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Bella Owens: A Filipina heads the Baltimore County Commission for Women
By Maricar CP Hampton When Bella Santos Owens came to the U.S. in 1987, she thought she would just be a typical working mom. But fate had other plans. As president of the Baltimore County Commission for Women, her life is now one big juggling act as she tries to balance career, family and community. […]
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Erwin de Leon’s short trek from DOMA to green card
By Maricar CP Hampton The demise of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) would be the beginning of a new chapter in the life of Erwin de Leon — writer, activist, and happily-wed gay man fighting for recognition of his marriage. “Now we can finally start our lives with security and stability,” said de Leon […]
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For Thanksgiving Dinner, are you having turkey, cranberry jelly and rice? Yes, rice!
By Amanda Tira Andrei O’Connor There are five types of carbs on my plate. Sure, it’s Thanksgiving, and you’re not supposed to think about calories from the last Thursday in November until the last day of December—so I don’t. This is a fact of Thanksgiving: in addition to the turkey and gravy, the cranberry jelly […]
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Recalling JFK
By Eric Lachica I was 11 years old lying down on the rattan couch in the living room waiting for my mom and dad who went marketing early that Saturday* morning. We were living then in our Area 1 bungalow in the University of the Philippines Diliman campus. (*PH time is 12 hours ahead) When […]
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Lone Filipino arrested in D.C. rally: He’d do it again for immigration reform
By Maricar CP Hampton “No I wasn’t surprised. I was expecting to be arrested,” Gregory Cendana, said as he reflected on the aftermath of the October 8th March for Dignity and Respect immigration reform rally. Hours after the rally, Cendana, executive director of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (Apala), found himself handcuffed by the […]
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What will happen to me if no immigration bill is passed?
By Erwin De Leon I am married to an American citizen. I am highly educated, I have most of my family and friends in the US, and I have lived here legally for over two decades. Yet, I am still not a citizen. Not by choice, but by simply being an immigrant in America struggling […]
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Goodnight, ‘anak’ — Goodnight, child
By Amanda L. Andrei My mother told the most fantastic bedtime stories. After reading our Bible verses and reciting our prayers, my brother and I snuggled down in our bunk beds and listened to her recount her childhood in the southern Philippines. There was the time her father brought home a monkey as a pet […]
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Jason Tengco: He was once ashamed to be a Filipino
By Maricar CP Hampton There was a time Jason Tengco was embarrassed to be called Filipino. He grew up in the Bay Area, an all-American boy who wore only Abercrombie & Fitch fitted shirts and colored contacts and used bleaching soaps to whiten an already fair complexion. “I was born and raised in the suburbs […]