A.I.: Un-Hiding the Pinay

Ramiele Malubay tearin' it up on American Idol

In contrast to our dear friend Jasmine Trias (3rd place in American Idol season 3) who on American Idol claimed Hawaiian, Spanish, and Chinese identifications over being a Pinay, Ramiele is boldly displaying her Pinay-ness from day one (Regine Velasquez, what?!). Much love to Ms. Trias for doin the thang and makin' it big especially (and ironically) with a large Filipino (in the Philippines) fan base; she paved the way.

Now, good luck to Ramiele. Prayfully she will be a constructive force to give the mainstream a face for Filipin@ performers, since many Filipin@s in the industry must racially "pass" as East Asian, Latin@, black, or white in order to get their foot in the door. What's up with that? No shame in the name.*


Cold? Pinay Emy Coligado as Native Alaskan (carrying a real heavy burden) on Malcolm in the Middle


Lea Salonga making the ultimate sacrifice in "Miss Saigon"


Put Filipin@s and Florida on that map, girl!
(BTW: Do you think Ramiele is one of those combined names?)

*Note: I'm not "blaming" these artists for disowning their Filipino-ness. Although I'm sure there are Filipino artists who are quick to embrace more recognizable ethnicities/races at the expense of their own. I think the bigger monster to tackle is the public's lack of understanding the dimensions of Filipin@ people (like you know how we are all short, poor, dog-eating prostitutes). This ignorance is compounded and enhanced when it comes to the entertainment biz.

Choking Amnesia
The colony disappears for imperial logic to work;
Ghosts that don't haunt fall beyond forgotten.
But it's beautiful how
The colony reemerges loudly
With intention or not
To mock the flawed project.
We're here. We shine. We're dangerous. Don't act confused.