PETER’S PINOY PATTER — AUGUST 2021

Bridge Generation News

Personalities of the Month, 3 Bridge Generation “Grand Agers”:  (On June 28, the Alliance for Community Empowerment, a San Mateo County (CA) nonprofit organization promoting elder care and elder abuse prevention, bestowed the title “Grand Agers” upon nine Filipino Americans.  Among the nine honorees were three Bridge Generation Filipino Americans.  In its June 30 issue, online magazine “Positively Filipino” reported on the three BG honorees and reproduced as follows:)

Vangie (Canonizado) Buell, 88:  Filipina Women’s Network CEO Marily Mondejar aptly identifies Vangie Buell as “the Fil-Am community’s living legend.”  Buell bears the scars of racial prejudice as the granddaughter of a Buffalo Soldier — African Americans who fought in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War.  The author of “Twenty-Five Chickens and a Pig for a Bride”, Buell captivates audiences of all ages with her books and on stage.  Performing in the 2004 “Vagina Monologues”, she wowed newfound friends for her grace and talents — singing, playing musical instruments, and acting.  “She’s been an avid supporter and donor of FWN since she joined in 2004, attending all our local events even on a wheelchair,” discloses Mondejar, who headlined Buell just last week at a Zoom storytelling event.  “My best experience with her was her participation in the first “The Vagina Monologues” in 2004 at the Herbst Theatre. She never skipped a rehearsal and her dramatic readings of ‘The Flod’ and ‘I Was There in the Room” are unforgettable,” Mondejar echoes a commonly held observation.

Dorothy (Laigo) Cordova, 89:  Thanks to Fred and Dorothy Cordova, the history of Filipino America is preserved.  As Seattle University students in 1957, they promoted Fil-Am identity, formed Filipino Youth Activities and collected research and oral histories that laid the foundation for what is now the Filipino American National Historical Society or FANHS and its 38 US chapters today.  San Francisco State University professor Dan Gonzalez captures now-widow Dorothy’s persona:  “Addressed as Auntie Dorothy by the thousands who were in their youth when they came to know her and Uncle Fred, and as “Dorth” by her age-peers, she is – above all else – a sublime lover. (Eight children with Fred, after all.) Auntie Dorothy persuades people, who would never have done so otherwise, to work on projects great and small,” he says.  “She convinces folks to share their stories and disclose things they held secret for generations and then struggles to acquire the means to archive them. She is advisor, confidante, comic, humorist, organizer, the gentlest of leaders, a most respected diplomat, and a humble scholar. All this she can do because of her cosmic capacity to love.”  Gonzalez hails her exuberance: “She loves stories as pieces our history, but, more importantly, she loves the people who share their stories for who they are, not only what they are. Their pictures, their documents – she loves it all. She loves the people who gather the stories and bring them to FANHS. She loves the colors and sounds, the musicality of the stories. She is excited by the continuing prospect of preserving our history in this nation-space and across time. Such a level and scope of love is truly irreplaceable, and that is as it should be.”  Gonzalez reminds: “We do not replace heroines, we admire them, we emulate them – to the extent we can. We support them for who they are, not only what they are. Dorothy Laigo Cordova is yet here, and so available for us to return her Great Love. Do that – please.” 

Peter Jamero, 91:  He is a proud member of the “Bridge Generation,” U.S.-born children of the Manong and Manang — the first Filipino Immigrants.  Born in Oakdale, California, in 1930, he traces his transformation from “farm worker to social worker to health and human services executive to university professor to writer of Filipino American history.”  A founding member and former vice president of FAHNS, Jamero is an eyewitness to the waves of immigration, using his popular blog to bridge (yes!) his generation with the children of the children of those who followed.  He emphasizes with their tribulations, trumpets their successes, and kindles their involvement.  Like he did with retired journalist and university journalism professor Lloyd LaCuesta.  “I have known Peter for many years and once served as a board member on one of his nonprofit organizations,” says LaCuesta, who volunteers with humanitarian groups.  “He taught me the value of serving the community and serves as a role model in continuing to serve at whatever age.  Peter Jamero is a treasure and his insightful commentaries are gifts for everyone.”

Another Passing: 

Pinakbet —News Across America

Historical Tidbits:

Although it also granted the Philippines its future independence, the “Tydings-McDufffie Act of 1934”  drastically limited Filipino immigration to only fifty a year.  Filipinos mockingly called the law the “Filipino Exclusion Act.”

Did You Know:

Pop singer Olivia Rodrigo, whose “Driver’s License” continues to be a big hit, made non-musical national news.  On July 16 she collaborated on a video with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, promoting the need for more young persons to be vaccinated against Covid-19……………. On August 4, 1977 Jeannette Lazam, then a comparatively young 28, was among 55 mostly Filipino elderly tenants of the International Hotel who were forcibly evicted by San Francisco riot police.  The eviction from the low-income single-room-occupancy hotel in SF’s “Manilatown” was carried out despite the efforts of 3,000 non-violent protestors that surrounded and barricaded the hotel.  On June 3, 2021, now age 72, Jeannette was once again a tenant at the reconstructed I-Hotel………… Nineteen year old Yuka Saso of the Philippines became the first Filipino/a to win a major golf tournament on June 6 when she won $1 million at the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open.  Ironically, her victory at San Francisco’s Olympic Club Golf Course was next door to Daly City — the home of more than 30,000 Filipino residents…………..The honors continue to pour in for longtime photo-journalist David Bacon, spouse of retired Lillian Galedo, former Executive Director for Filipinos for Affirmative Action (now Filipinos for Justice).  David was recently cited by the California Newspaper Publishers Association for his articles on farm workers…………… The current National President of the Filipino American National Historical Society, Emily Lawsin, then an exuberant high school student, was the youngest delegate at the first FANHS national conference in 1980…………  On July 22, the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Gina Ortiz Jones of Texas to become Undersecretary of the Air Force — the highest ranking Filipino/a to accede to the position.

Musings

Is Excluding People of Color in Favor of White Supremacy in America’s Future? Part XVIII

Last months’ blog concluded that necessary federal action to stop the deluge of voter suppression — the “For the People Act” and the “John R. Lewis Voting Advancement Act” — was yet to be enacted.  The “For The People Act” would strengthen our ethics and conflict-of-interest laws, stop unaccountable secret and special interest money from corrupting our politics, end partisan gerrymandering, and protect voting rights and election security.  It would set standards so every voter, regardless of their race, age or ZIP code, would have the right to equal access to the ballot box.  The “John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act” would restore the provisions in the 1965 Voting Rights Act eroded by the supreme Court in 2013 and protect the freedom to vote for all Americans, particularly voters of color, by outlawing state voter suppression laws that disproportionately prevent minorities, the elderly, and the youth from voting.  Sadly, the U.S. Senate has yet to act on this vital legislation.

The first sentencing of a January 6 insurrectionist — A slap on the wrist:

On July 19 domestic terrorist Paul Hodgkins was sentenced to only eight months in prison for his role in the January 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol by a white judge — an insulting slap on the wrist.   The White Hodgkins had shaved off his scraggly beard and was clean-cut as he appeared before the White judge. Consider that black men have been regularly sentenced to ten years for possessing an ounce of marijuana.  Wonder what the judge would have done if Hodgkins was black?

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