Celebration and Contestation: Filipino-American History Month

In light of Filipino-American History Month (FAHM), ABC10 of Sacramento published a story and video clip explaining why FAHM is celebrated in October. The ABC10 article and clip discuss how FAHM celebrates the “history, heritage, culture and achievements of Filipino Americans.” The month was first recognized in 2009, when the California government sought to commemorate the first Filipino settlers who arrived in Morro Bay, California in October 1587. The video flashes clips of Filipino sailors, veterans, farm workers, along with a few key historical figures like Lary Iliong of the Delano Grape Strikes. The story notes this year’s theme: 50 years since the Young Filipino People’s Far West Movement, a national coalition of Filipino organizers and students who advocated for anti-martial law, farmworkers’ rights, and the promotion of ethnic studies. The Young Filipino People’s Far West convention is considered the beginning of The Filipino American Movement, or an expression of Filipino American as a both an ethnic and political identity.

However, FAHM does not occur without contention. The lore around the landing of “Indios Luzones” (Filipino migrants) in Morro Bay evokes a celebration of settler colonialism by ignoring the existence of Chumash Natives in the Bay. Young Filipino scholars like Adrian De Leon are working to unpack this “celebration” of Morro Bay; in an upcoming webinar, “Firsting Filipinos: The 1587 Morro Bay Landing and Asian America’s Settler Colonial Historiography,” De Leon will discuss how Filipinos (and broadly Asian-Americans) are situated within– and complicit in– settler colonialism and Indigenous erasure. He asks, “how can settlers of color in the U.S. enact public histories on stolen land?” Indigenous Peoples’ Day and FAHM both happen in October, and it is imperative that as non-Native Filipinos, we recognize that we are both settlers in America and  part of a marginalized community.

Sources:

https://www.abc10.com/article/news/community/race-and-culture/celebrating-national-filipin

o-american-history-month/103-346b0061-c261-4857-a703-8e0a423aa74a

https://www.first5la.org/article/celebrating-filipino-american-history-month/

http://fanhs-national.org/filam/filipino-american-history-month-october-2021/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUoTilnAYt6/?utm_medium=copy_link