Being Filipino-American
in the United States is not only an identity, it’s
a job. While I am not the type to wear a flag to profess my ethnicity,
I consider “Filipino” to be more than
a box to check; it is what I am, whether I think inside
or outside of the box.
I have decided to include a separate link to “Filipino in America” because I have written much about this subject. As a writer who believes in authenticity, I feel it is my responsibility to share who I am and where I came from through the written word. Both of my first books were about the Philippines. The third one, The F.L.I.P Show, captures life for Filipinos in America. I intend to continue exploring what it means to be Filipino in the global community in my next projects, especially now that one out of ten Filipinos live and work outside the archipelago. That’s over ten million people! In the United States alone, there are over two million documented Filipino-Americans.
Some of the articles I will be linking here are from my recently departed blog, where I have shared my thoughts on this issue for the past a few years. 2006 saw the centennial of Filipino-American immigration to the United States. For years, I have been an advocate for Filipino-American literature. I include it in all my interviews and public discussions, book tours and festivals. I spoke at the U.S. Embassy in Washington, DC to a select members of the diplomatic community about what it means to be a Filipino-American storyteller in this country. In 2006, we organized a landmark event with New York University called Moving Archipelago, to bring together Filipino American writers from different parts of the country and to celebrate how far we have gone.
If you are Filipino in the U.S. or the Philippines, I hope you find some of the articles here useful. At the very least, I hope it makes you think about your own position in envisioning an America that is all-embracing of its history with the Philippines, its first colony. If you are not Filipino, I also hope that you find these articles informative and insightful. American history has very limited entries on the Philippines. Americans, granted not so wonderful in geography, can’t place the Philippines on the map. Many think we speak Filipinese or some dialect of China. 1898, the colonization of the Philippines, and the Americanization of its people seem to have been written out of the American mind. And the Americana has gone global, which only means the deliberate omission or denial of very important facts in history has gone to the little huts of the global village as well. Filipinos cannot be ignored, the world is now seeing millions at their doorsteps. The question is—do you know who these people are? Do you know where they come from? Are you aware that there is a healthy literature in English, both in the U.S. and the Philippines?
More than pondering on whether the Philippines holds any significant position in world affairs, one must simply consider how the McDonaldization of the global village didn’t begin at the burger counter, but in the lesser known historical note with the magic numbers of 1898. As we see in our world today, wars, globalization, colonization, imperialism are all cooked up in the same pot of stew. Pig’s feet, anyone?
The book that you clicked to get to this page is The Literary Review’s first issue of the century—a collection of Filipino American writers that I edited, titled Am Here: Contemporary Filipino Writing in English, after Jose Garcia Villa. It was the first time I would confront the issue of literary immigration and imagination in the written form. When I compiled the collection, I wanted to showcase new voices from both countries by exclusively searching for them through the internet. There was an apparent plurality in subject matter in the works sent via email. Filipinos will always approach a certain subject in ten different ways, partly because we are an archipelago of thoughts, where unity is historically an onerous concept. Yet, what was most fascinating was that the writers’ home was blurred once collected. A reader cannot easily discern if a chosen contributor lives in Manila or Honolulu or San Francisco. The cover—powerlines—exemplify the significance of the nebulous origins, vanished distance or the ability of words to travel so fast so it enervates its significance. This is globalization of literature, with a little kick from the information superhighway. Globalization may have its roots in former colonies of western superpowers, where English and other global languages are spoken along with native tongues. The Literary Review. More Here.
This is the future of Filipino literature in English. Beginning in the Philippines during the commonwealth era, it burgeons in two continents. Filipino-Americans are contributing to the unique voice of a people who have been colonized by two western superpowers and occupied by an Asian one during World War 2. There is much for us to talk about as our voyages have now expanded to encompass a world bigger than two countries. American dream no more. We are also dreaming in Barcelona, Dubai, Hong kong and many countries where one out of ten Filipinos has gone.
In the future, I will provide a link for new books written by Filipino Americans!!! It is important to support Filipino American literature by buying these books. Great writing and perfect gifts.
Speech: On Filipino American readership
He doesn’t know that there are already 2.5 million Filipinos in the United States. Most Filipinos who immigrated to the U.S. arrive with knowledge of English, thanks to the Thomasite teachers of 1901 that now made the Philippines the third largest English-speaking nation in the world. Would he know that that there were Filipinos in the United States before the Mayflower, Filipinos who jumped ship during the Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade of the 15th century, traveling and establishing a community in Louisiana? To make it easier, I wanted to give Average Joe a book written by a Filipino-American. In fact, I wanted to give him my book, but when I told Average Joe, I have published a novel in the U.S., he asked: Yeah, is it in English? From Average Joe, Average Juan and I. Speech delivered at National Press Club, Washington, DC. More Here.
Essay: On the Galleon Trade and Filipino Identity
The sun is at its hottest around noon. I stand at the shore tempted to open an umbrella, but I don't. No one carries umbrellas around here. Manila is a city of open umbrellas. Acapulco is a city of exposed skin. I disappear in the brown population, walking the streets past midnight and riding buses on hot afternoons as if I know where I'm heading. From Searching for the Galleon. More Here.
Essay: On Revisiting Manila
I have always wished my birthplace is just around the corner so that I can return to it as I wish. But Manila is far from being a turn around the bend. There are no asy trips, no Amtrak rides and Greyhound buses. A trip there is a lifetime of planning to make. I hardly remember Manila. My own subconscious can’t find this city, not in my dreams where the house I grew up in always makes an appearance. From 20/20 Vision. More Here
Video Lecture: Owning English: Filipinos, the Colonized Tongue and Globalization.
The Interrogating Boundaries symposia are a series of seminars focused on topics related to the growing interconnectedness of the world. The seminars take the form of an interdisciplinary, inter-departmental and inter-campus dialogue, involving faculty, students and guests, exploring areas relevant to the critical study of globalization. Lecture on Video. Owning English: Filipinos, the Colonized Tongue and Globalization. More here.
(On Filipino Veterans and the Death March)
This Webpage will grow along with the rest of the website. More soon.
Thank so much for visiting. I hope I am able to be of help. If there
is more I can do, please reach me at binoarealuyo@gmail.com. I would
also like to know if this information is helpful to you. This is my
initial attempt at information gathering.
It means so much to me that you have visited. Live in the most authentic way possible. Maraming Salamat. Good luck on your voyage.
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