Saturday, November 22, 2008

pinoy/pinay

know your roots.

my friend marc from university of massachusetts (umass) hit me up on facebook and told me about an event at boston university called "kamayan 2008". it was a celebration of filipino culture to help unify the filipino community here at the different colleges in boston. i've been to so many PCN's (philippine culture night) that i'm not that excited to see filipino cultural dances too much anymore although they are awesome and i love tinikling haha... but every time im at a culture night/event like that it makes me proud to be who i am.

there was a spoken word piece in the middle of the event by Archipelag-a, a spoke word group from Brown University. they spoke of the struggle that filipinos have when they come from the philippines to america to start a new life. and how sometimes filipinos sacrifice their culture just to fit in with the "american ways". they spoke about how it hurts us 1st generation filipino-americans and how we lose our culture. we need to know where we came from, and not forget about the past and what filipinos have been through. one thing that stuck with me was when they were talking about their filipino moms and how they say "look ahead forget about the philippines forget about the revolution forget about all that just be a doctor, have money in one hand and a baby in the other", and their reaction was "sometimes to look ahead, we must look back".

"give me your philippines, give me your past, then i will give you your american dream"

no need to suck up to the white man to be successful. you can have success in so many different ways, why give up who you are just to live the "american dream". we're all immigrants, we are all from different places, we are all american. you can't lose that piece of where you came from, don't let ur culture be lost in the world where there is ignorance and racism and hatred.. you are who you are, be proud of it.

and in that case, i'm proud to be Filipino-American.

and speaking of which, it brought more thoughts to my mind about Filipino and Asian-Americans and how we have not broken into mainstream entertainment and media. but i believe we can do it. we just need to stick together, and we need to just keep getting better. i promise, this is our time-- if we truly believe in ourselves. like i said before, charice pempengco, arnold pineda (journey), jabbawockeez, ramiele malubay-- they're putting us on the map. hopefully you'll see us in the lights soon.

i must say i had a great day today. met 10 new friends at the Kamayan 2008 event including marc for the first time. we ate in downtown chinatown. they are awesome people. for some reason i've been super anti-social since i've been here, with only 20 or less friends that i would really consider my actual friends. but today made me happy, and i was actually smiling a whole lot tonight. these new friends made me like boston a little more in the short time i hung out with them. very welcoming and down-to-earth.

finally. =]

last night was interesting tho, pablo and some of our friends went to some party on symphony street. left after 30 mins but fun i guess walking over there and what not. love my roommate pabs.


shoutouts to andrew, sylvia, and jessica. jam sessions in the classrooms at berklee! love yall!
-AJ

17 comments:

angel said...

we came here for all the different kinds of opportunities & it'd be a waste to ignore or narrow them down

& i'm glad to hear boston is getting better for you =]

Sherry ;3 said...

haha you guys are hilarious!!!

Loris S. said...

my parents are like that too, actually. looking ahead & stuff. i barely get anything about our culture; but i want my children to know about the filipino culture. i WANT to be able to speak some tagalog. i WANT to know the recipes. i WANT to learn the dances. & i really did all of this because i don't want it to fade. getting out of your comfort zone is cool & stuff, but i must say, i looove filipino communities.

& i could NOT stop laughing at that video. oh my goodness. you're the greatest.

genesis gregorio said...

HAAHHAHH THE VIDEO.

hahahahqweoijwaqeoiweio


anyways, yeah im HELLA HELLA HELLA GLAD im filipino.

hope to see you SOON bro! miss y'all already

Tere Ann said...

classic song, haha.

what you wrote is true.
i won't repeat what everyone else said because it's so expected these kindda comments and stuff.

good luck, still cheering you on. your living your DREAM little by little.


<3

Janice. said...

Aw, it looks like .. berklee and boston are treating you well. I'm glad that you found more friends! :] that's always exciting. :] I love videos and blogs like this, it shows who you are.. why people like you! you're amazing. :]

have a nice weekend. :]

-- janice

Anonymous said...

Hey it's the girl from the dinner who made a stupid comment of you having ten more friends and not thinking it was us you were talking about. LOL but yeah it was a good dinner, hoping for you to hang out with all of us again.

like your jam session of bsb haha

Unknown said...

When I read this, I realized how can I know my future without knowing my past? I try my best to keep the culture alive within myself by speaking tagalog and trying to learn all I can, while I can.

I'm glad you're happy in Boston :] (& the video was priceless, it made my day :])
Love, Cheryl

Hannah B. said...

that video..great funny stuff
dude

my parents brought me here about 5 yrs ago for a "better life"
but i'm so fortunate to have to not let me forget about my culture
x]
whoop for pinoys. haha

Mayrilene Jay said...

HAHA. had a good laugh with that video after a total stressful day i had!

well anyways, live the american dream and but stay within your roots. (?) well hope you get what I mean, hahahaha!

notetheless, the post you made is true... true, true... :)

Anonymous said...

aww. cute video! def made me smile on this kinda crappy day out here in toledo. :)

I wish we had more filipino things here. We have the filipino assiciation of toledo, but lets just say, it run by the elders, I want to get more younger kids involved. but i'm def proud to be a fil-am! :p

hope u have a great day!

Nicolas v.f. said...

watching you on blogtv, you're awesome:)

a girl with a smile said...

hahah. i've always believed that true americans were the native americans. Now, americans are many. from mexicans to chinese to filipinos to puertorricans. Keeping your background and culture makes who you are, I would be unworthy without my caribbean influence.

bullsalv said...

good stuff brother...i didn't know you had a blog....sweet.

keep up the great work man.

jered7 said...

so true. Filipinos should be damn proud of who they are, i mean we should be proud of ourselves as filipinos. :]

vivian kim said...

i don't know if you'll see this comment, but i hope you STILL remember the girl who took a picture with you under the light :)

Heather said...

I do not think that anyone from any culture should lay down their way of life just because they are in America. That is what makes this place beautiful. God didn't make us all the same for a reason. I wish that I knew more about my different heritages. I am English, German, Native-American, dutch, and probably something else that I don't even know about. LOL I am glad that you are proud of who you are. Hang on to that and pass it on to your children.

That is so cool that you have made more friends there in Boston. God always brings them to us at the right time.

God Bless!