In last Monday's Positively Filipino webinar, our guest raconteurs Alex Fabros Jr. and Oscar Peñaranda regaled us with insider stories about life among the manongs on the farms of Salinas, California and in the salmon canneries of Anchorage, Alaska. Both knew whereof they speak -- Alex grew up and worked with them and Oscar spent 15 summers of his youth as an Alaskero (cannery worker). To that generation of Filipino culture bearers, the two attribute lessons in work ethics, joy, appreciation, cunning, survival, courtship and most importantly, building community. To listen to their stories (if you missed the webinar), here's the recording: Memories Of Fil-Am Life On The Farms And In The Canneries Of The West Coast

Our next webinar is the first of our forthcoming series on FilAm Trailblazers and it will feature two community heavyweights: California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye in a rare public appearance and Major General Antonio Taguba (Ret.). We hope you join us this coming Monday, October 26, 2020. Register here: http://bit.ly/filamtrailblazers

As this year's Filipino American History Month (FAHM) begins to wind down, here are two stories you have to read:

American-born Filipino/Japanese citizen Amadio Arboleda tells us his complicated and definitely unique life. ["My Audacious Filipino Journey"]

US citizen John Silva, writing from Manila where he now resides, relates how voting in a US election is worth going through hell and high water (or at least, an attempt at voter suppression) for him, a son of a war veteran. [A Ballot from Manila]

Here's another recommended book list for your FAHM reading from San Francisco Public Library's Abraham Ignacio Jr. [Book Recommendations For 2020 Filipino American History Month]

And another intro to notable Fil-Ams from our publisher, Mona Lisa Yuchengco. [Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 10]

Read Again:

Robert V. Ragsac Sr.'s "Forget Them Not"

Alex S. Fabros Jr.'s "Murder Most Foul"

For the Happy Home Cook, here's a repost of Chef Romy Dorotan's (Purple Yam in Brooklyn) Beef Shortribs Adobo, definitely a winner.

For Video of the Week, young Fil-Am comedian JR De Guzman makes an appearance on Harry Connick, Jr.’s show.

In The Know

I Went to a 'Filipinos for Trump' Rally. Here's What I Found
https://www.colorlines.com/articles/i-went-filipinos-trump-rally-heres-what-i-found?fbclid=IwAR3G9ywtAiOrqRFyO11IPw_woeqW6B0MHoAdPCPEMb1x067-TunCqdpveaA

‘Buried alive’: ‘The Celine Archive’ uncovers young Filipina’s horrific 1932 killing in Delta
https://www.recordnet.com/story/news/2020/10/11/buried-alive-the-celine-archive-documentary-uncovers-filipinas-1932-horrific-killing-delta/5918519002/?fbclid=IwAR3DiI-ahEP-vPE-4x6_5JfUSC398lFYaFCwsTLAs2jF8MHSa2NncmVyP_M

Exulting in a tribute to our National Hero
https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/arts-and-culture/2018/11/26/1871613/exulting-tribute-our-national-hero/amp

From 800, it’s now a 10,000 waitlist for Filipino flavor Kora doughnuts
https://thefilam.net/archives/32996?fbclid=IwAR2BiaxeMD0YevN0RXwkaJkYaacJjE-ivyg7CeBfYet53gFE6WriDXGktAE

At the beginning of 2020, our world was still what we had known it to be. Our daily routines were simple: work; play; love; travel; enjoy.

Two weeks into the year, the Philippines suffered its first major tragedy, but it was localized. Taal Volcano erupted, spewing tons and tons of ashes that turned some parts of Batangas and Cavite gray, forcing large-scale evacuations and rendering farms and orchards dead.

And then Covid-19 happened towards the end of January and, just like that, the world as we knew it was completely upended. Within a few weeks, lockdowns would be imposed in almost all countries, businesses destroyed, international travel banned, and mass deaths became the norm.

We're now on the 8th month of the pandemic and the end is nowhere in sight. In the Philippines, 80 health care groups representing 80,000 doctors and a million nurses have petitioned the government for a "timeout" to recalibrate its strategy (or the lack of it) in fighting the virus because the entire health care system is now in danger of complete collapse, its frontliners exhausted to their human limits.

The US is not doing any better. The country is on top of the list in covid infections in the entire world and every day, records are broken for new cases. Toiling at the forefront, side by side with the doctors and other health care workers are the 150,000-strong Filipino nurses scattered in most states but mainly in California and New York, where they make up about 20 percent of the labor force caring for coronavirus patients. Do a Google search and you'll see many reports on how Fil-Am nurses have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Watch our Video of the Week -- a CBS news report by Fil-Am journalist Elaine Quijano on precisely this topic.

Our story this week on Zenei Cortez, the president of the California Nurses Association and co-president of National Nurses United, the US' largest nurses' union, is both a call to action and a tribute to these heroes of the moment, many of whom are our kababayans. PF Correspondent Cherie Querol Moreno reports.

Writer and long-time activist Bonifacio P. Ilagan gives us a capsule post-mortem on the real state of the nation, following President Duterte's address last July 27.

And, if you haven't yet, register for Positively Filipino's webinar on "Immigrants in the Time of Racial Unrest, the Pandemic and Trump" featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Jose Antonio Vargas and veteran immigration lawyer Lourdes Tancinco. The webinar happens on Monday August 10, 6pm PST/ 9pm EST (Tuesday 9 am Manila time). Here's the link: bit.ly/ImmigrantsRacialUnrest.