1. I'm a teenage fil-am with not a lot of filipino friends. my parents did not teach me tagalog and i am trying to learn on my own. i'm also going through a journey of decolonization and learning more about my pre-colonial ancestors and their history.
2. i love OPM from modern to older OPM. music has been a huge part of my identity as a fil-am. i've also been reading on pre-colonial filipino artifacts like jewelry. those sources are really interesting and make me happy because i love wearing gold hoops just like my ancestors did.
What made you interested to study more about Philippine culture?
I'm in a bit of a transitional period of my life - I'm in the process of reframing my life after hustle culture took up the first 20 years of my life. I'm grateful for where it got me but I'm ready to have work/school not be the center of my life anymore. I'm married to another Filipino and we're both very proud of our culture but we really only know pop culture and whatever our parents know, which of course in itself can be very biased. I want to learn more about Philippine culture and history for myself and for our future children. It feels like a part of me that has been missing but at the same time something that's been there all along, maybe just hiding; once I learned what kapwa was I realized its tenets were how I lived and viewed my life in relation to the rest of the world before I even had the word for it.
What is your favorite resource (book, film, article, etc.) about Philippine culture? What about this resource resonates with you, that you feel might be an important truth about the Filipino identity?
Current fave is Babaylan: Filipinos and the Call of the Indigenous compiled by Leny Mendoza Strobel. I read it over the summer and it really kickstarted my journey towards learning more about the culture. In particular it speaks to me as a Filipina woman in the diaspora to know that the strength and conviction I've previously attributed to being American and obnoxious actually has its roots instead in the strength and perseverance my ancestors showed in the face of impossible adversity.
Yes, it's all about returning to the rhythm of nature. Hustle culture traps us in western limitations of time, yet time isn't linear, it goes round and round, just as the sun and the moon chase each other. Welcome to this space, where we will run on "Filipino time."
Looking for more Babaylan resources here. Currently reading Babaylan Sing Back by Grace Nono and would love to get my hands on Leny Strobel’s work soon. Thanks for this!
Our parents got us the Childcraft illustrated encyclopedia and there was a volume called “The Story of the Philippines”. It had simplified kid-friendly accounts of our pre colonial, colonial, and recent history, as well as descriptions of our natural wonders and man made tourist spots. From the arrival of Islam, to the legend of Princess Urduja, the Katipunan, Rizal, Death March, Ramon Magsaysay, Martial Law and most of our history and culture in between — they talked about it there. This was in the late 90s and early 2000s. I remember reading it again and again throughout my childhood and teenage years. Makabayan/Hekasi came so easily for me because of that foundation and it just made sense to stay updated and understand what was going on in the ways that I could ever since.
Growing up middle class / lower middle class though— everyone was obsessed with America. From the language to the food, beauty standards and even pop culture. It was the era of globalization. Now that I’m older, it felt like a lot of our family’s Bisaya/Cebuano and Surigaonon culture was taken away from me. The fact that I think and communicate better in English is pretty sad. I would like to reunite with our culture now that I have the agency to do so.
My favorite resources:
Filipino films and TV shows. Filipino entertainment really. I can’t name specifics but besides the MMFF slapstick, I feel like we have such great storytellers and artists who reflect our experiences, culture, and values well. Also Bisaya music. There’s nothing quite like expressing yourself in the mother tongue. A part of me feels comforted and at home when I watch Filipino films and sing to Bisaya music.
There was a brief period when MMFF was good. I remember watching "Honor Thy Father" (2015) and "English Only Please" (2014), both of which were really powerful movies that tackled issues of religion, hope, family, power, and the eternity of romance. Welcome to the space, I hope we can pick out the gems and nuggets of gold, wherever they are.
What made you interested to study more about Philippine culture?
I'm mixed (white and Pinay), and not growing up around many Fil-Ams meant that I didn't have many models of what it was to identify as Filipino. I've always been proud of my heritage and closer to my mom's Filipino family than to my dad's family, but presenting white and not speaking Tagalog made it hard to claim a Filipina/x identity. I was able to slow down a lot since 2020 and came to realize that I wanted the connection to my heritage, ancestors and culture. I started taking Tagalog lessons (and I find myself yearning to get back to those lessons). I've been cooking more Filipino food and a read as much as I could (though mostly by diaspora writers). To sum it up, I've found power and strength in fighting to identify as Filipinx (when it would be easier and US dominant society would rather I slip into whiteness).
What is your favorite resource (book, film, article, etc.) about Philippine culture? What about this resource resonates with you that you feel might be an important truth about the Filipino identity?
Not necessarily my favorite resource, but I just read Maria Ressa's book and I'm struck by her truth-telling and her determination to fight for what she believes is right. I'm inspired by her revolutionary spirit and audacity.
Hi Melissa, thanks for sharing. I'm also Fil-Am mixed, as well as all my cousins. Like you, I identify more with my Mom's Filipinx family and even my godmother's Latinx family having grown up in the Salinas Valley, than I do my Dad's/white side of the family. I think about the colonialist desire towards whiteness that likely contributed to why my Mom and all of her sisters choose to marry white American men, or even the internalized colonialism that maybe motivated my Lolo to join the U.S. Army after surviving the Bataan Death March.
I also hope to take Tagalog classes and have been cooking more Filipino food too. You aren't alone in digging deeper into your Filipinx roots as a mixed Fil-Am. And you're right, I think that dominant society would rather all diverse folks and people of color forget their history and their roots because then we'd be blind to all the kyriarchies/systems of oppression that affect all of us (capitalism, colonialism, racism, sexism, ableism, classism, gender inequity, queerphobia, etc.). I'm happy you're doing this class too. :-)
What made you interested to study about Philippine culture?
I recently embarked on a personal journey to uncover and know my ancestral roots. Although I was born and raised in the Philippines, like some of the others here - I grew to realize that we were very Americanized at home (probably this was also because most of my family had at some point immigrated to the US). I consider English as my native language (which is very sad) and as part of this journey am starting to look for language resources as well in my ancestral tongue, Hiligaynon.
I also work as an environmental scientist in the intersections between climate, ecology, and women’s work / spirituality, and was looking for resources to deepen my understanding of Filipino values, worldview, and spirituality as I believe these areas hold clues as to how to influence culture so that we start to evolve back into closer kinship with Nature and Mother Earth. Carl’s article in Journal of Transpersonal Studies is what led me to SikoDiwa and this space and really looking forward to learning more and engaging with others here on this topic. (Thank you, Carl, for creating this space).
Favorite resource on Philippine culture: Babaylan, Deep Roots, and recently started reading Looking for the Pre-hispanic Filipino by William Henry Scott.
I also like to look for clues on culture in fiction and other forms of creative writing. Favorites have been: The Last Time I Saw Mother, Mango Bride, and The Kindness of Birds
Taking Asian American Studies in my undergraduate years made me interested! I was also taking Feminist Studies courses before I began majoring in AAS, and articles like Yen Le Espiritu’s “We Don’t Sleep Around Like White Girls Do” and books/documentaries that talk about American exploitation of the Philippines and other countries like my Prof. Grace Chang’s “Disposable Domestics” were very influential in my thinking and scholarship. I like thinking through family dynamics and the influence of Spanish Catholicism in demonizing some of the mental health struggles I had growing up and other gendered conservative treatment I received, and I appreciate how your content has exposed me to more on Filipino psychology.
I prefer fiction books, and one of my favorite audiobook that I listened to recently and am now recommending to Everyone is called “America is Not the Heart” by Elaine Castillo. I grew up in the rural suburbs, so less of the ethnoburb of Milpitas that the book is rooted in, but I still relate to so much of the experiences laid out in the book. It also helps me understand the conditions of my dad’s immigration, since unlike Carlos Bulosan’s “America is The Heart,” it is more based in the ‘80s-90s. I like how it highlights more about the Fil-Am queer experience, and the difficulties with homonationalist notions of “coming out” in tight-knit communities. As someone passionate about disability justice, I also appreciate the subtle themes of shame and internalized ableism that the main character Hero experiences due to trauma in her hands.
I'm interested to learn more about Filipino culture because as I am deepening into my spiritual practice, I have come to appreciate and connect with my roots and ancestors. I want to learn the truth about what happened to the Philippines, especially pre-colonial times and read more resources that not written by the colonizers.
I like Carl's 'Deep Roots'. I also resonate with the films Heneral Luna and Balangiga: Howling Wilderness. The latter film particularly resonated with me because of the setting and the way it was told - following the journey of a boy and his father/grandfather (I'm quite not sure) in 1901 when the Americans pillaged and raped the land of Samar. I believe this to be true in all other land of the Philippines colonized for 300 years. To be honest, I started looking at the roots of my motherland during the pandemic when I wanted to learn more about the babaylans/Filipino shamans of old, and I only read about them after doing a google search and I found old photos on wikipedia only as far back as the 1907. The stories of how the babaylans and tribes were almost extinguished and replaced with the spiritual belief/religion of choice of the spanish colonizers still have me questioning this religion and its roots. I've bought other books on shamanism, but haven't gotten to diving deep yet. My most recent purchase is Grace Nono's Babaylan Sing Back.
Hi Althea, glad to see you here. We will be looking into pieces on environmental ethics eventually, though maybe you'd be interested in this article I wrote for the International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, on deep ecology and the Filipino spirit world: https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/ijts-transpersonalstudies/vol42/iss1/4/
What made you interested to study more about Philippine culture?
- I have studied Philippine / Filipino American history, culture, politics, etc. for close to three decades and it's become both an obsession and part of my identity. Part of it was growing up as a Filipino American and experiencing racism and disconnection to community/culture. I also teach Filipino American history. I'm always looking to learn more...as we all should. =)
What is your favorite resource (book, film, article, etc.) about Philippine culture? What about this resource resonates with you, that you feel might be an important truth about the Filipino identity?
- Too many to name. What got me started was reading Filway's Philippine Almanac when I was 14. It gave me an overview of Philippine history/culture. Jose Rizal the movie has been quite formative growing up. I've read, watched, and consumed many resources since then. Some important works include Vicente Rafael's Contracting Colonialism, Fanella Cannell's Power and Intimacy in the Christian Philippines, Carlos Bulosan's America is in the Heart, William Scott's Barangay, Paul Kramer's Blood of Government, the movies Heneral Luna and Goyo, on and on and on. I think all of these resources discuss the effects and non-effects of colonialism on Filipinos and Filipino Americans. I believe we can't talk about identity without addressing how colonialism changed us, but also how colonialism couldn't penetrate various indigenous cultures.
Glad to see a fellow teacher in this space. I'm excited to see how we can learn from each other, and maybe how these ideas can be applied to the educational setting.
I am a 42 year old Filipino American, and grew up fairly isolated from my ancestral roots. Aside from visiting the Philippines for three weeks with my mom and sister 22 years ago, I have never been around any Filipinos in my age group.
I lost my mom and oldest brother to COVID two years ago, and realized in my grief that my ancestral and cultural connections were indirectly made through family--and that I needed to make my own direct connections for the sake of my descendants. I have been trying to learn Tagalog, and hope to learn Ilocano some day. I have also been cooking more Filipino food.
Although I was born and raised in America, I have often felt out of tune with Western culture and values. I became very interested in Taoism and Buddhism as a teenager, and I believe that background primed my current explorations of indigenous spiritual practices.
I'm sorry to hear that this happened to you. Welcome to the space, Alexis. I hope this place gives you some comfort and a little bit of that sense of home.
What made you interested to study more about Philippine culture?
To deepen my knowledge about Philippine culture to release the harmful and toxic behaviors and patterns I inherited.
What is your favorite resource (book, film, article, etc.) about Philippine culture? What about this resource resonates with you that you feel might be an important truth about the Filipino identity?
As corny as it sounds, I watched the film Seven Sundays 5 years ago on a flight from SF to Manila. It has stuck with me since then because family values are important to me.
What made you interested to study more about Philippine culture? I am not a fan of history. AT ALL. However, in my discussions with friends recently, I have come to understand how important history is to understand psychology + how it'll help in moving FORWARD. Who else to "study" it with, but someone interesting. (YOU) hahaha! So thanks for this!
What is your favourite resource (book, film, article, etc.) about Philippine culture? The society pages! (hahahaha kakahiya!) What about this resource resonates with you, that you feel might be an important truth about the Filipino identity? It's the aspirational aspect that I initially thought I may be interested in. But I realised that I don't want to get dressed and party that way so often. LOL!
I'm honored that you came here to study with me. This study group is as much your space as it is mine, and I'm excited to hear what insights you might eventually have. I remember reading a wonderful article by Jaime Bulatao on the society pages. I wrote a modern update on his article, titled "The Values of High Society," published in Busay, a student publication in UP Visayas. You can find it here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/bgj2dufm9x2jii3/Busay_%25C2%25A92021_%2528Year_43%2529.pdf/file
1. I'm 2nd or 3rd generation Fil-Am and I've always been interested in Philippine history and pre-colonial Philippine culture. I feel that I could see traces of that culture in my grandparent's Catholicism and the superstitions that they and my mother adhered too.
2. At present, my favorite books about Philippine culture are "A History of the Philippines: From Indios Bravos to Filipinos" by Luis H. Francia and "Prehistoric Philippines" by Ambeth R. Ocampo. In particular, Ocampo talks about the importance of learning regional and local pre-colonial history and culture and connects those artifacts or knowledge to today's world. If we look at the history of the Philippines from more of a colonialist lens or more of an anticolonialist lens, what is true, for me, about the Filipino cultural identity is that our cultural indigeneity has stayed with us despite years of religious conversion/indoctrination, colonial education, or even assimilation in the diaspora through migration.
1. I'm half Filipina and working in the Diversity and Wellbeing space. I wanted to reconnect with my roots and to take steps closer to understanding my proximity to Filipino culture, values, beliefs.
2. Back from the Crocodile's Belly: Philippine Babaylan Studies and the Struggle for Indigenous Memory by S. Lily Mendoza and Leny Mendoza Strobel — this literature has been helpful in reckoning with my ancestor's experiences and struggles. It helps me to honor the stories and humanity of Filipino people. It allows me to acknowledge the colonial systems that disrupted some of these stories and yet, to see the strength and resilience and softness of my people.
1. I’m a Hawai‘i born and raised descendent of Itneg and Ilocano farmers who migrated to Hawai‘i to work in the plantations. I grew up and intentionally embed myself in Hawaiian culture and values and honor the islands as the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. I have always been fascinated by my Hawaiian ‘ohana’s ability to recall their genealogy all the way back to the source of life. I was pressured by my parents to assimilate and I did but now feel like I am more distant from my roots than my parents intended.
2. My source of Filipino culture and tradition came from my grandmother. Inang taught me a bit about everything; ilot, agas, and kanin. Inang sailed into the other side in 2008 and I’ve continued to search for her and my ancestors in books, movies and social media hoping to trace my genealogy to some source.
1. What made you interested to study more about Philippine culture?
I am Filipino on my Mothers side, born and raised in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Recently I started feeling a homesickness for the Philippines that I’ve never experienced before, for places and people I’ve never met. I wasn’t raised speaking Tagalog but I want to start my journey. I also began weaving (Raranga) here in Aotearoa using a native plant called Harakeke, and through this indigenous creative process I’ve been reconnecting to the natural world, to remember my own roots and connect back to plants. My Mothers family are from the Bicol region and I know I have a shaman in our line. I’ve been very interested to reconnect with my ancestors.
2. What is your favorite resource (book, film, article, etc.) about Philippine culture? What about this resource resonates with you, that you feel might be an important truth about the Filipino identity?
Your resources have been immensely helpful and inspiring on my journey Carl! Also, Gabes Torres - her podcast with you, as well as another one on Green Dreamer. Decolonizing, healing and Re-membering! Beautiful. Also stories and folklore direct from my Grandfather - he used to tell me about the Aswang, Duende.. and my Mum always said Tabi tabi Po growing up. And lastly the Food! It’s always been food growing up within Filipino gatherings, community and sharing. The last time I went home with Ma, I ate a lot of Papaya, I saved the seeds and my tito planted them out for me - now there’s a big papaya tree in their back yard! Gardening and remembering through the plants.
Salamat po! Thank you for being here as a safe space to learn and grow together ✨💛
Welcome to the space, Abigail. It's very exciting to see how your experience with local practices there could enrich us in our understanding of indigenous psychology and spirituality. Hoping to hear more of your reflections soon.
What made you interested to study more about Philippine culture?
Hi! I don’t know if I can point to a specific origin for my interest. The two main drivers for my interest are 1) my wife who is Filipina and 2) my dissertation that looked at how Filipinos (from the Philippines) respond to identity threats in American workplaces. Your posts and podcasts help fill a void in understanding the Filipino psyche.
What is your favorite resource (book, film, article, etc.) about Philippine culture? What about this resource resonates with you, that you feel might be an important truth about the Filipino identity?
Currently, my favorite resource is Handbook of Filipino Psychology edited by R. Pe-Pua, and its importance for me regarding Filipino identity is that the book is written by Filipino scholars about Filipino identity (or indigenous psychology). It’s the most exhaustive book that I’ve been able to get ahold of in the U.S.
Wonderful, that handbook is also my go-to resource. When you get to reading the resources I post here, feel free to connect it to concepts you read from there and share it with everyone.
1. I'm a teenage fil-am with not a lot of filipino friends. my parents did not teach me tagalog and i am trying to learn on my own. i'm also going through a journey of decolonization and learning more about my pre-colonial ancestors and their history.
2. i love OPM from modern to older OPM. music has been a huge part of my identity as a fil-am. i've also been reading on pre-colonial filipino artifacts like jewelry. those sources are really interesting and make me happy because i love wearing gold hoops just like my ancestors did.
Welcome to the space, Leia. I'm excited for you to find the treasures of our language. You might like this song, "Ginto" by Mhot. You mentioned jewelry, the Tagalog language, and going back to your roots: https://open.spotify.com/track/0oUfeKMzEVokCNFcLrvVEk?si=98624e97b5f44e8f
What made you interested to study more about Philippine culture?
I'm in a bit of a transitional period of my life - I'm in the process of reframing my life after hustle culture took up the first 20 years of my life. I'm grateful for where it got me but I'm ready to have work/school not be the center of my life anymore. I'm married to another Filipino and we're both very proud of our culture but we really only know pop culture and whatever our parents know, which of course in itself can be very biased. I want to learn more about Philippine culture and history for myself and for our future children. It feels like a part of me that has been missing but at the same time something that's been there all along, maybe just hiding; once I learned what kapwa was I realized its tenets were how I lived and viewed my life in relation to the rest of the world before I even had the word for it.
What is your favorite resource (book, film, article, etc.) about Philippine culture? What about this resource resonates with you, that you feel might be an important truth about the Filipino identity?
Current fave is Babaylan: Filipinos and the Call of the Indigenous compiled by Leny Mendoza Strobel. I read it over the summer and it really kickstarted my journey towards learning more about the culture. In particular it speaks to me as a Filipina woman in the diaspora to know that the strength and conviction I've previously attributed to being American and obnoxious actually has its roots instead in the strength and perseverance my ancestors showed in the face of impossible adversity.
Thank you so much for this space!
Yes, it's all about returning to the rhythm of nature. Hustle culture traps us in western limitations of time, yet time isn't linear, it goes round and round, just as the sun and the moon chase each other. Welcome to this space, where we will run on "Filipino time."
Looking for more Babaylan resources here. Currently reading Babaylan Sing Back by Grace Nono and would love to get my hands on Leny Strobel’s work soon. Thanks for this!
Salamat for recommending the Strobel book. It rang a lot of bells for me, and will be a resource I will return to again.
What made interested in about Philippine culture:
Our parents got us the Childcraft illustrated encyclopedia and there was a volume called “The Story of the Philippines”. It had simplified kid-friendly accounts of our pre colonial, colonial, and recent history, as well as descriptions of our natural wonders and man made tourist spots. From the arrival of Islam, to the legend of Princess Urduja, the Katipunan, Rizal, Death March, Ramon Magsaysay, Martial Law and most of our history and culture in between — they talked about it there. This was in the late 90s and early 2000s. I remember reading it again and again throughout my childhood and teenage years. Makabayan/Hekasi came so easily for me because of that foundation and it just made sense to stay updated and understand what was going on in the ways that I could ever since.
Growing up middle class / lower middle class though— everyone was obsessed with America. From the language to the food, beauty standards and even pop culture. It was the era of globalization. Now that I’m older, it felt like a lot of our family’s Bisaya/Cebuano and Surigaonon culture was taken away from me. The fact that I think and communicate better in English is pretty sad. I would like to reunite with our culture now that I have the agency to do so.
My favorite resources:
Filipino films and TV shows. Filipino entertainment really. I can’t name specifics but besides the MMFF slapstick, I feel like we have such great storytellers and artists who reflect our experiences, culture, and values well. Also Bisaya music. There’s nothing quite like expressing yourself in the mother tongue. A part of me feels comforted and at home when I watch Filipino films and sing to Bisaya music.
There was a brief period when MMFF was good. I remember watching "Honor Thy Father" (2015) and "English Only Please" (2014), both of which were really powerful movies that tackled issues of religion, hope, family, power, and the eternity of romance. Welcome to the space, I hope we can pick out the gems and nuggets of gold, wherever they are.
What made you interested to study more about Philippine culture?
I'm mixed (white and Pinay), and not growing up around many Fil-Ams meant that I didn't have many models of what it was to identify as Filipino. I've always been proud of my heritage and closer to my mom's Filipino family than to my dad's family, but presenting white and not speaking Tagalog made it hard to claim a Filipina/x identity. I was able to slow down a lot since 2020 and came to realize that I wanted the connection to my heritage, ancestors and culture. I started taking Tagalog lessons (and I find myself yearning to get back to those lessons). I've been cooking more Filipino food and a read as much as I could (though mostly by diaspora writers). To sum it up, I've found power and strength in fighting to identify as Filipinx (when it would be easier and US dominant society would rather I slip into whiteness).
What is your favorite resource (book, film, article, etc.) about Philippine culture? What about this resource resonates with you that you feel might be an important truth about the Filipino identity?
Not necessarily my favorite resource, but I just read Maria Ressa's book and I'm struck by her truth-telling and her determination to fight for what she believes is right. I'm inspired by her revolutionary spirit and audacity.
Hi Melissa, thanks for sharing. I'm also Fil-Am mixed, as well as all my cousins. Like you, I identify more with my Mom's Filipinx family and even my godmother's Latinx family having grown up in the Salinas Valley, than I do my Dad's/white side of the family. I think about the colonialist desire towards whiteness that likely contributed to why my Mom and all of her sisters choose to marry white American men, or even the internalized colonialism that maybe motivated my Lolo to join the U.S. Army after surviving the Bataan Death March.
I also hope to take Tagalog classes and have been cooking more Filipino food too. You aren't alone in digging deeper into your Filipinx roots as a mixed Fil-Am. And you're right, I think that dominant society would rather all diverse folks and people of color forget their history and their roots because then we'd be blind to all the kyriarchies/systems of oppression that affect all of us (capitalism, colonialism, racism, sexism, ableism, classism, gender inequity, queerphobia, etc.). I'm happy you're doing this class too. :-)
Thanks for your message and your story, Meishi! I'm happy to connect with you <3
What made you interested to study about Philippine culture?
I recently embarked on a personal journey to uncover and know my ancestral roots. Although I was born and raised in the Philippines, like some of the others here - I grew to realize that we were very Americanized at home (probably this was also because most of my family had at some point immigrated to the US). I consider English as my native language (which is very sad) and as part of this journey am starting to look for language resources as well in my ancestral tongue, Hiligaynon.
I also work as an environmental scientist in the intersections between climate, ecology, and women’s work / spirituality, and was looking for resources to deepen my understanding of Filipino values, worldview, and spirituality as I believe these areas hold clues as to how to influence culture so that we start to evolve back into closer kinship with Nature and Mother Earth. Carl’s article in Journal of Transpersonal Studies is what led me to SikoDiwa and this space and really looking forward to learning more and engaging with others here on this topic. (Thank you, Carl, for creating this space).
Favorite resource on Philippine culture: Babaylan, Deep Roots, and recently started reading Looking for the Pre-hispanic Filipino by William Henry Scott.
I also like to look for clues on culture in fiction and other forms of creative writing. Favorites have been: The Last Time I Saw Mother, Mango Bride, and The Kindness of Birds
I'm happy that the article was able to reach you. Welcome to the space.
Taking Asian American Studies in my undergraduate years made me interested! I was also taking Feminist Studies courses before I began majoring in AAS, and articles like Yen Le Espiritu’s “We Don’t Sleep Around Like White Girls Do” and books/documentaries that talk about American exploitation of the Philippines and other countries like my Prof. Grace Chang’s “Disposable Domestics” were very influential in my thinking and scholarship. I like thinking through family dynamics and the influence of Spanish Catholicism in demonizing some of the mental health struggles I had growing up and other gendered conservative treatment I received, and I appreciate how your content has exposed me to more on Filipino psychology.
I prefer fiction books, and one of my favorite audiobook that I listened to recently and am now recommending to Everyone is called “America is Not the Heart” by Elaine Castillo. I grew up in the rural suburbs, so less of the ethnoburb of Milpitas that the book is rooted in, but I still relate to so much of the experiences laid out in the book. It also helps me understand the conditions of my dad’s immigration, since unlike Carlos Bulosan’s “America is The Heart,” it is more based in the ‘80s-90s. I like how it highlights more about the Fil-Am queer experience, and the difficulties with homonationalist notions of “coming out” in tight-knit communities. As someone passionate about disability justice, I also appreciate the subtle themes of shame and internalized ableism that the main character Hero experiences due to trauma in her hands.
I'm interested to learn more about Filipino culture because as I am deepening into my spiritual practice, I have come to appreciate and connect with my roots and ancestors. I want to learn the truth about what happened to the Philippines, especially pre-colonial times and read more resources that not written by the colonizers.
I like Carl's 'Deep Roots'. I also resonate with the films Heneral Luna and Balangiga: Howling Wilderness. The latter film particularly resonated with me because of the setting and the way it was told - following the journey of a boy and his father/grandfather (I'm quite not sure) in 1901 when the Americans pillaged and raped the land of Samar. I believe this to be true in all other land of the Philippines colonized for 300 years. To be honest, I started looking at the roots of my motherland during the pandemic when I wanted to learn more about the babaylans/Filipino shamans of old, and I only read about them after doing a google search and I found old photos on wikipedia only as far back as the 1907. The stories of how the babaylans and tribes were almost extinguished and replaced with the spiritual belief/religion of choice of the spanish colonizers still have me questioning this religion and its roots. I've bought other books on shamanism, but haven't gotten to diving deep yet. My most recent purchase is Grace Nono's Babaylan Sing Back.
Hi Althea, glad to see you here. We will be looking into pieces on environmental ethics eventually, though maybe you'd be interested in this article I wrote for the International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, on deep ecology and the Filipino spirit world: https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/ijts-transpersonalstudies/vol42/iss1/4/
What made you interested to study more about Philippine culture?
- I have studied Philippine / Filipino American history, culture, politics, etc. for close to three decades and it's become both an obsession and part of my identity. Part of it was growing up as a Filipino American and experiencing racism and disconnection to community/culture. I also teach Filipino American history. I'm always looking to learn more...as we all should. =)
What is your favorite resource (book, film, article, etc.) about Philippine culture? What about this resource resonates with you, that you feel might be an important truth about the Filipino identity?
- Too many to name. What got me started was reading Filway's Philippine Almanac when I was 14. It gave me an overview of Philippine history/culture. Jose Rizal the movie has been quite formative growing up. I've read, watched, and consumed many resources since then. Some important works include Vicente Rafael's Contracting Colonialism, Fanella Cannell's Power and Intimacy in the Christian Philippines, Carlos Bulosan's America is in the Heart, William Scott's Barangay, Paul Kramer's Blood of Government, the movies Heneral Luna and Goyo, on and on and on. I think all of these resources discuss the effects and non-effects of colonialism on Filipinos and Filipino Americans. I believe we can't talk about identity without addressing how colonialism changed us, but also how colonialism couldn't penetrate various indigenous cultures.
Glad to see a fellow teacher in this space. I'm excited to see how we can learn from each other, and maybe how these ideas can be applied to the educational setting.
I am a 42 year old Filipino American, and grew up fairly isolated from my ancestral roots. Aside from visiting the Philippines for three weeks with my mom and sister 22 years ago, I have never been around any Filipinos in my age group.
I lost my mom and oldest brother to COVID two years ago, and realized in my grief that my ancestral and cultural connections were indirectly made through family--and that I needed to make my own direct connections for the sake of my descendants. I have been trying to learn Tagalog, and hope to learn Ilocano some day. I have also been cooking more Filipino food.
Although I was born and raised in America, I have often felt out of tune with Western culture and values. I became very interested in Taoism and Buddhism as a teenager, and I believe that background primed my current explorations of indigenous spiritual practices.
I'm sorry to hear that this happened to you. Welcome to the space, Alexis. I hope this place gives you some comfort and a little bit of that sense of home.
What made you interested to study more about Philippine culture?
To deepen my knowledge about Philippine culture to release the harmful and toxic behaviors and patterns I inherited.
What is your favorite resource (book, film, article, etc.) about Philippine culture? What about this resource resonates with you that you feel might be an important truth about the Filipino identity?
As corny as it sounds, I watched the film Seven Sundays 5 years ago on a flight from SF to Manila. It has stuck with me since then because family values are important to me.
What made you interested to study more about Philippine culture? I am not a fan of history. AT ALL. However, in my discussions with friends recently, I have come to understand how important history is to understand psychology + how it'll help in moving FORWARD. Who else to "study" it with, but someone interesting. (YOU) hahaha! So thanks for this!
What is your favourite resource (book, film, article, etc.) about Philippine culture? The society pages! (hahahaha kakahiya!) What about this resource resonates with you, that you feel might be an important truth about the Filipino identity? It's the aspirational aspect that I initially thought I may be interested in. But I realised that I don't want to get dressed and party that way so often. LOL!
I'm honored that you came here to study with me. This study group is as much your space as it is mine, and I'm excited to hear what insights you might eventually have. I remember reading a wonderful article by Jaime Bulatao on the society pages. I wrote a modern update on his article, titled "The Values of High Society," published in Busay, a student publication in UP Visayas. You can find it here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/bgj2dufm9x2jii3/Busay_%25C2%25A92021_%2528Year_43%2529.pdf/file
Thanks for this! Downloading to read.
1. I'm 2nd or 3rd generation Fil-Am and I've always been interested in Philippine history and pre-colonial Philippine culture. I feel that I could see traces of that culture in my grandparent's Catholicism and the superstitions that they and my mother adhered too.
2. At present, my favorite books about Philippine culture are "A History of the Philippines: From Indios Bravos to Filipinos" by Luis H. Francia and "Prehistoric Philippines" by Ambeth R. Ocampo. In particular, Ocampo talks about the importance of learning regional and local pre-colonial history and culture and connects those artifacts or knowledge to today's world. If we look at the history of the Philippines from more of a colonialist lens or more of an anticolonialist lens, what is true, for me, about the Filipino cultural identity is that our cultural indigeneity has stayed with us despite years of religious conversion/indoctrination, colonial education, or even assimilation in the diaspora through migration.
1. I'm half Filipina and working in the Diversity and Wellbeing space. I wanted to reconnect with my roots and to take steps closer to understanding my proximity to Filipino culture, values, beliefs.
2. Back from the Crocodile's Belly: Philippine Babaylan Studies and the Struggle for Indigenous Memory by S. Lily Mendoza and Leny Mendoza Strobel — this literature has been helpful in reckoning with my ancestor's experiences and struggles. It helps me to honor the stories and humanity of Filipino people. It allows me to acknowledge the colonial systems that disrupted some of these stories and yet, to see the strength and resilience and softness of my people.
1. I’m a Hawai‘i born and raised descendent of Itneg and Ilocano farmers who migrated to Hawai‘i to work in the plantations. I grew up and intentionally embed myself in Hawaiian culture and values and honor the islands as the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. I have always been fascinated by my Hawaiian ‘ohana’s ability to recall their genealogy all the way back to the source of life. I was pressured by my parents to assimilate and I did but now feel like I am more distant from my roots than my parents intended.
2. My source of Filipino culture and tradition came from my grandmother. Inang taught me a bit about everything; ilot, agas, and kanin. Inang sailed into the other side in 2008 and I’ve continued to search for her and my ancestors in books, movies and social media hoping to trace my genealogy to some source.
1. What made you interested to study more about Philippine culture?
I am Filipino on my Mothers side, born and raised in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Recently I started feeling a homesickness for the Philippines that I’ve never experienced before, for places and people I’ve never met. I wasn’t raised speaking Tagalog but I want to start my journey. I also began weaving (Raranga) here in Aotearoa using a native plant called Harakeke, and through this indigenous creative process I’ve been reconnecting to the natural world, to remember my own roots and connect back to plants. My Mothers family are from the Bicol region and I know I have a shaman in our line. I’ve been very interested to reconnect with my ancestors.
2. What is your favorite resource (book, film, article, etc.) about Philippine culture? What about this resource resonates with you, that you feel might be an important truth about the Filipino identity?
Your resources have been immensely helpful and inspiring on my journey Carl! Also, Gabes Torres - her podcast with you, as well as another one on Green Dreamer. Decolonizing, healing and Re-membering! Beautiful. Also stories and folklore direct from my Grandfather - he used to tell me about the Aswang, Duende.. and my Mum always said Tabi tabi Po growing up. And lastly the Food! It’s always been food growing up within Filipino gatherings, community and sharing. The last time I went home with Ma, I ate a lot of Papaya, I saved the seeds and my tito planted them out for me - now there’s a big papaya tree in their back yard! Gardening and remembering through the plants.
Salamat po! Thank you for being here as a safe space to learn and grow together ✨💛
Welcome to the space, Abigail. It's very exciting to see how your experience with local practices there could enrich us in our understanding of indigenous psychology and spirituality. Hoping to hear more of your reflections soon.
What made you interested to study more about Philippine culture?
Hi! I don’t know if I can point to a specific origin for my interest. The two main drivers for my interest are 1) my wife who is Filipina and 2) my dissertation that looked at how Filipinos (from the Philippines) respond to identity threats in American workplaces. Your posts and podcasts help fill a void in understanding the Filipino psyche.
What is your favorite resource (book, film, article, etc.) about Philippine culture? What about this resource resonates with you, that you feel might be an important truth about the Filipino identity?
Currently, my favorite resource is Handbook of Filipino Psychology edited by R. Pe-Pua, and its importance for me regarding Filipino identity is that the book is written by Filipino scholars about Filipino identity (or indigenous psychology). It’s the most exhaustive book that I’ve been able to get ahold of in the U.S.
Wonderful, that handbook is also my go-to resource. When you get to reading the resources I post here, feel free to connect it to concepts you read from there and share it with everyone.