[OPINION] The Philippines, Ukraine and the Year of the Tiger
THIRTY SIX years ago, early in the new year of the tiger, the Filipino people deposed a hated dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, who had to flee for his life, like a…
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[COLUMN] Education is critical against anti-Asian hate
Education is critical in the campaign against anti-Asian hate especially today as Asians have become the face of the coronavirus. All Asian Americans have a stake in this education project….
[OPINION] A challenge and an opportunity against hate, misogyny & gun violence
The fatal shootings in Atlanta, Georgia of six women of Asian descent at businesses known to employ Asian workers are frightful and terrifying. It marks an escalation in the level…
[OPINION] ‘Coronavirus’ is now a racial slur against Asians
Jeremy Lin, an Asian American basketball star who helped add “linsanity” to our vocabulary a few years back, now adds “coronavirus” to our glossary of racial slurs against Asians. Lin…
[OPINION] To vax or not to vax
The vaccines are finally here! And they are excellent at preventing symptoms from COVID-19, including those severe and life-threatening cases that require hospitalization. I am grateful for having received my…
[OPINION] Being Asian American in the time of coronavirus racism, hate speech and hate crimes
THE majority of folks who experience racism are African Americans. But the pandemic has seen an upturn in incidents of racism, hate speech and hate crimes against Asians largely from…
[OPINION] How do you know? Information vs mis-/dis-information
IT has almost been a month since the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol, yet a pre-occupation on this event lingers as reports of who got identified and arrested…
[OPINION] The death of democracy by a thousand cuts
The phrase describes an ancient Chinese torture method to kill a person slowly and painfully by ‘a thousand cuts.’ Maria Ressa, founder and CEO of online news site Rappler, alluded…
[OPINION] COVID-19 cautionary tales from our social circle
During the initial pandemic wave of the spring and summer, we were lucky not to have anyone within our family and social circle get COVID-19. But during the current wave,…
[OPINION] Trump’s authoritarianism is still dangerous
“My generation in Germany were always asking our parents and grandparents how Adolf Hitler could have happened in a democratic state—I think, now we all know it from firsthand [watching…
[OPINION] Cultural challenges to staying healthy and COVID-19 safe this holiday season
A WORKSHOP that I enjoy leading, pre-COVID-19, is one I developed for our Filipino immigrant community. It is based on Stanford University’s Chronic Disease Self Management Program, a program that…
[OPINION] One country, two presidents
THE Philippines once had two presidents but only for a few days. On Tuesday, February 25, 1986, Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino held dueling presidential inauguration ceremonies, each being sworn…
[OPINION] Racial sensitivity training is not un-American propaganda. It builds community.
“Being a black person in this world doesn’t kill you, but being a black person in America clearly can.” — Mustapha Okango, Nairobi-based anthropologist In September, President Trump through Office…
[OPINION] RBG’s lasting impact on communities like ours
A palpable sense of loss overcame me upon hearing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s (RBG) passing last Friday, September 18. Like many others, I turned to the internet to get…
[OPINION] Part II: Ethnic studies builds stronger ties among communities
In a previous essay, I wrote that the passage of AB 1460 and its signing into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom provided a measure of protection against certain forms…
[OPINION] Part I: California’s ethnic studies requirement provides an antidote against racist stereotyping
“What we do echoes through the generations…” —Former President Barack Obama in his 2020 Democratic National Convention Address On August 17, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill, AB 1460,…
[OPINION] Filipinos and the model minority myth
Commenting on my previous essay entitled “Utang na Loob,” (published in the Los Angeles Asian Journal issue on July 29, 2020), a family friend wrote: “Why did Asians rise a bit…
[OPINION] Our ‘utang na loob’ to Rep. John Lewis
Engaging in a conversation about the current fight against racism, discrimination, and police brutality is most likely a difficult conversation among Filipino families. There is a reticence among Filipino Americans…
White privilege and its lasting effects on Filipinos’ colonial history and America today
Shortly after the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag started to appear over social media, I overheard an Anglo say in riposte, “Well, all lives matter…” (I have also heard “white lives matter too.”)…
I drank the Kool-Aid then migrated to the US to unpack biases
I came to the United States in the late 1960s to pursue graduate studies at UCLA. Like almost everyone who was college-educated in the Philippines, and immigrated after the passage…
From Carlos Bulosan to MLK Jr.: Protests are voices of the unheard
“In the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear?” – Martin Luther King, Jr. All over social…
This is World War III
The fight against the C-19 pandemic is a war, a war of global proportions. It is World War III, although it does not follow our stereotypes of combat in wartime;…
Chain migration is family reunification
President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would put an end to “chain” migration as a feature of immigration law is worrisome and ill-advised. What he really means is that he…
45th anniversary thoughts
Last week marked the 45th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law over the Philippines by Ferdinand Marcos. While the day itself may not have been as eventful, as say,…
A personal account of the 1992 Los Angeles riots
The Los Angeles riots of 1992 are among a few moments that are seared in my memory. It was mid afternoon on Wednesday April 29, when I got a call…
QUIAPO: Blood, sweat, hope, and Rodallie S. Rosende’s story
A photo essay by Rick Rocamora, with an introduction by Rene Ciria-Cruz Quiapo is a photo essay by award-winning photojournalist Rick Rocamora. Quiapo, is actually two interrelated photo essays, in…
Race and law enforcement: A new escalation
The killing of Dallas police officers by sniper fire marks a new escalation of race wars here in America and signals a higher level of frustration with the unabated killing…
Has Obama abandoned the leadership and vision that led to his Nobel Peace Prize?
Barely a year into his presidency, Barack Obama was awarded the most prestigious Nobel Prize for Peace. In its citation, the Nobel Committee noted that: Obama has as President created…