Time To Swoon in June
/It's June and, like clockwork, summer weather (now commonly termed a heat wave) begins in the western hemisphere. In our motherland, June is expected to bring the monsoon rains so desperately needed for the parched earth of the long, extremely hot summer of 2024.
Like the previous month, June is packed with celebrations: LGBTQ Pride Month and its string of parades and revelry happens this month. For Filipinos everywhere, the annual Independence Day festivities gather communities for parades, dances, competitions and food. And then there's Rizal Day, celebrated every year on June 19, and Fathers' Day on June 16. In the US, it's also Immigrant Heritage Month, a little-known commemoration that should interest us who have made the US our adopted country.
June of course begins the travel cycle, and the travel industry is anticipating the full impact of what has become a post-pandemic byword: revenge travel. We have been posting stories about enticing places to visit since spring, and will continue to do so this summer. One of them, in this issue, is the journey of a daring couple, both septuagenarians, who completed the challenging Kumano Kodo, Japan's equivalent to the Camino de Santiago of Spain. Since they've done both pilgrimages, the two got their Dual Pilgrim Certificate, earned by just about 5,000 long-distance walkers.
Last month, we posted a couple of articles from Canada and reached out to Filipino-Canadians to write more. So this issue, we're posting another two; from Toronto, our regular contributing writer gives us the story of the making of the first anthology of Fil-Can writing; and from Vancouver, a first-time contributor writes about a Filipino who was a high-ranking official in Metro Vancouver but, upon retirement, returned to her first love and is flourishing.
A look back: One afternoon in 1999, Fil-Am mail carrier Jojo Ileto was doing his rounds when a man asked him to mail a letter. There was nothing unusual about the request and Ileto gladly acceded. As he turned, the man took out a gun and shot Ileto twice. He was a random choice, clearly a hate crime. So much has happened since, yet so much still remain the same. We're reposting the story from 25 years ago because we must not forget.
Read Agains
Exceptional Philippine Churches by John Silva
Death by Discrimination by Bert Eljera
[Partner] Helping AAPI Communities Heal From The Pain Of Racism
[Video of the Week] LGBTQ Couple Excited By Their Baby Boy
In The Know
Yuka Saso, 22, captures second U.S. Women's Open title
https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/40264293/yuka-saso-captures-second-us-women-open-title
Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/celebrating-aapi-heritage/san-josewoman-preserve-filipino-american-culture
The Forgotten Houses of Quiapo
https://www.spot.ph/arts-culture/the-latest-arts-culture/109008/forgotten-quiapo-heritage-houses
The rise of quiet luxury in Philippine architecture
https://thepost.ph/architecture/the-rise-of-quiet-luxury-in-filipino-architecture
What I've Learned: Jim Paredes
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/what-ive-learned/what-i-ve-learned-jim-paredes
Anti-Asian Hate Watch
National organizations call out anti-Asian bigotry in Congress
https://asamnews.com/2024/06/03/organizations-sign-letter-against-anti-asian-bigotry-in-congress/
The Ongoing Fight Against Antisemitism and Anti-Asian Hate: Legislative Developments
https://nysba.org/the-ongoing-fight-against-antisemitism-and-anti-asian-hate-legislative-developments/
Chinese Americans still reeling in the wake of anti-Asian hate
https://goldengatexpress.org/107116/campus-original/chinese-americans-still-reeling-in-the-wake-of-anti-asian-hate/
Man who lived in Fontana is charged with hate crime for allegedly punching woman in the head
https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/man-who-lived-in-fontana-is-charged-with-hate-crime-for-allegedly-punching-woman-in/article_7519572a-1f7b-11ef-a22c-9ff3bfb428d0.html
Connecting to AANHPI seniors on mental wellness
https://www.kalw.org/2024-05-30/connecting-to-aanhpi-seniors-on-mental-wellness
Funding provided by the State of California.
