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On Global Filipinos: Kinding Sindaw: Telling the stories of Mindanao for 30 years
By Loida Nicolas Lewis This year marks the 30th year of the inimitable and only indigenous dance and cultural group called Kinding Sindaw, which means “Dance of Light”, from the ancient Austronesian language: Kinding meaning graceful movement and Sindaw which means Light. To shed light to the unwritten stories of Mindanao through this graceful movement. […]
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Buddhakai: The rapper as spiritual warrior
Hip hop is not exactly the route to model minority status for some Asian Americans but it gave direction to the once-turbulent life of Bernard Quisumbing. Born in Cebu, and raised in New Jersey since age 5, he is now a recognized name in Denver’s hip hop music scene as the rap artist and songwriter […]
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Hard to tell who is good, evil in ‘Cobra Kai’
By Wendell Gaa The 1980s for me was a golden decade for film, including the “Karate Kid” series, a classic story of the underdog overcoming all odds, starring Ralph Macchio as the titular character Daniel LaRusso and the late Pat Morita as his beloved mentor the wise Mr. Miyagi. For me, these films which I […]
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Alfa Garcia: Indie musician in every way
Born in Mindanao, raised in New York and New Jersey, and now living in sunny SoCal, singer-songwriter Alfa Garcia has been creating music inspired by the constant shifts in her life. She has released three albums and several singles of original songs, some of which have been featured on film and television, including “Keeping Up […]
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‘Spider-Man’ is best Marvel movie: Emotionally rousing and inspiring
By Wendell Gaa “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film and third solo outing for English actor Tom Holland as Peter Parker, is the best film adaptation of what I would have to say is Marvel’s greatest superhero ever. Yes, there are countless other superheroes in the Marvel Comics storytelling vault, […]
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Albert Guerzon pens tribute song for his father who died from COVID-19
In April 2020, Broadway singer-songwriter Albert Guerzon (“The Visitor,” “Mamma Mia!”) lost his father, Robert Guerzon, to COVID-19. Along with thousands of New Yorkers, the Guerzon family was at the mercy of limited ventilators and hospital beds. In the end, Albert bid his father farewell through a telephone screen and a prayer. In the summer […]
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Leila Policarpio: Representing N.Y. State at the Macy’s marching band
By Cristina DC Pastor Every year since she was a kid, Leila Policarpio, her parents and elder sister would watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, the world’s largest,on NBC. The morning tradition usually begins with the East Hills, New York family getting up for a special holiday breakfast and then turning on the TV for a […]
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Watsonville riots film provokes difficult questions about race then and today: director
By Cristina DC Pastor Somewhere in California in the 1930s, they had the Watsonville riots. Framed within the current wave of anti-Asian violence, this aggression against Filipino farm workers has been a long-forgotten episode of our painful past in this country. Filmmaker Randal Kamradt, a Filipino American who teaches video production in Fillmore High School […]
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Despite stellar casting, ‘Eternals’ is unfocused, unexciting
By Wendell Gaa As happy as I was for Chloe Zhao becoming the first Asian woman to win an Oscar for Best Director for this year’s Best Pic “Nomadland,” I personally was not a fan of that film given how sublimely morose and downbeat it was. Nonetheless I had high hopes that with her helming […]