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How theater musicals helped me overcome shyness
By John Sapida I started performing in musicals in the 7th grade. As a shy immigrant boy of about 12 or 13 years old, it was hard for me to make friends and talk to people. I was having a serious case of culture shock! Over the years, I stepped out of my shell when […]
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A community album in ‘Filipinos in New York City’
By Cristina DC Pastor The story of Filipinos in New York City began with their National Hero Jose Rizal. In 1888 or more than a hundred years ago, Jose Rizal visited New York and stayed at the Fifth Avenue Hotel overlooking Madison Square Park. He was a young doctor then who constantly traveled abroad to […]
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Diwa ng Kalayaan kicks off 117th Philippine Independence Day celebration
Diwa Ng Kalayaan 2014 Mikaela Alexa Rada of Bayonne, New Jersey, is ready to turn over her crown to her successor. Competing for the title are six talented and community service-oriented young women, according to the Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI). They are Joanna Lizardo, Rianne Avendula-Philips, Jazmine Emmanuelle B. Binag, Andrea Joyce Hermoso, […]
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Catalyst Awards celebrates ‘champions’ of the Asian LGBT community
By Cristina DC Pastor A Korean mother of a transgender teen, a Filipino-American women’s organization, and a public policy advocate were honored on March 28 for being LGBT “champions” in the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) community. This year’s Catalyst Awards were given to Clara Yoon, Gabriela USA, and Dennis Chin for their work in […]
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Organizations’ ‘best practices’ from educating members to potluck meetings (Part 2)
By Cristina DC Pastor How do you motivate members to attend meetings? Any best practices to share? LEDY ALMADIN: It has to start from the leader. It’s the leader’s job to motivate and get the team excited to achieve the mission. Once members are motivated, inspired and excited, they will come to the meeting. There […]
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5 leaders share thoughts on organizing in a diverse, at times discordant, FilAm community (Part 1)
By Cristina DC Pastor The five personalities in this forum were chosen for the long history and rich experience they’ve had with community organizing. Together, community leaders Ledy Almadin, Lumen Castaneda, Yves Nibungco, Candice Sering and Vivian Talambiras-Cruz, have about 20 organizations among them that they may have started from the ground up or nurtured […]
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Coalition urges bigger discretionary funding for fast-growing Asian community
The 15% & Growing Coalition gathered community members, local leaders, and advocates on March 5 at City Hall to demand equitable funding for the Asian Pacific American (APA) community. Despite the growth, the APA community does not receive sufficient resources, the coalition said in a statement. “In FY 2015, APA organizations received only 2.9 percent […]
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A family’s heart beats in two worlds
By Ludy Astraquillo Ongkeko, Ph.D. “I moved away when my family was relocated due to my husband’s job in 2006. It was not easy at the beginning, but soon we realized that ‘home is where the family’s heart is,’ and that could be anywhere in the world,” so declared Aura Antonio, a health care professional […]
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Second-gen FilAms and the constant struggle to prove their parents’ move to America was ‘not in vain’
By Christian Catiis Being raised by immigrant parents in the suburbs of a predominantly Caucasian neighborhood, I struggled with preserving my Filipino identity. My Filipino mother had her sight set on emigrating to the U.S to accomplish her American Dream. Unknown to her at the time, she would later set a foundation of success not […]