Getting down with relief! Philippine storm survivor support opportunities

Let us continue our prayers and thoughts for our fam in the islands who are impacted by the recent storm and flood in Metro Manila. The homey DJ Marlino at Heavy Rotation is helping raise funds for Philippine storm survivors. Buy this party-hardy mix and all proceeds will go to the Philippine National Red Cross.


Every bit of help counts! I'm sure (I hope) there are many opportunities where you live. Here are a few:

Via SFGate (Thanks Ninoy Brown!):

Bay Area Groups Aide Philippines Flood Victims
(09-29) 21:44 PDT -- Bay Area Filipino organizations coordinating relief efforts in the aftermath of last weekend's typhoon in the Philippines say monetary donations are desperately needed to help flooding victims, followed by medical supplies and food.

The groups have set up drop-off points for donations and set up ways for people to send money to Filipinos suffering after Tropical Storm Ketsana, which hit the northern Philippines on Saturday and caused the country's worst flooding in four decades. CONTINUE READING...

Via BakitWhy.com:

Ondoy Relief Effort: Los Angeles Organizations Will Collect Donations on October 3
"...Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines, People's Core, Kabataang maka-Bayan, the ANSWER Coalition alongside many other Pilipino organizations, have teamed up with Search to Involve Pilipino American to collect the much needed material for the relief efforts. The generous people at Team Pacquiao with there efforts titled "Operation Metro Manila" will take a huge role in the organization of the relief efforts. CONTINUE READING...

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Let's not forget about the fam in Samoa, Indonesia, and Vietnam too. It's a tough September/October...

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In Those Genes?

Charice Pempengco: Asian Face Don't Match?

At the risk of sounding essentialist, "it's in the genes!"

Of course, I'm being sarcastic, but how many times do we hear this statement? It's even in the comments section of the above clip. Anyways, I would really like to know: What's the deal with Filipino talent? We all probably heard of the stereotype of Asians not having rhythm, soul, voice, etc. because of some stoic, passive, serene cultural attribute. But for some reason that never really made sense to me. In fact, I remember at a New Years Party/poker game with mostly Filipino/as, when people started groovin to the music, a homey who was white said he didn't know how to dance because he "wasn't Asian." I'm very confused.

What is more confusing to people is seeing Asian faces that don't "match" the performance. I am convinced that Filipinos are out there to baffle Joe Averageman. Sadly, I think that the legacy and tradition of Filipino dance/song/music performance has been very underappreciated, especially in the U.S.; it is underappreciated on both sides: from those who just dismiss Filipinos as a curious aberration that don't really contribute to the development of creative culture (how many times have we gotten "oh you're just another Pinoy breakdancer/DJ?") AND from Filipinos themselves who might blow some pipes or bust dope moves but don't realize they are part of a greater history and community of Filipino performance tradition. For the former, I think the notion of Filipino "invisibility" and "misrecognition" as Elizabeth Pisares writes about has much to do with the downplay of Filipino creativity; we simply don't fit nicely into a racial/ethnic category for people to easily understand or consume. And for the latter, I think Filipinos should dig deeper in their creative roots and understand the historical and community context in which their talent emerges. "We're very talented people" shouldn't be a saying that we giggle about; we need to take it seriously and not downplay a very proud tradition.

And to touch on the "genes" theory, I have a hunch Miss Charice Pempengco is Chinese-Filipina (peep her accent when she talks to Ellen? And "engco" on Filipinos' last names are "Filipinized" Chinese names, right? I need your thoughts). If that's the case, then we can be sure that creativity and skills (and rhythm) are reproduced through culture (as I have been emphasizing throughout this blog) and not through blood (I mean, not to say that those who are Chinese don't have the above attributes, as I know that's definitely not true!). Even though Filipino culture has strong precolonial performance roots, as we know, the Philippines, as a U.S. colony, has been going through a thorough "Americanization" which includes a "African Americanization" for more than a century (hence the dope yet little known soul, jazz, and funk bands in the Philippines and States in the 70s, Filipino American R&B and hip hop today, and Filipino hip hop(ish) dance troupes worldwide). So the colonized speaks! And "speaks so well"...

Keep on keepin' on, good people. Keep it loud and keep it hot!



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