Who Are You? A Survey of the Fil Am Self

Right after the Association of Asian American Studies Conference, a small group of my comrades formed a loose network called the Filipino Soul Aesthetics Working Group. Basically, we are trying to get like-minds together (students, professors, artists/performers, and community organizers) to begin a dialogue about Filipino "soul" (we are still trying to define "soul"). So far, we are zeroing in on Pin@ys and hip hop culture, but we are also open to including Pin@ys and other Black cultural expressions, such as jazz and funk.

Why Black cultural expressions? Many people may be yelling, "Hey! We look Asian! The Philippines is in Asia!" But after self-reflection and self-research, many of us will realize that Filipinos are a very complicated "Asian" group, especially considering Spanish, White American, and African American presence/culture in the Philippines. Check it! Filipinos are extremely mixed in terms of history, language, culture, and artistic expression! Simultaneously, Filipinos occupy a distinct position in richer Asian nations, as Filipinos are mostly "lower-class" workers (and called pretty horrible things by other Asians...btw, any other folks out there have an uncle/cousin heading to Dubai to do construction work or work as a driver??? holla) and we also tend to be stage performers and entertainers in other Asian countries.

Jota dance by Philippine Performance
Arts Company folks in Florida
What is important to understand is that these influences in Filipino expressions/social positions are closely linked to the intense history of Spanish and U.S. colonization, a unique history other Asian nations do not have (yes it goes beyond the chopsticks thing). So, considering this, how would you classify Filipinos culturally/racially/ethnically? (This framework of colonization anchors the questions we will be asking in the Filipino Aesthetics Working Group.)

There is an abundance of current examples of Filipino artists/performers "pin@ytrating" mainstream public culture-- from the "dancing inmates" (Lorenzo Perillo of our Filipino Soul Aesthetics Working Group writes a mean article on these talented Cebuano prisoners), to Charice Pempengco, JabbaWockeez, and even DJ Neil Armstrong touring with Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige (any other examples?). Gathering from this very visible manifestation of Pin@y talent in the "mainstream", I have a couple of questions for you:

Kiwi and Bambu of the
former Native Guns

QUESTION ONE: What ethnic/racial group do you think Pin@ys most closely resemble? [Among popular choices are Asian or Pacific Islander (as seen in Myspace profiles), but many others (as we know) gravitate towards Latino and African American cultural expressions.]

QUESTION TWO: Why do you think there is a gravitation towards Black American cultural art forms among Pin@ys?*


*This probably applies more to second-generation Fil Ams.

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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