Philippine History Workshop
Let me tell you about Emmanual Sayo.
We call him "Kuya Manny" and he is a strong, quiet presence who is also kinda brilliant. A community researcher, he has been actively organizing the Filipino community in Canada for at least a couple decades. We're very excited to have him around.
On Sunday, March 15, he came over to one of our houses for a Philippine History Workshop. That was... interesting. He had a two-page outline which we sorta skipped through, stopping every once in a while to elaborate on the bombing of Manila, or the difference between the occupations by the Japanese vs. the Americans. We ended up having a deep discussion on the organizing work here in Montreal, which was unexpected, but quite enlightening. I gotta say, I thought that the thing was a bit of a blur. But I guess I shoulda been more aware of the fact that we can't sit for a just a couple hours and review hundreds of years of colonization.
Kuya Manny's goal for the workshop was to emphasize the fact that before we go into learning about the real history of the Philippines, we should be investigating our own history and getting to know ourselves in the context of our migration in Canada. Why did our parents leave the Philippines? How did they end up in Canada? What is our role as Filipino youth now that we are here and trying to understand ourselves in this country?
Stuff to think about.
In the meantime, find yourself a copy of Renato Constantino's "The Miseducation of the Filipino". It may just blow you away.
(Actually, find anything by Renato Constantino. He and Leitizia Constantino wrote a couple books called "The Philippines: A Past Revisited" and "The Philippines: A Continuing Past". Both excellent critical analyses of Philippine History. Amado Guerrero's "Philippine Society and Revolution" is also pretty amazing.. Oh! and find yourself a copy of Carlos Bulosan's "America is in the Heart"! It's about a young farm boy who leaves his home to be a migrant worker in America, but it takes place in the early 1900s and it's just gorgeous. You won't regret this read.)
(hmm.... I think the bloggers and I will compile a reading list for y'all. Ooh! project!)
By the way - the folks at the Kapit Bisig Centre are hosting a series of workshops and discussion groups leading up to the Ugat conference. Want in? Email us (kabataangmontreal at gmail dot com)
We call him "Kuya Manny" and he is a strong, quiet presence who is also kinda brilliant. A community researcher, he has been actively organizing the Filipino community in Canada for at least a couple decades. We're very excited to have him around.
On Sunday, March 15, he came over to one of our houses for a Philippine History Workshop. That was... interesting. He had a two-page outline which we sorta skipped through, stopping every once in a while to elaborate on the bombing of Manila, or the difference between the occupations by the Japanese vs. the Americans. We ended up having a deep discussion on the organizing work here in Montreal, which was unexpected, but quite enlightening. I gotta say, I thought that the thing was a bit of a blur. But I guess I shoulda been more aware of the fact that we can't sit for a just a couple hours and review hundreds of years of colonization.
Kuya Manny's goal for the workshop was to emphasize the fact that before we go into learning about the real history of the Philippines, we should be investigating our own history and getting to know ourselves in the context of our migration in Canada. Why did our parents leave the Philippines? How did they end up in Canada? What is our role as Filipino youth now that we are here and trying to understand ourselves in this country?
Stuff to think about.
In the meantime, find yourself a copy of Renato Constantino's "The Miseducation of the Filipino". It may just blow you away.
(Actually, find anything by Renato Constantino. He and Leitizia Constantino wrote a couple books called "The Philippines: A Past Revisited" and "The Philippines: A Continuing Past". Both excellent critical analyses of Philippine History. Amado Guerrero's "Philippine Society and Revolution" is also pretty amazing.. Oh! and find yourself a copy of Carlos Bulosan's "America is in the Heart"! It's about a young farm boy who leaves his home to be a migrant worker in America, but it takes place in the early 1900s and it's just gorgeous. You won't regret this read.)
(hmm.... I think the bloggers and I will compile a reading list for y'all. Ooh! project!)
By the way - the folks at the Kapit Bisig Centre are hosting a series of workshops and discussion groups leading up to the Ugat conference. Want in? Email us (kabataangmontreal at gmail dot com)
posted by JFC at
8:26 AM
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