August 28, 2024

We Stand on Their Shoulders

August 28, 2024/ Staff

"A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself."

- Joseph Campbell

This weekend, Positively Filipino is hosting an event honoring 12 Filipino American pioneers (our manongs and manangs) whose lifework and achievements have paved the way for succeeding generations to find their own paths in US society. Their personal journeys have not been easy. They grew up at a time of discrimination and silencing. They didn't have the advantage of our current numbers or social media to make their voices heard. They had to claw their way out and up before they were able to shine in their respective niches.

They are, by any measure, our community heroes.

In paying tribute to them this week, Positively Filipino aptly joins the celebration of National Heroes Day (a yearly celebration on the last Monday of August) in the Philippines and Labor Day (September 1) in the US.

Stories This Week

Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 60 by Mona Lisa Yuchengco

20th Cinemalaya Pays Tribute to Pathbreaking Films by Pablo A. Tariman

[Partner] On Peace and Freedom Week: Awakening Heroism United for Peace and Climate Action by Cecilia Guidote-Alvarez

Read Agains:

From Spain to Delano—The Radical Roots of Farm Workers Unions

Jose Abad Santos: Hero And Front-liner

In The Know

She Survived the Maui Wildfires. She Couldn’t Survive the Year After.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/21/business/maui-wildfires-survivors-deaths

Young math whiz in Cebu uses amazing talent to find dad
https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/590157/young-math-whiz-in-cebu-uses-amazing-talent-to-find-dad

Bini is not just P-pop — they’re a new vision of Filipino womanhood [interview]
https://nextshark.com/bini-ppop-filipino-womanhood-interview?

50 years of friendship: Celebrating the top 10 Filipino restaurants in Abu Dhabi
https://yallaabudhabi.ae/food-drink/top-10-filipino-restaurants-in-abu-dhabi/

Filipinos in Las Vegas
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1656996828418534

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

As the election nears, anti-AAPI rhetoric is increasing. Here’s how leaders can offer support
https://www.fastcompany.com/91176794/as-the-election-nears-anti-aapi-rhetoric-is-increasing-heres-how-leaders-can-offer-support

Harris campaign ads target anti-Asian hate and protecting Obamacare
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/8/21/2264776/-Harris-campaign-ads-target-anti-Asian-hate-and-protecting-Obamacare

Bachelorette contestant Thomas Nguyen reveals he received racist online hate during show
https://asamnews.com/2024/08/10/vietnamese-american-bachelorette-contestant-racist-hate-slur/

Hate crime charges handed down in beatdown of Muslim man
https://asamnews.com/2024/08/27/anti-muslim-hate-crime-new-york/

Funding provided by the State of California.

May 22, 2024

Tastes of Nostalgia

May 22, 2024/ Staff

Remember Ma Mon Luk? Those delicious asado-filled white siopao the size of our clenched fist that we were told to peel before eating? Paired with the restaurant's steaming mami, they were perfect for keeping stomach and soul satiated because they were cheap and flavored just right.

Ma Mon Luk, the restaurant (first in Quiapo and later a branch in Quezon Blvd. near Banawe, QC), was itself a draw. Humid and steamy because there was no air-conditioning, greasy and somewhat grubby, it nonetheless attracted not just budget eaters but bougie types as well. Quite a number of Filipino octogenarians associate Ma Mon Luk with their first dates or their marriage proposals. During martial law when many were hunted, the always bustling restaurant was a good place to meet in plain sight (thus unnoticed by the hunters) and to satisfy one's craving as well.

Behind the restaurant and the siopao, there was Ma Mon Luk, the man, whose origin story is now the focus of a children's book. Read all about it in this issue and get a recipe for mami.

Here's another nostalgia trip: remember the pop songs that filled the Philippine airwaves decades ago, like "Ikaw Ang Lahat Sa Akin" by Martin Nievera, and "Lift Up Your Hands" by Basil Valdez?" The songs have proven staying power but the composer herself has kept a relatively low profile. Until this month that is. This weekend in Manila she celebrates her 45th year as a hotshot composer of many hits. This issue has her covered.

And two doses of inspiration: first, from a veteran Fil-Am broadcast journalist who has a lot of say about pursuing a path that matters. And second, the continuing and never-ending list of Fil-Am achievers who are stamping their marks on the US melting pot.

Finally, a front-and-center look at Lake Sebu in South Cotabato where the T'boli tribe of crafts people and tradition bearers live, work and fight for their right to their ancestral lands.

For our Video of the Week, a new documentary on acclaimed soprano Evelyn Mandac by an appreciative student.

Read Again: How Filipinas Saved a Town in Japan

In The Know

Opinion: I’m Asian American. I see DEI as a bridge for communities
https://asamnews.com/2024/05/19/opinion-im-asian-american-i-see-dei-as-a-bridge-for-communities/

Family reaches settlement in police shooting of son
https://asamnews.com/2024/05/16/police-brutality-mental-health-angelo-quinto/

Sleepy far-flung towns in the Philippines will host US forces returning to counter China threats
https://apnews.com/article/us-forces-philippines-south-china-sea-taiwan-

Lino Brocka’s Cannes Classic ‘Bona,’ With Philippines’ Female Superstar Nora Aunor, Set for Release in U.S., France (EXCLUSIVE)
https://variety.com/2024/film/news/lino-brocka-nora-aunor-bona-philippines-restored-film-cannes-

20 Rare Photos of the Manila Carnival That You've Probably Never Seen Before
https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/lifestyle/rare-manila-carnival-photos-

Teatro Balagtas brings struggle for social justice on stage
https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/theater/teatro-balagtas-brings-struggle-social-justice-stage/

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

Miss Hawaii USA receives slew of online hate, death threats since being crowned Miss USA
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2024/05/19/miss-hawaii-usa-receives-slew-online-hate-death-threats-since-being-crowned-miss-usa

California’s Indigenous People Fight Histories of Hate
https://ethnicmediaservices.org/stop-the-hate/californias-indigenous-people-fight-histories-of-hate/

A New Database Raises Awareness About AAPI Hate in New York City
https://asamnews.com/2024/05/15/new-app-aapi-hate-tracker-to-report-incidents-for-asian-american-pacific-islander-native-hawaiian-in-new-york-city/

Spreading Love to Stop Hate
https://spreadaapilove.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Data-Insights_One-Pager.pdf?

Hundreds mourn victims of anti-Asian hate in New Jersey
https://asamnews.com/2024/05/20/racism-discrimination-violence-asian-american-community-montclair-aapi/

Funding provided by the State of California.

June 15, 2022

Tonic for Post-Election PTSD

June 15, 2022/ Staff

Fourteen years after he won the Man Asian Literary Prize for his book Ilustrado, Filipino author Miguel Syjuco has come out with a new one: I Was the President's Mistress!!, hailed by Salman Rushdie as a "brilliant black comedy" and by David Mitchell as "A super-typhoon of a novel." This wild satirical romp into the (imagined) inner sanctum of the rich and powerful might just be the tonic to lingering PTSDs from the recent elections. University of Hawaii professor Patricio N. Abinales gives us a peek.

In the hands of a capable writer, a story about a day, an event, a historical moment can be compelling reading. In the hands of a master, a writer of National Artist caliber as Jose "Pete" Lacaba, Jr. surely is, it becomes literature, history and magic all at once. Lacaba's reportage on the First Quarter Storm of 1970 (collected into a timeless book, Days of Disquiet, Nights of Rage) remains unsurpassed among the historical accounts of that restless era. Here, in his recollection of the late, lamented movie director Lino Brocka's last day on earth (he was killed in an auto accident in 1991), Lacaba does it again: tells a story in words and it comes out more vivid than actual photos. In this age of Instagram, that's a monumental feat.

As Father's Day approaches, lawyer Paul-Philippe Reyes writes in awe of his granddad, the late journalist/editor/Press Secretary Rex Reyes who quite literally died while typing a story.

The month of June is rich in celebrations so here are some stories that you can Read Again to mark this month's passage. (We'll have more next week.)

A daughter commemorates her father who was a manong: https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/2013/6/the-ardor-of-my-father

Our publisher's father was a titan in the true sense of the word: https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/my-dad-a-daring-dreamer

On Jose Rizal's 161st birthday, we are still amazed by his myriad talents:

https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/jose-rizal-martial-arts-warrior

https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/rizals-kiss

Recipe of the Week: The Happy Home Cook: Sinigang na Paella

Video of the Week: O Bayan Ko