This Filipino American Life

Here it is again…another edition of Hilaw Pa! For those not in the know, Hilaw Pa is where the TFAL Crew shares our half-baked ideas that should be out there in the world. Of course, we’re not going to do it ourselves – thinking them up is our job. It’s up to someone else to execute our brilliant (or not so brilliant) ideas.  Listen as we discuss random ideas we had such as a Filipino mariachi band, karaoke in the park, Filipino churrascarias, and more! Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on our site, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found. Do you have a half-baked idea that Filipinos / Filipino Americans can benefit from? What do you think about our ideas? Leave us a voicemail (805) 394-TFAL or email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com.

How do Filipinos practice indigenous spirituality through Catholicism? Who are these “spirits” our parents or grandparents keep talking about that are around us? What explains the Filipino psyche and the way we make sense of the world? How many souls do we have? Some of these questions have helped many Filipinos and Filipino Americans in their quest for a cultural identity and spirituality. In this TFAL episode, Joe speaks to the brilliant Carl Lorenz Cervantes of Sikodiwa about countering the dominance of individualist/Western philosophical thought through understanding how Filipinos think and what we value. We dive into folk psychology and indigenous spirituality in Philippine culture and how they explain and shape the Filipino worldview throughout the episode. Listen as we discuss the foundations of Sikolohiyang Pilipino, how Filipinos have localized Spanish Catholicism to preserve indigenous spiritual practices, and how many Filipinos throughout the diaspora can continue to embody kapwa, or shared self, to ensure well-being for themselves and others. We only hit the tip of the iceberg, but I hope this sparks further research for listeners in their journeys into Filipino identity. Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on our site, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found. What is your experience with Filipino psychology and/or spirituality? Leave us a voicemail (805) 394-TFAL or email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com.

In this episode the TFAL crew talks with TFAL alum, Michael Arage, and JT of Nevadans for Palestinian Liberation @npl_palestine. In this episode we have a discussion of our history with the Free Palestine movement, why this issue is important to our community, and how we can show our allyship and be a part of the global movement to end this genocide.  Sidenote: There were technical issues during this episode so there may be a few audio issues in the recording.   Palestinian accounts to follow: @wizard_bisan1 @eye.on.palestine  @motaz_azaiza  @palestinianyouthmovement   If you would like to learn more about how to be an Asian American ally with this movement, follow @apis4abolition. They are running a reading group where they are discussing the book  “Letters to Palestine.”  If you would like a Sampaguita Watermelon sticker, magnet, or pin. DM @obliviousnerdgrl on IG with a screenshot of your donation to a non profit that provides aid to Palestinian people like Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (https://www.pcrf.net/)  Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on our site, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.

https://thisfilipinoamericanlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/tfal-episode202.mp3 New year new TFAL?  Or are we back to our usual shenanigans? Actually, for the first time in months, and thanks to Ryan’s terrible internet, we met up in person and recorded an episode! One New Years’ tradition that many of the folks in TFAL (and maybe some of you) partake in is the creation of a vision board, a collage of the things we hope to manifest or bring into our lives in the coming year.  And in that spirit, this episode is our vision for ourselves and our community in 2024. It is also partly about bowel movements.  WTF? Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on our site, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found. What would you have on your vision board for 2024? Leave us a voicemail (805) 394-TFAL or email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com.

Last year, some of us on the TFAL crew had the opportunity to participate in the creation of a special episode of the PBS Socal/KCET show, Lost LA, which focused on the Filipino American community of Southern California.  The episode premiered this week and is available on the PBS website or on YouTube.  In this TFAL episode, you can listen to our entire discussion with the Lost LA host, Nathan Masters, about Historic Filipinotown in Los Angeles and its history. Listen as we discuss what the Lost LA episode is about, how Kat, Joe, and Producer Mike became involved with the Filipino American community, and why we started TFAL in the first place.  While this episode does focus on the local community in LA, we’re sure you will find its spatial politics are very much relevant to Filipino communities throughout the diaspora, e.g. SoMa Pilipinas, Filipinotown in Seattle, Little Manila in Queens, NY. It was quite the honor to be a part of this episode that features of our local Filipino American community leaders. Big shout out to Nathan Masters and the entire PBS SoCal/KCET team for producing the show. About the Lost LA episode: Filipino Americans work to make their heritage more visible in Los Angeles. In this episode, host Nathan Masters will explore the yo-yo’s surprising origin story, tour L.A.’s Historic Filipinotown neighborhood (a.k.a. “HiFi”) in a Jeepney, and taste classic Filipino street food. Featured interviews will include activist/librarian Florante Ibanez and the hosts of “This Filipino American Life” podcast.

https://thisfilipinoamericanlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/tfal-episode200.mp3 Looks like we made it! TFAL’s 200th episode! (Give or take a few bonus episodes and unreleased things here and there…) Back in October, we recorded our 200th episode live at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy in Los Angeles. (Well technically, it was our 195th at the time but who’s really keeping track ). Together with community leaders and artists Faith Santilla and Johneric Concordia, we revisited community movements led by Filipino Americans and discuss future aspirations for our communities in the US. It was a both celebratory and reflective moment in our podcast history and we are forever grateful to those who have supported us throughout all these years. We hope you enjoy this special episode and think about how far Filipino Americans have come and how much further we can still go. Thank you TPals for being with us on this journey. Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on our site, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found. What does the Filipino American community mean to you? Leave us a voicemail (805) 394-TFAL or email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com.  

Before we end 2023, we’re sharing a special bonus episode for you from our friends at Gravy, a narrative podcast produced by Southern Foodways Alliance and distributed by APT Podcast Studios. Named the “Publication of the Year” by the James Beard Foundation, the series showcases a South that is constantly evolving, using food as a means to dig into lesser-known corners of the region, to complicate stereotypes, to document new dynamics, and to give voice to the unsung folk who grow, cook, and serve our daily meals. In the bonus episode we’re sharing, “Filipino Balikbayan is Homecoming in a Box,” Gravy explores the histories, politics, and cultures underlying the balikbayan box—a large box filled with everything from tubes of toothpaste to cassette tapes to cans of Spam—that Filipino immigrants in the United States customarily send home to family in the Philippines. There is an entire industry in Filipino communities across the United States dedicated to the logistics of shipping these boxes, which have been popular since the Philippines established the Balikbayan Program in the 1970s. We hope you enjoy it! Listen to more episodes of Gravy and follow the podcast!

https://thisfilipinoamericanlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/tfal-episode199.mp3 2023 is almost over!  And to close things out before we get to our grand finale of the year, we decided to do something… a little different?  Or maybe not? In what is apparently essentially in the grand tradition of our reflections on highlights (Episodes 19.5, 140, 157) and/or airing of grievances (Episodes 4.5, 25.2, 142, 180), and not the amazingly creative new thing Producer Mike had hoped he had come up with, we look back on the year and talk about the things in the Filipino Community that we noticed, appreciated, or maybe didn’t appreciate so much… and nomiated them for “Awards”!  What kind of Awards you may ask?  Why the honor of being recognized (or called out) by our crew as being: The Hottest Topic Best Trend Worst Trend Best Filipino Worst Filipino And so on…and maybe in a twist that might actually be a new thing, we want you to also nominate and vote on award winners! So look out for opportunities to do that if you follow us on social media… and if you dont, what better time to follow us on Facebook or Instagram? Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on this page, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts here. And for folks on Spotify, you can take a listen to us here. What do you think of our nominations? Who would you have nomiated? Let us know your thoughts! Leave us a voicemail (805) 394-TFAL or email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com.

Guest Ray Tadio, an expert in Philippine folk dances, discusses the evolution of these dances from sacred rituals to world stage performances. The podcast explores the documentation and canonization of Philippine folk dances by nationalists, as well as the politics embedded within creating a dance canon. The episode also touches on the preservation and performance of folk dances, including dances from indigenous communities and the Cordilleras.

https://thisfilipinoamericanlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tfal-episode197.mp3 When and where does Filipino American history begin?  Is it on October 18, 1587 in Morro Bay, California?  According to our guest in this TFAL episode, this date and time only reinforces a settler colonialist narrative.  Writer and public historian, Adrian De Leon, argues that “Filipino America” actually began in the 1760s in the Philippines.  Certainly a highly polemical take in Filipino American history for sure, yet De Leon’s shift in periodization offers a new perspective on our history and presence in the United States that begins to address our role in settler colonialism. On a social media post during Indigenous People’s Day, we posed several reflective questions: Whose land are we on? As Fiipino Americans, do we even know? How are we also complicit in settler colonialism? How much do we know about Native Americans and their experiences? How do we go beyond land acknowledgments and cultural celebrations and truly support Native peoples/ First Nations? How do we not appropriate Native cultures despite our own indigenous practices? What does “land back” mean to us when we’re trying to get our piece of the US pie? How do we support sovereignty among Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines, Hawaii, Alaska, mainland US, and even Palestine/Israel – places where so many Filipinos have settled? We mentioned that there are no easy answers.  In this TFAL episode, we attempt to tackle these questions with the brilliant Adrian De Leon.  Listen as we discuss settler colonialism, what it is and how to begin to address it as Filipino Americans.  We also dive into Filipino Martial Arts and its politics.  Finally, and most importantly, Joe and Adrian talk about how Jeremy Passion’s “Lemonade” could very well be the Filipino American anthem…to millenials anyway. Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on this page, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts here. And for folks on Spotify, you can take a listen to us here. Any thoughts on settler colonialism and our role in it as Filipino Americans? Let us know your thoughts! Leave us a voicemail (805) 394-TFAL or email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com. *Picture: Ilocano Migrant’s Monument along the Airport Road in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte.