Fil-Am Ako was created to spread awareness of Filipino culture and traditions that are slowly becoming lost with an increase in Diaspora and the need to assimilate.
You cannot move forward in life without looking back from where you come. Know your roots so your growth knows no bounds.
Our friend Stephen Dypiangco recently told me about his new project called the National Film Society. The project is a collaboration between Stephen and fellow Filipino filmmaker Patrick Epino. Over the past couple of months, Patrick and Stephen have been developing a new YouTube channel, the National Film Society, which they just launched.
In their first video, the two filmmakers discuss why they went to film school and whether the debt was worth it. Each week, they’re going to be releasing 2 types of new videos: vlogs about film-related stuff in a fun not so serious way and short films from their friends. I found their first video to be quite entertaining and I can’t wait to see their next installment. For more on Stephen and Patrick visit the NationalFilmSociety.com.
Christine Balza from Suku-Art recently submitted her idea for Refreshing Baybayin. Balza’s passion for cultural awareness can be funded through Pepsi with your votes and network help. Her grant proposal was accepted and it is now going through a public voting process. Refresh Baybayin is currently ranked #117 and it is the top 20 ideas that will be considered for funding.
I am trying to encourage Filipino farmers or young Filipino entrepreneurs looking for an investment instead of another hamburger restaurant franchise to consider Indoor Warehouse Farms of soybean and mass produce soy diesel in the same building or complex located in the Philippines.
It would be ideal for barangay locations or even in concrete jungles of metropolises.
“Soy diesel is a biodegradable, nontoxic, and renewable form of diesel. In addition, it drastically reduces air pollution and is capable of being used either by itself, or in combination with petroleum diesel. In addition, the use of soy diesel can substantially reduce a country’s dependence on other countries on fuel. Yet, soy biodiesel has not received the attention, or the legislation, it deserves.”
Since soy diesel is capable of being used by itself, the alternative fuel of soy diesel is a better investment than coco diesel. Coco diesel is only regarded as an additive.
I’ve met a number of Filipino teachers in the D.C. area due to helping out with my family’s immigration law practice. I saw this update on a documentary featuring Filipinas who struggle with being educators in the U.S., especially in one of Maryland’s tough neighborhoods. This also gives people more insight into the struggles that Filipino immigrants face and that not all Filipinas are nurses. Being a teacher is tough, but being a Filipino who is carrying the weight of their family back home in the Philippines is even tougher.
A Century After American Educators Helped Create Public Schools in the Philippines, Filipino Teachers Are Returning the Favor – in America’s Inner Cities “The Learning is like no other teaching film – it sensitizes you in fresh and unexpected ways to the transactions between instructors and students.” – Michael Sragow, The Baltimore Sun
One hundred years ago, American teachers established the English-speaking public school system of the Philippines. Now, in a striking turnabout, American schools are recruiting Filipino teachers. Ramona Diaz’s The Learning is the story of four Filipina women who reluctantly leave their families and schools to teach in Baltimore. They hope to use their higher salaries to transform their families’ impoverished lives back home. But the women bring idealistic visions of the teacher’s craft and of life in America, which soon collide with Baltimore’s tough realities.
The Learning has its national broadcast premiere on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011 at 10 p.m. on POV (Point of View) on PBS. (Check local listings.) The film will stream in its entirety on the POV website, Sept. 21 – Oct. 21. POV is the winner of a Special Emmy for Excellence in Television Documentary Filmmaking, an IDA Award for Best Continuing Series and the National Association of Latino Independent Producers’ 2011 Award for Corporate Commitment to Diversity.
Back by popular demand, BKP-NY presents LAUGHS FOR LITERACY II. It’s going to be a special night of FIL-AM comedy benefiting children libraries in the Philippines. Bagong Kulturang Pinoy NY (BKP-NY) is a not for profit organization with a mission to develop a reading culture among all Filipino children in the Philippines. The goal for this event is to help Filipino children acquire good reading skills and proficiency in English, which can give them the opportunity for better economic, social, and civic lives in the future.
LAUGHS FOR LITERACY II
A special night of FIL-AM comedy benefiting children’s libraries in the Philippines.
Featuring: Air Tabigue | Chris Turnage | Phil Peredo | Alek Bituin | Lorden Palamores | Rich Kiamco
Headliner: VINCE ROYALE
WEDNESDAY, 21 September 2011
LAUGH LOUNGE
151 Essex Street
(Between Stanton St. & Rvington St.)
For directions, visit www.laughloungenyc.com
Doors open @ 8:30 pm // Show starts @ 9:00 pm
18 & over to enter
$15.00 + 2 Drink Minimum
*Special Reduced Entry*
Donate a children’s book and pay only $10.00!!!
(2 drink min still applied)
**RSVP is REQUIRED**
Email:laughsforlit@gmail.com
(Please leave your full name and # of guests attending)
Or call 212-614-2500.
Raffles & FREE Giveaways all night.
check out scene’s from the previous Laughs for Literacy sold out show
Come watch Kapwa Cultural perform at Pritzker Pavillion in Millennium Park to help support the Aga Khan Foundation. The Aga Khan Foundation is an international organization that raises money for poverty alleviations in Asia and Africa. To learn more about AKF and are interested in being part of the walk, please visit partnershipsinaction.org.
Kapwa Cultural is part of Loyola University Chicago’s Filipino Student Organization, Kapwa. They have been able to proudly illuminate their Filipino culture through the love of dance. The organization strives to share the culture of their ancestors to the future generations. Also, they continue to amplify their heritage in such a way that is both passionate and innovative. This year, Kapwa Cultural is led by Natalie Agaton and Mary Anne San Juan.
Kapwa Cultural will be performing their Battle of the Bamboo 2011 winning number Vinta at 11:00 am. Watch their performancehere.
Other performers that will be featured are the Jesse White Tumblers, Hip Hop ConnXIon, Kompang Drummers from Malaysia, FootworKINGz, and Flamenco dancers.
BARRIORS creator and certified firefighter Tim Saguinsin has been developing The Firefighter Dan Show for several years. The plan is to create the show in different parts using Kickstarter. Safety Tips is the first step at piecing it all together.
The Firefighter Dan Show follows firefighter Dan and his crew in ‘newly opened’ Fire Station 1 as they respond to emergency calls in the disaster-filled town of Calamity City. Calamity City looks like your typical/everyday small town with quaint neighborhoods, children playing in the tree lined streets where everyone knows everyone; however everyone is clumsy, reckless, and/or accident prone.
Firefighter Dan features a safety curriculum that helps kids 2-6 recognize, reduce and escape hazards while helping to develop numeracy, literacy, art, science, history, reasoning and citizenship. By utilizing all types of media: photographs, video, illustration, animation and an interactive format that creates viewer participation, Firefighter Dan will engage children to be confident, active, and helpful members of the community.
After screening in over 200 colleges, libraries and corporations in the US and Canada, “Vincent Who?” is going abroad. With the recent riots in London and the massacre in Oslo, Curtis Chin’s film could not have been more timely. Feel free to forward the info to your friends in England and Norway. Both screenings free.
Sept. 12 at 7 pm – London at Amnesty International. Click here to RSVP.
Sept. 19 at 6:30 pm – Oslo. Presented by the government of Norway / KIM (Kontaktutvalget mellom Innvandrerbefolkningen og Myndighetene at the Nordic Black Theatre & Cafeteatret, Hollendergata 8. For more info or to RSVP, contact kim@kim.no
For more info and other screenings, please go to the official site at vincentwhomovie.com.
To organize a screening at your school, please send an email at curtis@apaforprogress.org
ABOUT THE FILM:
VINCENT WHO? (2009, 40 minutes) – In 1982, at the height of anti-Japanese sentiments, Vincent Chin was murdered in Detroit by two white autoworkers who said, “it’s because of you mother** that we’re out of work.” When the judged fined the killers a mere $3,000 and three years probation, Asian Americans around the country galvanized for the first time to form a real community and movement. This documentary features interviews with the key players at the time, as well as a whole new generation of activists. “Vincent Who?” asks how far Asian Americans have come since then and how far we have yet to go. Featured interviews include: Helen Zia (lead activist during the Chin trial), Renee Tajima Pena (director, “Who Killed Vincent Chin?”), Stewart Kwoh (Executive Director, Asian Pacific American Legal Center), Lisa Ling (journalist), Sumi Pendakur (Univ. of Southern California), Dale Minami (civic rights attorney), Doua Thor (Executive Director, Southeast Asian Resource Action Center), and a group of five diverse young APA activists whose lives were impacted by Vincent Chin.
BIO FOR WRITER/PRODUCER CURTIS CHIN:
Curtis Chin is an award-winning writer and producer who has written for ABC, NBC, Fox, the Disney Channel and more. As a community activist, he co-founded the Asian American Writers Workshop and Asian Pacific Americans for Progress. In 2008, he served on Barack Obama’s Asian American Leadership Council where he participated in helping the campaign reach out to the AAPI community. He has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, NPR, Newsweek and other media outlet.
As Filipino American History Month (FAHM) is slowly approaching, the Filipino American National Historical Society of Metro New York (FANHS MNY) is personally inviting you to a meet and greet social, sushi and karaoke extravaganza! The evening will foster community building, an opportunity to network and of course to belt out some of your favorite tunes for a great cause.
SAVE THE DATE | Karaoke Kickoff Fundraiser: for Filipino American History Month | September 18th
@ Je’Bon Sushi 15 St. Marks Place
basement level
Time: 5-9pm
* Participating organizations, individuals bring pamphlets and business cards that will be displayed on a table to distribute to those attending. If you are short on PR material bring more people to mix and mingle.
* Additionally we would like to create a slide show that can be viewed by all about your organizations during the earlier part of the event so please send no more than two informative slides, if we do not receive them from you we will add your logo only in the slideshow.
* There will be a $15 food/beverage limit per person at Je’Bon but you will not be disappointed!
* Each song requested will cost $1 and will go to FANHS MNY for future programming. We may have a sing off so come prepared with song requests. Singles – Duets and small groups may be asked to perform!
The White House Initiative on AAPIs seeks to amplify the voices of our community nationally. They recently announced the first ever White House Initiative Video Challenge, called “What’s Your Story?”
They’re calling on YOU to produce a video, up to three minutes long, telling them who you are and how you have impacted those around you. In your video, answer the questions: How have your unique experiences shaped who you are today? And in what ways are you making a difference in your community? Everyone is welcomed to participate.
They will review the submissions and post a select number of entries on the White House website. In addition, they will invite a group of exceptional AAPI leaders to share their stories in person at the White House this fall as special guests in a White House Initiative on AAPIs event. To learn more about the challenge, watch their call-out video here.
To submit your video and learn more about the challenge, go to www.whitehouse.gov/whatsyourstory. The deadline for video submissions is midnight on November 1, 2011.
IBU (Inspired By U), Chicago’s multi-awarded R&B/Pop group will return to U.S. Cellular Field on Sunday, September 11, 2011, to join the White Sox in honoring the 10th Anniversary of 9/11. This will be the group’s sixteenth time to perform the National Anthem and fourth time to sing “God Bless America” at the field.
The group performed at eight games in 2005 including one League Division Series game against the Boston Red Sox. The White Sox won the World Series in 2005. Consequently, IBU performed at three more games in 2006, once in 2007, 2009, and 2010. The group was absent from the field in 2008 when they took a self-imposed hiatus to record their 2nd album.
“It’s always exciting to perform in front of a crowd as big as the US Cellular field (which has a capacity of 40,615). At one time, they had a jet fly over as we finished the National Anthem, and another time the Navy Seals carrying flags including the American flag parachuted into the field while we were singing. At our second performance in 2005, right after we sang the National Anthem, a UPS truck drove around the field and stopped where we were and delivered a package. In it was a baseball. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen approached us and signed the ball. We still have it. We even have a legacy brick bearing our name at the Diamond Plaza, in the main entrance (Gate 4). We are honored to be back for the 10th Anniversary of 9/11. It should be exciting.”
Pro skateboarder Sean Malto was crowned the 2011 Street League champion earning $200,000, the biggest prize purse in skateboard contest history. Showcasing his smooth style and consistency, Malto beat out favorite Nyjah Huston in the final, winner-take-all championship.
Sean Malto is a pro skateboarder currently residing in Kansas City. He was born to a Filipino father and Caucasian mother in Leavenworth, KS. His sponsors include Girl Skateboards, Etnies and Gatorade among many others. In 2009, he was named Transworld Skateboarding Magazine’s Rookie of the Year.
Despite the impending weather from Hurricane Irene, skateboard fans gathered at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on August 27thto witness the fourth and final Street League event of the season featuring the world’s top street skateboarders. Having ranked 12th after the previous events, Sean Maltooriginally was not expected to participate until a last minute injurymoved him into the top ten eligible to compete in the final. Even with the odds against him, the 21 year old managed to skate solidly and emerge on top.
Leading up to the final contest, the undeniable favorite was Nyjah Huston. The 16-year-old was the 2010 overall champion and had won all three previous stops during the 2011 season. In a surprising turn of events, Huston struggled to achieve a leading position during the championship while Malto, dubbed the “Silent Killer” by commentators, maintained 100% consistency in the contest’s last two sections, steadily bringing him atop the leaderboard.
In the end, Malto, Huston and veteran Chris Cole battled for the title,trick by trick. Cole fell during his last trick attempt, eliciting a shocked reaction by fans and Sean Malto himself. Malto finished with a casual victory run and immediately joined his fellow contestants for a celebratory group hug.Sean Malto took home $200,000, a championship ring with a matching Nixon watch, and the prestige of being named the 2011 Street League overall champion.
About the Guest Writer: Jean Ortiz-Luis is currently working in marketing for a Los Angeles-based company. The Southern California native also does freelance writing and PR. Jean graduated from California State University, Long Beach in 2009 with a B.S. in Business Administration as a marketing major. On her free time, she enjoys movies, attending concerts, and delicious food with good company.
Just got word on this new anthology for Philippine mythology called Kuwento for Lost Things. You can send your literary or visual works in for their reading period from August 15, 2011-January 15, 2012.
Fiction and Non-Fiction: 10–15 pages, double-spaced in 12 point font.
Collaboration: 5–10 pages.
For visual art submissions, send the files in JPEG (.jpeg) format, in addition to a short cover letter, including contact information and bio in in the body of the email. Include in the subject your name and the genre of your submission as follows: “First Name, Last Name: Genre.”
Visual Art: 1–5 works. (Note: visual art submissions will be considered for cover art and/or the online format of the anthology)
Reading Period: August 15, 2011 – January 15, 2012
Rights: Previously published works are fine, as long as the rights are reverted back to you. By submitting you are allowing KL to reproduce your work. Not all submissions may be featured in our print / online mediums.
Contact Information:
For more information, please send an e-mail editors Rachelle Cruz and Melissa Sipin at kuwentoforlostthings@gmail.com.
First the D.C. area has awesome food trucks, now karaoke in taxi cabs! In a recent NPR article, you can now hail a cab and sing karaoke. Now most cab drivers might stay silent with customers in their cars, while others can talk your ear off. For Joel Laguidao, he just wants to sing with you.
Laguidao has become known as the “karaoke cab driver.” While driving for Red Top Cab Co. on weekend nights around Arlington, Va., he sings favorites like Journey’s “Faithfully” and Bon Jovi’s “Bed of Roses.” It started about three years ago. Laguidao grew tired of the FM radio offerings and bought a karaoke machine. He has two small monitors for reading lyrics, a large silver microphone and a thick song catalog.
The karaoke setup also helps him get passengers on weekend nights. Sometimes, he’ll roll down the window and start singing to potential customers. This sounds like something they’d do on Southwest Airlines, but as long as it makes the D.C. traffic less painful then I’m all for it. You can hail Laguidao’s cab in the DC/Arlington area and get your karaoke on!
I got word fromLawrence-Minh Bùi Davis & Gerald Maa that there is going to be a new special issue of AALR, commemorating the tenth anniversary of Sept. 11. The special issue will be exploring the legacies for South Asian, Muslim, Arab, and Middle Eastern Americans, which is going into production soon.
According to the editors at AALR: On the ten-year anniversary of September 11th, experts of every camp and affiliation will compete to dictate its legacies for our collective memory. The danger isn’t simply that the loudest voices will dominate—it’s that only a limited range of voices will make it into the conversation at all. So many of our communities have borne witness to so much over the past 10 years; it behooves us to critically consider the moment and its aftermath—the various political, legal, and civil rights repercussions, particularly for the communities most directly affected, South Asian, Arab, Middle Eastern, and Muslim American. They pose the question of how can we do so, when so many of the voices of affected communities remain unheard? How do we remember and reflect on this moment as Asian Americans when the public conversation is so circumscribed?
If you’d like to pre-order a copy of the issue, visit aalrmag.org.
Christine Balza from Suku-Art recently submitted her idea for Refreshing Baybayin. Balza’s passion for cultural awareness can be funded through Pepsi with your votes and network help. Her grant proposal was accepted and it is now going through a public voting process. Refresh Baybayin is currently ranked #117 and it is the top 20 ideas that will be considered for funding.
I got word from