It's always a pleasure to celebrate with the rest of the world Women's History Month because we take pride in Filipino women everywhere who are coming into their fullness as achievers, leaders, advocates, activists, mentors, and role models in their chosen fields.

This week, to start off this year's month-long celebration, we spotlight two women, one a long-time literary giant and the other, the first Filipina to compete in the toughest horse race on earth.

Author/publisher Cecilia Brainard regards Linda Ty-Casper as one of the greatest Filipino novelists. Her critically acclaimed 1974 novel, Three-Cornered Sun has been given new life by a woman-owned publishing house called Exploding Galaxies, whose avowed mission is, according to Brainard, "to rediscover lost Filipino classics."

Solana Lim Perez is a young Filipina horsewoman who dared compete with veterans in the ten-day extreme endurance race in the grueling Mongolian Steppes. Though she didn't win, she completed the 1,000-kilometer Mongol Derby, a singular achievement in itself. Read all about this brutal contest from contributing writer Mikeli Mapua.

Filipino and Fil-Am thespians are having their time in Broadway as ANC reporter Don Tagala reports.

Here's a book that's one-of-a-kind: San Francisco Bay Area-based author and artist Michael Magnaye's La Vie en Pose, a collection of hilarious and satirical photos of the author in cross-dressing poses. You have to see it for yourself to appreciate the daring, the imagination and the acts of subversion. Guaranteed to be a hit on your coffee table because you ain't seen anything like it.

[Partner] Discount Tix To Larry The Musical, Meet Our Larrys, And More!

[Video Of The Week] The Domestic Slaves Rescued From London’s Richest Streets

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

Anti-Asian Hate Incidents
https://laist.com/brief/news/anti-asian-hate-aapi-resource-hub

UCLA, AAPI Data Report Urges Culturally Informed Mental Health Care for Asian American, NHPI Communities
https://bnnbreaking.com/breaking-news/health/ucla-aapi-data-report-urges-culturally-informed-mental-health-care-for-asian-american-nhpi-communities

Anti-Asian Bias Sometimes Is Disguised in ‘Microaggressions’
https://sampan.org/2024/frontpage/anti-asian-bias-sometimes-is-disguised-in-microaggressions/

Fight Anti-Asian Racism with Data and Community Help
https://asianresourcehub.org/

WA lawmakers pass bill to create hotline for hate crimes and bias incidents
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/wa-to-establish-hotline-for-hate-crimes-and-bias-incidents/

Hate crime charges added for home-invasion suspects accused of targeting Asian people
https://midmichigannow.com/news/nation-world/-hate-crime-asian-families-home-invasion-robbery-break-in-crime-crisis-seattle-washington-king-county-renton-son-english-cash-jewelry-arrest-charges-jail-bail-charged-june-assault-suspects-criminal-violence

Funding provided by the State of California.

In The Know

Andi Eigenmann reveals cause of Jaclyn Jose's death
https://mb.com.ph/2024/3/4/andi-eigenmann-reveals-cause-of-her-mother-s-death#google_vignette

This Filipino E-Learning Platform Has Created A Library of Free Online Courses That Everyone Can Contribute To
https://www.tatlerasia.com/gen-t/innovation/ask-lex-ph-library-free-online-courses?utm_source=tatlerasia.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PH_DIG_FORDIPLOMACYANDFRIENDSHIP_FULL20240301

In Pictures: 15 Manila Spots That Signal Beginnings of a Larger Walkable Heritage Zone
https://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/culture/108008/manila-best-history-and-heritage-spots-a6883-20240210-lfrm?utm_source=Facebook-Spot&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20240301-fbnp-newsfeatures-manila-best-history-and-heritage-spots-a6883-20240210-lfrm-fbold&fbclid=IwAR00ngha9N2gi78GZO_tHj5DmmishGMFKtWxcsJMYlJuhBXxA2zt4PmAV7Y

Spot Stays: This Palawan Resort's Water Villas Are Worth the Splurge
https://www.spot.ph/things-to-do/the-latest-things-to-do/107767/palawan-resort-setir-new-salepan-villas-a5138-20240117?utm_source=Facebook-Spot&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20240303-fbnp-things-to-do-palawan-resort-setir-new-salepan-villas-a5138-20240117-fbold&fbclid=IwAR1QFhEKpoCoCpXj9hAv0yy0g-moP2f3BMBnQ7A5pAHI-V-dfoDRChLhfJE

Navy sailor’s filmmaking son brings Filipino enlisted stories to the small screen
https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2024-02-23/master-chief-filipino-navy-film-13091538.html?utm_campaign=dfn-ebb&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sailthru&SToverlay=2002c2d9-c344-4bbb-8610-e5794efcfa7d&fbclid=IwAR3DvC51WEVVDT8DworW4827eYrLeng5PkmhrHoa1IL2iS2TalKU4ZZfxfA

As an active journalist in the Philippines between 1983, the year Ninoy Aquino was assassinated, and 1986 when the Marcos regime was ousted by people power, I was right there when the almost daily protests were happening. Those were heady times, alternately exhilarating and scary, when yellow confetti rained daily from the usually staid buildings in Ayala Avenue, when intense political infighting and secret strategizing among rival factions within the administration were taking place, and anti-Marcos rallies were drawing bigger and bigger crowds. We felt the electricity in the air and the ground shifting; we knew that history was being made and we were not just witnesses but participants in its unfolding.

I realize now how different it is to watch events unfold from afar. Though I'm in constant touch with friends who are on the ground, it's not the same as being there and actually feeling, hearing, seeing the tension and the excitement. Worse, with the proliferation of online disinformation, I have to suspend reacting to news until I verify their veracity, which can be a damper to spontaneous enthusiasm.

This is why I'm so happy to have my friend and WOMEN (Women Writers in Media Now) colleague Rochit Tañedo write about the nitty-gritty of the recent massive Leni Robredo-Kiko Pangilinan rallies in Nueva Ecija and Tarlac. Traveling by public bus from her home in Quezon City shortly after Covid restrictions were lifted, laden with donated campaign materials, Rochit embedded herself among the volunteer organizers and the masses who thronged to the rally sites, and wrote about the "Tears and Fears and Leni-Kiko's Abonados." Not quite the same as being actually there, but close.