As FANHS begins its 26th year during this season of hopeful new beginnings, I'll share some reflections on Filipino American History Month -- a concept that FANHS created in 1988.
On the first of October in 2008, Barack Obama wrote: "I appreciate the opportunity to join the Filipino American National Historical Society and its
friends in celebrating Filipino American History Month. This celebration is a wonderful opportunity to honor the values and traditions of Filipino Americans, and your role in the story of America..." The complete letter written by President Elect Obama may be found here:
http://obama.3cdn.net/67f8901ffa513f7a92_6km6bh7gj.pdfFANHS Stockton (CA) ChapterTerri Torres wrote:
"October was a great month for Stockton FANHS - we had exhibits at the local library, participated in the lobby display for the play "The Romance of Magno Rubio" - a great play, by the way! We also co-sponsored a symposium about Carlos Bulosan with Dawn Mabalon and a booksigning of Riz Raymundo's "Tomorrow's Memories" - both at the library. We also participated in Pleasanton's first Filipino American History month event - showing the PBS doc "Little Manila", and met with students from Berkeley at the Daguhoy Lodge and spoke a little about our history, again, with Dawn and others from the Little Manila Foundation. We also held our annual FANHS Stockton Community Recognition Awards, for the 9th year, and honored 5 Filipino Americans for their contributions to the Stockton area. They were Raquel "Nancy" Andres, Gloria Carido Nomura, Pilar Reynon, Tony Somera, and posthumously, Larry Itliong. Each chapter pres should have gotten our October newsletter with a little info about each honoree. It turned out very well! This is also a fundraiser for our chapter expenses. It's been a busy month!"
FANHS East Bay (Berkeley - Oakland, CA) ChapterA message from Vangie Buell, FANHS East Bay Chapter & FANHS National Vice President:
"We have been extremely busy especially in the planning of the launching of our book
Filipinos in the East Bay which was launched at International House at UC Berkeley on Sept 25 (about 300 attended) and it was a multi-media event with "Little Brown Brothers" Jazz band, folk singers, and spoken word poets, along with our power point presentation of the book..an exciting event. Of course lots of food."
FANHS Pennsylvania ChapterFANHS PA officers -- the youngest of our FANHS national network of 28 chapters -- organized a successful first Filipino American history (ten course :-) banquet with more than 100 guests on October 17. The inspiring event featured guest speaker Juanita Tamayo Lott (of Washington, DC) and drew community leaders from St. Augustine Church Choir, Asian Americans United (AAU), Filipino Executive Council of Greater Philadelphia (FECGP --24 orgs), Philippine Folk Arts Society (PFASI), Drexel University's School of Ed & Multicultural Collaborative, Asian Arts Initiative (AAI), Asian American Women's Coalition (AAWC), Scribe Video Center, OCA Philly Chapter, MUTYA, FISDU, TUPAC, University of Maryland College Park, and Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition (SEAMAAC). Cheers to all who attended, volunteered, donated raffle and silent auction prizes. Whoo-hoo! Thanks to David Lee who took the 435 great photos posted here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/DLEbayPics/FAHNS#FANHS Vallejo (CA)Chapter
Filipino American Film Festival
October 18 & 19 - Vallejo, California
sponsored by
The Filipino American National Historical Society and Seafood City
The featured film on October 18: "Little Manila: Filipinos in California's Heartland." Produced and directed by Emmy Award winning film-maker, Marissa Aroy
Also featured: "Strange Land ," produced and directed by Emmy Award winning film-maker Stephanie Castillo.
"Broken Promises," by Kabataang maka-Bayan USA . It is a film about the plight of Filipino WWII veterans and the impact of the US Government's Recission Act;
"Arkiteknik," a film about emerging Filipino American fashion and design by Anthony Legarda; and
"Balikbayan (Homebound)," by Larilyn Sanchez and Riza Manalo, about one woman's last journey back home to the Philippines.
"The Gift of Barong: A Journey from Within," by Dan Moreno and Benito Bautista. The film won Best Cinematography at the New York International Film Festival.
"The Great Pinoy Boxing Era," directed and produced by Corky Pasquil.
The third featured film is the award-winning film, "The Fall of the I-Hotel," by Curtis Choy.
Featured short films included:
"Lolo's Present," by local film-maker Eli Africa, and
"Little Brown Man," by Howie Severino.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These are just a few of the Filipino American History Month activities sponsored by FANHS Chapters throughout the US. There are so many more. For most of us involved in FANHS, each month brings opportunities for gathering, creating, and promoting Filipino American history.
Please join us!
~Joanie
Dr. Joan May Timtiman Cordova
FANHS National President
forourcommunities@gmail.com
