Fil-Am students fall victim to 'Zoombombing'

SAN DIEGO, California - A group of Filipino-American students became the target of Zoombombers while they were holding a virtual meeting using Zoom technology amid the pandemic.

The San Diego State University’s Andres Bonifacio Samahan Club was holding a candidate meeting to elect its officers when a group of Zoombombers crashed the meeting and unleashed profanities and racial slurs.

“We sit silent not only to prevent any reaction but out some mix of shock, anger, confusion, and maybe most of all fear, fear that we were being violated and degraded in our homes and I hope no one else experiences that," said Julian Natividad.

In an Instagram message to fellow students, Natividad said many of the students were traumatized by the experience.

Last month, The Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council began tracking hate crimes and incidents against Asian Americans in California, and in the first week since its launch, some 1,100 cases have been reported.

With this virtual attack, AB Samahan said it will take a stand.

"We will press on, AB Samahan will not be let down because we will not be put down. We will no longer be the silent majority," it said.

With the “Zoombombing” phenomenon on the rise, Zoom has encouraged users to take extra security steps when meeting. In the meantime, SDSU has also issued a statement standing in solidarity with the AB Samahan Club.

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Fil-Ams join 48th LGBT pride march in New York

Thousands turned up in New York City's streets over the weekend to take part in the LGBT Pride March, and voice their protests against US President Donald Trump's controversial policies.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Group pushes for philanthropy among Fil-Ams

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – For a group of Filipinos, a networking event became a mission to make the future of their homeland, the Philippines, better.

The nonprofit group Next Day Better brings together Filipinos from the business, sports, arts and food sector with the goal of empowering Filipinos around the world.

"It is actually easy to find these world-changing people from our community that are leading the way in tech, in creativity, in different industries and we are contributing more, not just for the Philippines but for the entire world," Ryan Letada, founder of Next Day Better, said.

"It’s a platform where we want to be able to tap into the potential of the community and the people of that city and get them to really think how to make the next day better,” Krystal Menez of Next Day Better LA explained.

To make the "next day better," these Filipinos believe that no matter the product or passion, each day can get even better when you can give back whether it’s within your own community or oceans away.

From local non-profit groups to Fil-Am filmmakers talking about crowd funding to honorary Filipino sportswriter Rafe Bartholemew who lived in the Philippines, speakers at the event hope their experiences of giving back will help inspire other Filipinos.

“This is really important. People who come to this event to tell their stories, their successes and the community can hear those,” Bartholomew said.

Businesses and artists not only showed off some of their Philippine-inspired products but also how they help Filipinos globally.

Justin Garrido’s rice brand not only promotes healthy eating but also economic growth in Philippine farm lands.

"We’re a social enterprise so the reason why we exist is to support small-scale farmers to give then better livelihood, get them more income for their rice. Of what we sell, we donate 5 percent of our profits back towards the community for social good projects," Garrido of Social Project PH said.

The Next Day Better movement, which began in New York has already made stops in San Francisco as well as Canada and Europe with many high profile speakers meeting with kababayans.

Read more on Balitang America.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Virginia Fil-Ams mobilized for November polls

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Filipino Americans in the Hampton Roads region of southern Virginia have vowed to come out in force and make their presence felt in the November elections.

"It’s all about building our political power as an ethnic community," said Bert Dayao, Capital Region chairman of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA). "And that means translating our numbers in a way that they truly count."

Political mobilization and empowerment were among the themes that emerged from the recent NaFFAA convention in Detroit, Michigan.

The non-partisan voter mobilization project, dubbed "FilAm Vote Coalition of Hampton Roads" (FAVCOHR), aims to reach Filipino communities in Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Suffolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach.

Filipinos in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area grew by 33 percent in 10 years, according to the 2010 Census – a rate of growth that has caught the attention of state and local elected officials and policy makers.

The region is home to nearly 40,000 Filipinos.

"The issues in this election – jobs and the economy, budget and taxes, education – directly affect our community," said Virginia House Delegate Ron Villanueva.

"There are clear choices this year and we’re all looking forward for a clear direction. But we have to be engaged and understand the importance of registering people to vote,” he said.

Following Villanueva’s remarks, Gloria T. Caoile, former NaFFAA national vice chair and founding member of FilAm Vote, stressed that "we have an opportunity as Filipino Americans to shine in Virginia, a key, battleground state. Hampton Roads can make a difference. We will make it happen not only between now and November 6, but we will keep the fire alive after Election Day and continue to play an active role in this country’s political system."

Caoile cited the example of Nevada where Filipinos grew by 146 percent in 10 years. "Politicians from both parties are heavily courting our votes and paying attention to our issues," she said.

Gem Daus, an Asian American Studies adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, briefed those present about Census statistics, demographic data and recent findings by the Pew Research. "In addition to our growing numbers, we have a high rate of growth, high educational attainment, low poverty rates and income that’s higher than the national average," he explained.

“But of the hundreds of community-based organizations in the country, there are only four that’s primarily organizing around political and civic engagement. It’s a deficit we need to correct.”

"There’s less than a hundred days before the elections,"
Tracy Laguid, a member of the Filipino Young Professionals (FYP) said.. “We need a lightning rod to move us into action."

Nita Cacanindin, a board member of the Council of United Filipino Organizations of Tidewater (CUFOT) – the oldest and largest community organization in the area – also expressed support for the project and offered the use of the Filipino American Cultural Center to host voter outreach events.

"We may belong to different political parties but this non-partisan effort of everyone working together will make a long and lasting impact," she said.

Dr. Johnny Montero, a long-time community leader, agreed: "Our ethnic community badly needs this bipartisan FilVote public service. This is the key to our empowerment and I am glad to see much enthusiasm, especially our youth."

Other organizations participating in the launching of the FilAm Vote Coalition are: Bicol Association, Filipino American Chamber of Commerce of South East Virginia, Filipino American Historical National Society (FAHNS), FilAm Civic Action Group (FilAmCAG), Fil-Am Friendship Committee and Ilocano Association.

Naomi Estaris, former CEO of Operation Smile and now COO, The Travel Outlet of Virginia, Inc. and Founding President of South East Virginia’s Fil Am Chamber of Commerce, was designated to head up FAVCOHR and run the day-to-day operations of the voter mobilization project.

NaFFAA Capital Region Vice Chair Bing Branigin is overall coordinator, with Gloria T. Caoile as adviser. Funding was made possible from a grant from Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIA Vote), a national institution focused to encourage and promote civic participation of Asian Pacific Islander Americans in the electoral and public policy processes at the national, state and local levels.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Historic exhibit on Fil-Am presence in US to be held at a university in NY

The centuries-long presence and contributions of Filipinos in American Society will be celebrated in an exhibit at the Stony Brook University in New York next month.

Titled “Singgalot—The Ties that Bind: Filipinos in America from Colonial Subjects to Citizens,” the free two-month “historic traveling exhibit” will showcase the place of Filipino Americans in the US through rare images and trivia.

The exhibit will highlight “the tenuous political relationship between the United States and the Philippines” from as early as the 1500s, and will follow through the beginnings of the Filipino-American communities in Louisiana in the 1600s and the participation of Filipinos that fought for the US Army during the Second World War.

“[It] will feature rarely seen historical image of Filipino migration between 1906 and 1935 as workers at Hawaii sugar plantations, West Coast farms, and Alaskan canneries,” the news site Filipino Reporter said.

Last December, US First Lady Michelle Obama named the Historic Filipinotown in Los Angeles, California as one of the five new Preserve America communities in the country, a part of the “federal initiative that encourages community efforts to preserve cultural and natural heritage.”

Historic Filipinotown is a newly created district in the southwest portion of Echo Park in Los Angeles, via a resolution proposed by city council member Eric Garcetti in 2002.

The Filipino community is considered one of the largest and influential ethnic groups in the US. According to the 2010 US Census, there are more than 2.5 million Filipinos there, with the largest concentrations in the states of California (nearly 1.2 million), Hawaii (more than 197, 000), and Illinois (around 114, 000).

Developed by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program in cooperation with a number of organizations, “Singgalot” will be open to the public from February 12 to April 22 at the Charles B. Wang Center, Room 201 in Stony Brook.

There will also be a community opening program on March 3 at 3 p.m., followed by a campus opening reception on March 8 at 6 p.m. — ELR, GMA News

source:gmanetwork.com