Reference: Katie Joaquin, Anakbayan East Bay, anakbayan_eb@ yahoo.com
On the Fourth of July, Anakbayan East Bay honors the ongoing People's Struggle for GENUINE Freedom and National Democracy!
Reflections from a historic moment of Filipino-American youth nation-wide unifying "In Honor of the Struggle"...
BAYAN-USA and NAFCON enlivened the festivities of the New York City Philippine Independence Parade, June 12, with waving flags, drumming, and chants celebrating the people's movement, demanding migrant rights and justice for nurses and domestic workers – struggling on in the spirit of Ka Bel! One call drew attention to Gloria's complacency amidst a growing rice crisis – crowd observers nodded in recognition and joined in the chant: Habang si Gloria, Ay na sa itaas, Masyadong mataas ang presyo ng bigas! [So long as Gloria is in power, it will be on the rise, too high is the price of rice!]
During the celebration of Philippine "independence" the contingent of youth, students, workers, faith leaders and activists carried on the rich Filipino people's tradition of revealing and resisting injustice to fight towards genuine freedom for the people. Yet on a day purporting to celebrate freedom for Filipinos, the BAYAN-USA and NAFCON contingent was met with Philippine Independence Day Committee (PIDC) and New York Police Department (NYPD) attempts to silence our spirited efforts no less than 3 times. So no less than 3 times did we take collective action to creatively resist!
1. CREATIVE PROTEST AND PROJECTION! Citing our signs, banners, and bullhorns, NYPD blocked BAYAN-USA and NAFCON entrance to the festival. We gathered on the corner across from the festival entrance and from there, projected our calls to a growing crowd of people on the opposite side of the street. We packed up our signs and bullhorns so we could enter the festival, but not for long. A couple hours into the festival we took out our signs – calling attention to Philippine government corruption, the rice crisis, and PIDC commercialization – and held them high on a silent "snake parade" protest through the crowd, up to the main stage and back, while handing out the Philippine Forum's SANLAHI paper to curious onlookers. We were escorted away from the crowd by NYPD.
2. GUERILLA STYLE BOOTH! One of the PIDC injustices protested was a $1,100 fee required in order to have a festival booth space. We set-up a makeshift table on a central corner and reclaimed our community right to the space, guerilla style and distributed hundreds of SANLAHI papers.
3. IN DEFENSE OF MUSIC & THE PEOPLE! Two members of the Kapatirang Pilipino / Kappa Pi fraternity Peewee Recaido and Rusty Fabunan made music with snare and makeshift drums, the power in their beats attracting a crowd of youth to the table, forming a circle, moving youth to nod their heads and break to the beats. An NYPD officer grabbed them and took them to a corner where he cited them for "failure to disperse" at the gathering supposing to celebrate the freedom of the Filipino people. They were released only after persistent pressure and vigilance from the crowd of Filipinos and youth who began chanting – "It's just music!! What's wrong with it??" Rusty Fabunan addressed the crowd after their return to the group – the NYPD were going to take them to the precinct and because of public presence and pressure they were not arrested, but were given a summons. If not for the immediate collective reaction, they might have gotten much worse. Not dissimilar from the repression of our kasama in the Philippines building people power, the power of the youth was seen as a threat to NYPD, under the direction of PIDC, who immediately squashed the growing crowd unifying around the BAYAN-USA and NAFCON table.
NAFCON and BAYAN-USA organizations mobilized for an action at the Philippine Consulate, calling out their role in leading PIDC and NYPD harassment of the NAFCON and BAYAN-USA contingent, and demanding: Drop all charges against Peewee and Rusty! NYPD and PIDC apologize! No to racial profiling! Peewee and Rusty's court date is on the horizon, and the Philippine Consulate, PIDC, and NYPD have not heard the last from organized Filipinos.
The rich history of the Filipino People demonstrates that no "freedom" is ever won without struggle. The BAYAN-USA and NAFCON contingent upheld that any celebration of "independence" or "freedom" must recognize and celebrate the ongoing struggle of the people for genuine freedom and national democracy!
The Philippine Independence Day activities followed the official launch of SANDIWA ("one consciousness and one spirit"), a national alliance of Filipino-American youth, students, and community activists organized to (re)educate, celebrate, and advocate for issues that affect our Filipino communities in the United States and in the Philippines. The convening named "In Honor of the Struggle" brought together Filipino youth nation-wide, another testament that the struggle of the Philippine people is alive and growing. And from the East Bay of the Oakland/Bay Area, to Queens & Manhattan of New York, to the Philippines, the Filipino youth continue the tradition of unifying to advance social change and fight for genuine freedom and national democracy!!!
DROP ALL CHARGES AGAINST PEEWEE AND RUSTY!!!
NYPD AND PIDC APOLOGIZE! AND STOP RACIALLY PROFILING OUR PEOPLE!
MAKIBAKA! HUWAG MATAKOT!
MABUHAY ANG MOVEMENT FOR GENUINE FREEDOM AND NATIONAL DEMOCRACY!
LONG LIVE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY!! !!
Music
Movies
STOP THE POLITICAL KILLINGS IN THE PHILIPPINES !! OUST GMA !! PART 1
PART 2
Television
Social Justice Academy
The goal of AnakBayan East Bay’s Social Justice Academy is to arouse, organize, and mobilize Filipin@ youth in Union City around issues of social justice and social change with a special emphasis on and in connection with the principles of the movement in the Philippines towards true and national democracy.
AB EB Social Justice Academy (SJA) Overview
SJA will meet at the Filipinos for Affirmative Action Office in Union City, and the meeting time will be from 5:30pm to 7:30pm every other Monday starting February 4, 2008. New folks are always welcome to join in on the sessions.
The youth of SJA will engage in educational discussions on existing power structures like capitalism, male supremacy, white supremacy, and so forth in connection to their own struggles. They will also investigate and study the current conditions of the Philippines under U.S. imperialism, while also examining its relationship to Filipinos in the U.S. SJA youth will also be given basic organizing skills that will help them to build and sustain a campaign.
Another goal of AB EB is to plug all of the participants at the end of June into some type of outlet where they may utilize the knowledge and skills that they learned in SJA, be it in AB EB or an existing local campaign. However, during SJA, participating youth will be invited to attend events and mobilizations.
About me: ANAKBAYAN East Bay is a comprehensive
national democratic mass organization of
Filipino youth and students in the eastern
portion of the San Francisco Bay Area. As a
chapter of ANAKBAYAN Philippines, ANAKBAYAN
East Bay stands in solidarity with
the youth and peoples’ movements for
genuine National Democracy in the Philippines.
ANAKBAYAN East Bay upholds the interest
and demands of the Filipino Youth and the
people by
(1) engaging, organizing, and mobilizing
the youth and students in the East Bay
around the collective interests of poor and
working-class Filipino communities living
in the United States and
(2) linking these struggles to the popular
campaigns for jobs, land, education, civil,
and political rights, and social services
waged by youth in the Philippines.
The U.S. government, which is currently engaged in a borderless “war on terror,” will be very happy with the impending implementation of the Human Security Act of 2007 (HSA) – also known as the Anti-Terrorism Law – in the Philippines. But the Filipino people have no reason to rejoice when the law begins to take effect. Under the said law, rebellion, insurrection, and coup d’ etat are classified as “acts of terrorism.” It will not be difficult for the government to tag its critics as member of “communist front organizations” or “fronts for rebel soldiers” and let them bear the brunt of the HSA. The biggest loser here will be human rights, which is already under attack with the spate of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, and the relentless attempts of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration to curtail civil liberties.
"Free our Sisters, Free ourselves!" An evening celebrating the struggles & Triumphs of Filipino Women
Join us for a night of performances, art, and community as we showcase the talents of local Pinay artists and cultural workers. Special guest speaker Emmi De Jesus from GABRIELA Philippines will also share about the current issues that affect Filipina women in the Philippines.
Lincoln Community Center 901 Brunswick (at Acton) Daly City, CA 941014
**FOOD & DRINKS **SILENT AUCTION & gallery **Diwang Pinay Merchandise for sale
Sliding scale - $7-$10 Youth 10-17yrs old w/student ID - $5 Children under 10yrs - FREE
guess what i just got?! you wouldnt believe it if i told you lol, but you know all those lame azz ads people are sending to each other about cards? i did one today to see if it works and it does. makes sense now why its so popular lmao. im pretty sure i got mine from this site right here, im not positive though so click to go see real quick. if its right make sure you take 1 so we can get some gear
People please come thru, support your folks, and celebrate life.
This Thursday 11/15 An ALAY Fundraiser + Scorpio Birthdays Celebration
Soul Deluxxe & the Community present…
Pacific Standard Time
w/ Resident DJ SAKE ONE plus Djs Wonway and Aebl Dee Spinnin 360 degrees of Soul Music
1710 Mission Street at Duboce 10pm-2am | $5 | 21+ w/ ID
Come thru and help raise funds for the Filipino Community Center's (FCC) Youth Organization ALAY (Active Leadership To Advance the Youth) for their Summer Exposure trip to the Philippines.
Always glad to help whenever we can and always happy to help pass on the message. Thanks to all the folks in Anakbayan that are always happy to answer some answer. I saw a lot of people who I knew personally just learning about whats happening and now wanting more knowledge. And one thing they all had to say was that the work folks are doing are good work. So Maraming Salamat so inyong lahat!
