3200 West Temple Street – 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
“You have spawned a unique form of cultural activism not witnessed by the world in a long, long time.” Reme-Antonia Grefalda, Our Own Voice
FILIPINOTOWN: VOICES FROM LOS ANGELES has literally become the talk of not just
Filipinos in Los Angeles, but of people up and down the West Coast and on to New York and
Washington, D.C. Academicians, musicians, artists, historians, and poets, as well as community activists, are calling this book revolutionary.
The stories are quirky, revealing, hilarious, tragic, and sometimes angry. There are over 40
of them, mostly told in first-person, mostly non-fiction. There are poems and reflections and some startling historical reproductions of news articles, including a rare editorial piece by Carlos Bulosan, originally published in a now-defunct magazine, about the plight and the courage of Filipinos in Los Angeles during World War II. By way of contrast, and as an example of the collection’s diversity, one of Johneric Concordia’s spoken word pieces throws down the challenge to find out “What’s Happening in My Town.” The stories encompass generations, from the early 1900s to 2014.
The book’s cover is an eye-catching front-to-back color photo of Eliseo Silva’s mural of the history of Filipinos in America. It is a passionate creation that embodies the visual arts set in Filipinotown. Now this anthology will complement the mural as an expression of the literary arts about Filipinotown.
Winston Raval, jazz musician, received an advance copy of FILIPINOTOWN: VOICES
FROM LOS ANGELES, and was so inspired by it that he decided to compose music especially
for the launching on February 15th. Here’s what Myrna Zialcita co-founder of the Filipino
American Jazz Festival has to say about him:
“Winston Raval was one of four headliners at the 6th Annual SF Filipino American Jazz Festival at Yoshi’s SF in October 2013. He’s a genius, a trailblazer, master pianist/composer.”
Out of the 40+ people who contributed to the anthology, about 30 will be treating us to quick
glimpses of their stories. Raval’s trio will surprise us with his new composition about half way
through the readings. Two other jazz musicians will accompany him. This will all be part of our
morning program.
When Councilperson O’Farrell’s office got word of our community project, they contacted us
and said they’d love to join the program and, furthermore, give awards to each and every
contributor to the book. This will also be part of the morning program.
Another burst of creative energy brought five talented actors together who decided they would
honor Filipino farmworkers by performing scenes from Carlos Bulosan’s short story and Lonnie Carter’s stage version of THE ROMANCE OF GNO RUBIO. This will be our afternoon program, ending before 2:00 p.m.
