On May 25 2020, African-American George Floyd died at the knee of a white police officer trying to arrest him for using an alleged counterfeit $20 bill. The incident that lasted 8 minutes and 46 seconds was captured in a cellphone video, by a bystander. And once released on social media, put a spotlight on decades-old problems of place brutality, racial inequality, and systemic racism, among others.
Notwithstanding the threat of coronavirus, people took to the streets in major U.S. cities and around the globe, to protest, under the predominant cry of #blacklivesmatter
In this show, lifelong Filipino activist and retired professor Carol Ojeda-Kimbrough, talks us through the issues, to help us understand and take a stand –
In segment 1 – We discuss the backstory/history/herstory – We are Filipinos. We have our own issues. Just recently, we were faced with a fight against #Xenophobia. Now with this black lives matter – Should we take on this as our fight? Or should we stand in solidarity? Or should we push for allyship?
Professor Ojeda-Kimbrough talks about issues specific to Filipinos in America – immigration and family reunification are foremost of them. She mentioned that Covid-19 has also added to community issues since most Filipinos work on the frontlines as medical staff, caregivers, maintenance crews, and other essential staff. Nonetheless, the professor says the Black community’s fight is also our fight because we are fighting against the same social injustices – racism and police brutality.
She says “solidarity” and “allyship” are often used interchangeably; but “ally ship” mostly refers to members of White America who support BLM and anti-racism. With this said, Ojeda-Kimbrough cautions everyone who wants to show up in the arena, to engage the brain before operating the mouth. She asserts that learning about Black history is crucial to understanding current events and mapping out a strategy for the future.
In segment 2 – We discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s response to the protests of sending out the military and National Guards. And compare this tactic to the Martial Law that former dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared in the Philippines during his regime.
Prof. Ojeda-Kimbrough points out that increased militarization is another form of distraction being used by Trump administration. The main issue, as most American historians, politicians, civil leaders have pointed out: lies in the lack of leadership during a global pandemic.
Prof. Ojeda-Kimbrough candidly explains how she thinks this may be a move to hijack the November 2020 election.
In segment 3 – Prof. Ojeda-Kimbrough suggests things the community can do and starts with a quote from Martin Luther King – “Riots is the Voice of the Unheard.” She says joining peaceful protests is one thing.
And cautions that before we pass judgment on violent and aggressive demonstrators, we have to remember what a Philippine national artist said in his poem, on the repression of the Filipinos by the Spanish colonizers:
“Kung Tuyo na Ang Luha Mo Inang Bayan”
(When your tears have dried, My country)
May araw ding ang luha mo’y masasaid, matutuyo,
(There will come a day when your tears will dry up)
May araw ding di na luha sa mata mong namumugto
(There will come a day when your eyes will swell because of the tears)
Ang dadaloy, kundi apoy, at apoy na kulay dugo,
(What will flow, if not fire, will be fire that is the same color as blood)
Samantalang ang dugo mo ay aserong kumukulo;
(While your blood will boil like steel)
Sisigaw kang buong giting sa liyab ng libong sulo
(You will scream in the flames of your cries)
At ang lumang tanikala’y lalagutin mo ng punglo!
(And you will break the folds and old chains)
In ending, the professor reminds us that we need to start with ourselves –
Educate! Read books. Watch videos and engage in dialogue. And a reminder that another way to effect change is by voting.
In segment 4 – We remind viewers that despite all that’s happening in the world, we should not forget that we are still in the middle of fighting a deadly global pandemic. MJ Garcia Dia, President-elect of Philippine Nurses Association of America, talks about the work that nurses are continuing to do and shares some reminders for the community.
As we continue to shelter in place – we aim to share relevant and accurate information and tools to help the public manage during this time of global pandemic.
“SO Jannelle” is a weekly half-hour talk-show, hosted by well-known and well-respected Filipino-American media pioneer Jannelle So.
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Oh sometimes very special African American men have been loving Filipino women for over 100 years and are the relationship between African American and Filipino people go back over 100 years but the pale face didn't want you to know that but that the true.
I FEEL SORRY FOR THESE PEOPLE”: AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN WAR, 1899–1902 What you didn't know that our relationship goes back to Philippine-American war THE 19TH-CENTURY AFRICAN-AMERICAN SOLDIER WHO FOUGHT FOR FILIPINO LIBERATION
Angry at the Treatment of Blacks in the US, in 1899 David Fagan Deserted His Regiment and Became a Household Name Back HomeIn 1899, during a campaign on the island of Luzon to entrap the Filipino revolutionary president Emilio Aguinaldo, a 21-year-old buffalo soldier named David Fagen deserted from the American army.
He wasn’t homesick. Young Fagen decided to join the Filipino revolutionaries and quickly took up arms against his former countrymen. In time, he became a guerrilla leader of such renown that his Filipino fighters called him “General Fagen.”Fagen enjoyed a good time. He was a master of stud poker, having regularly relieved his fellow soldiers of several hundred dollars on payday. He was fond of carousals, played the guitar, and lived in the camp with his Filipino wife. He was “often amusing” and voluble, supremely confident, and a natural leader. Fagen even inspired mystery, and controversy, in matters of death. With a reward on his head, he retreated to the desolate Pacific coast. In December 1901, a Filipino hunting party brought in a moldering head and Fagen’s effects, claiming they had killed the renegade. The army announced Fagen’s death and hundreds of newspapers covered the story. Only the English-language Manila American made a mockery of the Army’s account of Fagen’s killing, but that story went unreported in America and was entirely overlooked until I recently discovered it. In the end, Fagen was not a central military player in the war; the region where he fought was of secondary importance in terms of the larger struggle. But he is important as an African-American who took up arms against a country racist to the core and bent on empire at the expense of a dark-skinned people. As a revolutionary officer and later as a bandit leader, Fagen confounded the American whites. He not only challenged their supremacist assumptions; he also mocked them, defiant in the face of the noose and the burning stake. Take care and God bless
#TIMELESSBEAUTY TALAGA SI MS. JANELLE SO💖
thank you for always fighting for understanding
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Thank you to Janelle for sharing her learning experience with us, and to retired professor Carol Ojeda-Kimbrough for filling in the back story of U.S. race relations for our immigrant family members. Many of our 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation Filipinos are very concerned for our Black friends, colleagues, or loved ones. As Janelle so eloquently put, even amid the looting and property destruction, these struggles and concerns come at a pivotal time in this country and make it clear that we cannot feel safe unless our Black friends, loved ones, and neighbors are safe. We all carry the same hope for humanity, to live in equality, safety and dignity.
Perhaps viewers might be interested in this upcoming webinar June 29 or 30 – simulcast in both the US and Philippines: https://www.facebook.com/PositivelyFilipino/photos/a.395050927245725/2997605080323617/?type=3&theater
For all black you are all safe in philippines
What a load of shit.
I have nothing against with what you said with the protesting, but it still isn’t right to invade/burn somebody else’s property. It’s like saying just because I was angry at my neighbor that it was right for me to burn their house down. So just because you are mad at the government doesn’t mean you have the right to burn down an entire city. How would you like it if you had a big house that you worked very hard to get and suddenly some random person tells you that you must leave your property or else they’ll forcefully take away your house. Please don’t take my opinion offensively…
BLM is a front used to justify the violent actions of ANTIFA. Please stop spreading propaganda. We dont need another coup d'etat in 2020 like what happened in the Philippines in 1986.
Is this a joke? BLM protesters eulogizing thugs. Filipinos and Fil-Ams don't knight drug dealers, pimps, sexual assaulters or criminals, nor do they want Marxism or destruction of the nuclear family. #GeorgeFloydChallenge #dontdometh #dontdofentanyl what.a.joke.
Much love to the Filipino set up for supporting black people
Filipino African-American Stand Tall together
Filipino loves & Support black lives Matter!!
I'm a US citizen living in the Phil. If I start accusing Filipinos of being racist, or talk about the societal issues here publicly, or point out how many Filipinos are biased against their darker-skinned compatriots (like the Aeta people), I would get deported–straight-up kicked out of the country, and possibly even jailed.
Maybe we should apply that same standard to Filipinos living in America accusing whites of being racist.
Black lives Matter is a scam! Dont listen to these people! How many asians were attacked by blacks during covid?