentshttps://soundcloud.com/iclizitella/zona-for-violin-soloist-and-10-string-instruments2. Michael Abels - "Anthem," from the score to Jordan Peele's Ushttps://open.spotify.com/album/1gkLMuAnI8U5z2yhyhhRQk?si=4gDbAGb3Q2-m2eFUjGmcIw3.Nathalie Joachim - Suite pou Dantanhttps://open.spotify.com/playlist/1UfE5N84rXZzd8mWWqSwhG?si=VBC5-qKrQha3CJa2htJEigPanelists:Venezuelan violinist Natalie Calma, currently based in Boston, is an enthusiast of new music and improvisation. She is dedicated to promoting living, contemporary music in all of its forms. Natalie is a co-creator of Box Not Found, a violin and clarinet duo that seeks to build and cultivate the foundations for alternative streams of new music while also generating a positive impact on both the local and global communities. Natalie holds degrees from the Interlochen Arts Academy, The Boston Conservatory (BM), where she studied with Lynn Chang, and Boston University (MM), where she studied with Dana Mazurkevich. Natalie plays on a violin made by Venezuelan luthier Matias Herrera, and a bow made by Venezuelan luthier Eduardo “Guayo” Gonzales.Sugar Vendil is a composer, pianist, and interdisciplinary artist based in New York City. Her artistic practice is strongly rooted in rigorous discipline as a musician and gradually expanded into performance that integrates music, movement, and unconventional approaches to the piano. She is a proud second generation Filipinx American. Vendil was recently awarded an ACF | Create commission to write a work for Boston-based duo Box Not Found (May 2020) and was awarded with 2020 Fellowships at the National Arts Club and Sokoloff Arts. She was a 2019 Artist in Residence at High Concept Labs in Chicago and was awarded a 2019 Chamber Music America commission to write a new work for her ensemble, The Nouveau Classical Project, which she founded in 2008. Vendil was a finalist in National Sawdust’s 2019 Hildegard Competition. ETHEL premiered her new string quartet in December 2019 as part of their Homebaked commissioning program. She was a 2019 resident artist at Mabou Mines and an artist in residence at Target Margin Theater. In 2016, she was a Fellow in the Target Margin Institute for Collaborative Theater Making, which encouraged her to further pursue composition and performance making. She holds a Master of Music degree in piano performance.Amanda Cook is a Boston-based editor, writer, and arts administrator with a background in flute performance and higher education. She is the Editor-in-Chief of I CARE IF YOU LISTEN, an award-winning contemporary classical music magazine advocating for historically underrepresented artists and equitable programming. Her training as a performer coupled with her current work in music journalism and nonprofit administration provides a unique perspective from which to view the current state of classical music.More information at pauseandlisten.com. Pause and Listen was created by host John T.K. Scherch and co-creator/marketing manager Michele Mengel Scherch.

Avagail Lozano is a Filipinx-American originally from California but loves traveling and living the expat life. She's the founder and creator of Avagail Adventures, where she shares her travel adventures and lessons as an expat. She graduated college in 2010 with thousands of dollars of student loans. She got her first "big girl" job, and then lifestyle inflation kicked in! After financing a car, her debt ballooned to $50,000. In 2016, she was facing a quarter life crisis & a ton of pressure from loved ones to settle down and get married. Knowing that she wanted more out of life, Ava threw caution to the wind and moved to South Korea to teach English. She became totally debt free in December 2019 and paid off more debt working as an ESL teacher on half the salary she made while working in a corporate role in the USA. And she did it while still being able to travel all over Asia! You can follow Ava on Facebook and Instagram. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/yoquierodinero/support

1.5 Filipinx American, born in Manila and migrated to Hawaii at a young age. Alvin is quantitative economics Major with an aspiring Math Minor. His advice to the next generation is,"It’s important to keep in touch with the media in the Philippines. A huge part to understanding and assimilating to a culture is to understand not only the history of the place, but the pop culture media that the Philippine locality is exposed to. An example would be when I watched Derry Girls on Netflix. I only stayed in Dublin for 2 months but knowing the history and a general knowledge of the geography and its pop culture helped me appreciate the jokes and the show more."  Reference Mentioned:  Your Grief, Our Gossip": Overseas Filipinos and Other Spectral Presences by Vicente L. Rafael.  http://www.formationofafilipinxamerican.com/ Keywords:  Filipinicity, Filipinx, Filipino-American,  Stay connected! Follow Alvin on instagram @alvininfinite & Instagram - @reclaimingfilipinxidentity Podcast can be found on:  Spotify, Apple Podcast and Anchor Fm at  Reclaiming Filipinx Identity  If you want to be featured on the next podcast, feel free to leave a voice message on AnchorFm! or email me for business inquiries at macristina.abara@gmail.com  --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/reclaiminfilipinxidentity/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reclaiminfilipinxidentity/support

In our first off the mat discussion, I talk about mental health in the Filipinx-American community and I chat about my experience with seeking mental health treatment! If you'd like to continue this dialogue with me, I'd love to on https://www.instagram.com/aerielmoves/

She is a second-generation Filipinx American who was born and raised in Honolulu , Hawaii. A proud product and executive member of Anakbayan Chapter in Hawaii which was recently launched in the month of March before the entire COVID pandemic. She will talk about what does it mean to truly reclaim her Filipina identity while discussing her struggles as a Pinay. Join me as we listen to Clarissa's narrative. To connect with her, follow her social at @clarissarago and if you want to know the deets in for the Anakbayan Chapter in Hawaii follow them @anakbayanhawaii As always if you have any questions, concerns, and suggestion, reach out to me at @reclaimingfilipinxidentity --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/reclaiminfilipinxidentity/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reclaiminfilipinxidentity/support

I'm back in effect, and this week, I am featuring, Filipinx poet, Ina Cariño.  We discuss her work and her future plans and how she is holding up during this Coronavirus pandemic. Note: I will be discussing how other writers/poets/artists and creatives are dealing with creating during these times. http://yourartsygirlpodcast.com/episodes www.inacarino.com Bio: Born in the Philippines, Ina Cariño is a queer Filipinx-American writer. She holds an MFA in creative writing from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC, and is a 2019 Kundiman Fellow. Her work appears in Waxwing, New England Review, The Oxford Review of Books, Tupelo Quarterly, and VIDA Review, among other journals. In 2019, Ina founded a reading series in the Triangle area of NC called Indigena, which centers marginalized voices, including but not limited to those of BIPOC, QTPOC, and people with disabilities. Through her writing, Ina explores the navigation of being American as a brown body, and the deeply impactful effects of living in the diaspora. She hopes to find paths to not just justice, but also to healing of self and community. It Feels Good to Cook Rice by Ina Cariño it feels good to cook rice it feels heavy to cook rice it feels familiar                           good        & heavy                      to cook rice                           when I cook rice                   it is because hunger is not just                              an emptiness but a longing                                          for multo:                                    the dead who no longer linger                   two fingers in water                   I know just when to stop:                   right under the second knuckle in the morning          chew it                                                         with salted egg in the evening          chew it                                                         with salted onion at midnight          eat it                                                         slovenly                 with your peppered hands           licking relishing                         each cloudmorsel                                                       sucking greedy   as if                 there will no longer be any such thing as rice                               good                 is not the idea of pleasure                                           rather                                                it is the way                                                          I once tripped                                             spilled a basket                 of hulls & stones onto soil —                 homely sprinkle of husks                 as if for a sending off —                                 how right it was: palms                                 brushing the chalk of it                                 swirls rising in streaking sun                                 heavy                 is not the same as burden                                             rather it is falling rice                                                   as ghostly footfalls —                                             trickling mounds                                                           scattered on wood —                 my dead lolo in compression socks                 my dead lola in red slippers scuffing                 & a slew of yesterday’s titos & titas                                 their voices traveling to me                                 tinny                                ringing                                  as if from yesterday’s nova familiar just                 what it sounds like family                 blood home                 marrow bone                 grit calcified memories                                 of things that feel good                                                                 & heavy                 calcified                                 as in made stronger by mountain sun                 only to have them crumble                                 after enough time has passed                 (just like the mountain forgot what it used to be)                             still it feels good to cook rice it feels good to eat rice    even by myself & it feels familiar to know                with each grain I swallow I strap myself to my own                                          heavy                             hunger ------------------------------------------------------------ Below are links to her other works: http://www.nereview.com/vol-40-no-3-2019/bitter-melon/ http://waxwingmag.org/items/issue20/7_Carino-It-Feels-Good-to-Cook-Rice.php https://readwildness.com/21/carino-bodies https://www.the-orb.org/post/when-i-sing-to-myself-who-listens IG: @indigena.collective  / Facebook: Facebook.com/indigenaNC/

Dr. Melinda Luisa de Jesús is definitely a Renaissance woman! She is a scholar, a classical singer, a poet, & a visual artist. Listen to her discuss her journey into creativity through her earlier beginnings as a classically trained mezzo-soprano. As a feminist scholar, it wasn't until she found her voice in poetry with various publications to her first poetry collection "peminology", did her world open up even more to include visual arts in her artistic and intellectual repertoire.   http://yourartsygirlpodcast.com/episodes Order "peminology" here: http://www.lulu.com/shop/http://www.lulu.com/shop/melinda-luisa-de-jes%C3%BAs/peminology/paperback/product-23634481.html PEMINOLOGY by Melinda Luisa de Jesús Published by Paloma Press Release Date: March 2018 ISBN: 9781387483686 Pages: 80, full-color Available on Lulu and at select bookshops In honor of International Women’s Day, Paloma Press is proud to announce the release of PEMINOLOGY, a first poetry collection by Melinda Luisa de Jesus, a feminist of color who teaches and writes about critical race theory, girlhood and monsters, and believes, “as did the ancients, that a poem can change the world.” Excerpt: Jealousy 1. Wanting to be blonde-haired, blue-eyed, small-boned and delicate ivory-complexioned, sweet and ladylike a fairy princess, or green-eyed and red-haired like a mermaid Anything but brown-skinned brown-eyed black-haired loud big fat different. 2. I love your poems I hate your poems I want to lick them, chew the paper they’re on savor each line then swallow them whole make them mine. 3. Wishing I felt more connection Planted in American soil wilting bleached I long to be coconut, carabao brown.   Advance words: “Melinda Luisa de Jesús’ debut collection of poems comes from a space of longing, rebellion, grief, love, poetics and politics. Bold, unafraid and uncompromising, peminology carves out a space for de Jesús’ vision and her generation of Filipinas in immigrant America. She speaks in multiple voices and registers, as a daughter, to a daughter, as a mother, to a mother, as a storyteller, dredging up a past and confronting fiercely the present. peminology is poetic auto ethnography. It must be read. It must be heard. It must be listened to. This is Asian-America. This is post-Trump’s America. This is the America we live in.” —Reshmi Dutt-Ballerstadt, author of The Postcolonial Citizen: The Intellectual Migrant “peminology is bold, raw, and honest. Weaving between past and present, de Jesús creates a narrative of traumas that connect girlhood to womanhood. Charting the intersections of racial and feminist awakenings, these poems offer avenues for shame and rage to become strength and resistance. “The Tractor,” “Patriarchy,” and “Imagine That” are but a few examples of the timely critiques—anthems, even—that de Jesús situates amidst her chronology of oppression and opposition. Her experimentation with form, including the hay(na)ku, the hay(na)ku sentence, and the pantoum, interrupts Western poetic conventions as much as the language and imagery itself. The stand out poem—“Bellies”— followed by “Pantoum for Eloisa,” explores the heartbreaking complexities of brown women negotiating motherhood and white imperialism. This collection will leave you simultaneously heartbroken and empowered, ready to rise out of your seat to demand recognition, and sit down with your child to nurture self-love. A must-read for 2018.” —Linda Pierce Allen, co-editor of Global Crossroads: A World Literature Reader and Questions of Identity: Complicating Race in American Literary History   Bio: Melinda Luisa de Jesús is Associate Professor and former Chair of Diversity Studies at California College of the Arts. She writes and teaches about Filipinx/American cultural production, girl culture, monsters, and race/ethnicity in the United States. She edited Pinay Power: Peminist Critical Theory, the first anthology of Filipina/American feminisms (Routledge 2005). Her academic writing has appeared in Mothering in East Asian Communities: Politics and Practices; Completely Mixed Up: Mixed Heritage Asian North American Writing and Art; Approaches to Teaching Multicultural Comics; Ethnic Literary Traditions in Children’s Literature; Challenging Homophobia; Radical Teacher; The Lion and the Unicorn; Ano Ba Magazine; Rigorous; Konch Magazine; Rabbit and Rose; MELUS; Meridians; The Journal of Asian American Studies, and Delinquents and Debutantes: TwentiethCentury American Girls’ Cultures. She is also a poet and her chapbooks, Humpty Drumpfty and Other Poems; Petty Poetry for SCROTUS Girls’ with poems for Elizabeth Warren and Michelle Obama; Defying Trumplandia; Adios Trumplandia!; James Brown’sWig and Other Poems; and Vagenda of Manicide and Other Poems were published by Locofo Chaps in 2017. Her first collection of poetry, peminology, was published by Paloma Press in 2018. In Spring 2019 Melinda was the Muriel Gold Senior Visiting Professor at the Institute for Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies at McGill University in Montreal, Canada where she organized the Pinay Power II: Celebrating Peminisms in the Diaspora conference (see pinaypower.ca for more info). She is a mezzo-soprano, a mom, an Aquarian, and admits an obsession with Hello Kitty. More info: http://peminist.com Twitter: @peminology 

La Sarmiento shares their journey from learning "it was not ok to be who I was" to cultivating and connecting with incredible sense of love and belonging. La brings us through a deep and touching emotional experience in this podcast and shows us how the Dharma and the community in the Dharma has had such a significant impact in their life and healing and growth. La Sarmiento is a non-binary, Filipinx American, body/energyworker and song-spoofing dharma teacher. They are a retreat teacher/manager and guiding teacher of the LGBTIQ and People of Color Sanghas with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, teach retreats for LGBTIQ at the Garrison Institute, young adults at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center, are a graduate of the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leaders Training Program, and are currently a mentor for the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield. La lives in Towson, MD with their life partner Wendy and their Cairn Terrier Annabel. You can connect with them online at: www.lasarmiento.com.

In Episode 5, Maris hosts Art Activist and Seattle treasure, Sara Porkalob!Sara is a Seattle based Arts Activist who specializes in theater work. You may have seen the first two plays of her Dragon Cycle trilogy centering around telling the story of her family through the perspective of her mother and grandmother. And earlier this summer, you may have seen her play 7th and Jackson at Cafe Nordo here in Seattle. You have a few opportunities to see Sara’s work in the next year! First, Cafe Nordo will be producing the world premier of her new play, The Angel in the House, February 2020. It is, in Sara’s words, “A feminist, Victorian revenge thriller”. Next, Artswest is producing a world premier of her new play, Alex and Alix, in April 2020. Alex and Alix is a lovestory about two women and their journey with memory loss.And this winter, Sara will be performing in Baltimore Center Stage's production of Men on Boats, directed by Jenny Koons.And be sure to follow her on instagram @sporkalob, and check out her website! Sara and Maris’s conversation covers the intersection of public policy, social justice, and art making; how storytelling can be used to dismantle systemic racism; and Sara’s recommendations for Filipino food in Seattle. Sara Porkalob is an award winning arts activist based in Seattle. She’s featured in Seattle Magazine’s Most Influential People of 2018, City Arts’s 2017 Futures List, and served as Intiman Theatre’s 2017 Co-Curator. She is a co-founder of DeConstruct, and online journal of intersectional performance critique. Her first full length play Dragon Lady is the recipient of three 2018 Gregory Awards for: Outstanding Sound/Music Design, Outstanding Actress in a Musical, and Outstanding Musical Production, has garnered a Seattle Times Footlight Award, and a Broadway World Award for “Best New Play”. In 2019, American Repertory Theatre produced Dragon Lady and Dragon Mama, the first two plays in her family trilogy The Dragon Cycle and in July 2019, Nordo’s Culinarium produced her new play, 7th and Jackson, a historical fiction with music and immersive dining, inspired by Seattle’s International District. She is a proud 2nd generation Filipinx American and owes all of her success to her family.Believe survivors. Black Lives Matter. Queer Trans Lives Matter. Vote. Listen to Episode 5 on iTunes HEREListen on Spotify HEREFollow along or become a supporter of Sharpest Knives at www.Patreon.com/SharpestKnivesPodcastFind Sharpest Knives on Facebook.com/SharpestKnivesPodcastFollow @SharpestKnivesPodcast on InstagramEmail any suggestions or questions for future guests to SharpestKnivesPodcast@gmail.comSharpest Knives is partially supported by the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture.Support the show (http://www.patreon.com/sharpestknivespodcast)

Elaine Castillo's debut novel America is Not the Heart is a vibrant and starkly hilarious novel about the De Vera family who flees Marcos-era Philippines in stages for the immigrant suburbs of the Bay Area. Elaine Castillo joins poets Luis H. Francia and Joseph O. Legaspi for a special reading about Filipinx-American history, migration, queerness, and the elusive goal of cracking the American Dream for working-class immigrants. After reading they join author Gina Apostol, author of the Gun Dealer's Daughter, for a conversation about Carlos Bulosan, Filipinx as a synthetic identity, and writing for Asian Americans vs the white establishment.

October is Filipinx-American Heritage Month. According to Wikipedia, Filipino-American Heritage Month, has been celebrated since 1988. If it has been around nearly 3 decades, then why don't many people-API-identified or otherwise-- seem to know about it or acknowledge it? This month we're centering Filipinx voices in a live conversation around Filipinx-American identity. Does Filipino-American Heritage Month matter to Filipinos? What, if anything, are folks under the broad API umbrella doing to stand up for and center these communities in the Pacific Northwest? Featuring archived audio from whitenoise project discussion panel at the East Portland Arts and Literature Festival (EPALF), plus a live conversation featuring Jake Vermaas of the Whitenoise project in conversation with Maryanna Hollomon and Angelica Lim of GABRIELA Portland.

Angela Dumlao is a queer non-binary/genderfluid first-generation Filipinx-American theatre artist and activist dedicated to affirming and uplifting marginalized folx and their intersectional identities. They are the director and co-producer of the one-woman show Post Traumatic Super Delightful, which has been featured in Glamour Magazine's Top Ten College Women and Marie Claire Magazine. In addition to directing feminist Continue Reading…

Angela Dumlao is a queer non-binary/genderfluid first-generation Filipinx-American theatre artist and activist dedicated to affirming and uplifting marginalized folx and their intersectional identities. They are the director and co-producer of the one-woman show Post Traumatic Super Delightful, which has been featured in Glamour Magazine's Top Ten College Women and Marie Claire Magazine. In addition to directing feminist Continue Reading…