Together, We Have. Together, We Are. Together, We Will….

A Unity Statement of the Filipino Community on Immigrant Rights

Together, We Have
Worked the fields and in the canneries
Nursed the ill and the elderly
Taught the young and tomorrow’s leaders
Fought for freedom and defeated tyranny
Invented new technologies and perfected the old
Ministered to congregations celebrating life and coping with grief

Together, We Are
The doctors and nurses who heal the sick and tend the wounded
The engineers who build skyscrapers and roads
The accountants who keep businesses running, small and large
The custodians and room cleaners, clerks and dock hands who do thankless jobs with dignity and pride
The veterans who braved world wars to defend democracy
The farm workers, cooks and waiters, who put food on America’s tables
The playwrights and poets, painters and musicians who awaken our dreams and inspire our actions
Four million people who are your neighbors, friends, co-workers, employees, partners and community members

Together, We Will
Continue to cherish the American values of equality and freedom, and oppose misguided policies that undermine them.
Keep families and communities, workplaces and homes together, because dividing us weakens us all
Fight for immigrant rights that value our contributions to society and give us the opportunity to fulfill our potential to build a better world.

Our Principles and Demands:

Uphold the dignity and humanity of all individuals. Legalization now!
Civilized society embraces equality and upholds the humanity of all people. Labeling individuals “illegal” demeans them, and forces millions to endure dangerous jobs, and to toil in the shadows in slave-like conditions. Criminalizing people for being “undocumented” subjects millions to the exploitation of traffickers, to remain in abusive relationships, or to refrain from reporting crimes because the authorities may imprison the victim instead of the perpetrator. We need legalization now, to free our community from the indignity of being labeled as “illegal”, and the inhumane treatment which is sanctioned by it and endangers us all.

Unify and Protect Families
Families of all shapes and sizes—parents and children, siblings, cousins and grandparents, same sex couples–deserve to be together. Many Filipino families have been waiting over 20 years to have their petitions for loved ones approved. We must clear the Family Visa backlog to stabilize our communities, both in the U.S. and in our homeland. We must protect immigrant women and children escaping abuse, and refuse to allow them to be subjected to the further cruelty of deportation. Children of immigrants should be shielded from all harm, including separation from their families and the threat of deportation. Support services must be provided in our languages and with sensitivity to our cultural values and norms.

Value Our Labor– Workers Rights for All!
The U.S. was built with the blood and sweat of working people. All workers must have the right to organize and to be free from exploitative contracts and working conditions. Having a underclass of workers drives down wages and protections for all of us. We must normalize the status of guest workers, because temporary contracts serve as a tool to undermine all workers. Law enforcement should punish illegal recruitment agencies and unscrupulous employers and lawyers, who maximize profits by preying on vulnerable and desperate workers—workers should not be penalized for the actions of their employers. The labor and contributions of all people, including immigrants and those who are undocumented, should be valued equally.

Dignity, Respect and Due Process for All!
The US government’s aggressive foreign policies of war and exploitation fuel economic and social instability worldwide. Immigrants should not be blamed for our national security concerns. Rampant raids, deportation, and inhumane conditions in detention centers jeopardize the safety of everyone. The billions of tax payer dollars contracted to build up and further militarize the U.S.-Mexico borders does not make us safer. We must build our immigration policies on the sound universality of human rights, not the volatility of criminalization and militarization.

Forced Migration is a Result of the Global Economic Crisis
One-sided and unfair trade agreements that have been designed to maximize profits for greedy corporations have destroyed the economy of the Philippines and many other countries, contributing to the ever-worsening economic crisis that has forced millions of Filipinos to seek jobs and means of survival elsewhere. U.S. political and military support to corrupt regimes who bankrupt their countries and repress their people also fuel worsening migrant and refugee conditions. We will link arms in solidarity with all migrant communities in the U.S. and internationally, until we have built a society where all people can thrive, families are not fragmented and separated by the urgent need for survival, and our homelands have the conditions in which all people can live a decent and humane life.

Signatories:

BAYAN-USA * National Alliance for Filipino Concerns * GABRIELA-USA * SanDiwa National Alliance of Fil-Am Youth * Filipino Advocates for Justice * FOCUS (Filipino Community Support- Silicon Valley) * Fellowship for Filipino Migrants-Chicago * AnakBayan Chapters of East Bay, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, New York/New Jersey * Babae SF * League of Filipino Students- SFSU * SiGAw (Sisters of Gabriela Awaken) * South of Market Community Action Network * Filipino Ministry-Diocese of San Bernardino * Filipino Migrant Center-Los Angeles* Filipinas for Rights & Empowerment- NY * Pinay sa Seattle * Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines-Portland, San Francisco, New York Chapters * Filipino Community Center-San Francisco * Pilipino Youth Coalition-Southern Alameda County * Habi Arts-Los Angeles

Through Performance, Students and Community Members Call for Clean and Fair Elections and an End to Oplan Bantay Laya in the Philippines

Contacts:
Kuusela Hilo
Vice Chair, BAYAN-USA
vc@bayanusa.org

Daya Mortel
Southwest Regional Coordinator, BAYAN-USA
sc@bayanusa.org

University of California, Los Angeles – Community members and students called for clean and fair elections in the Philippines and an end to human rights violations with two events on campus–Fowler Out Loud and Power in Numbers.  AnakBayan Los Angeles, Habi Arts, and Sisters of GABRIELA, Awaken (SiGAw), all member organizations of BAYAN USA, collaborated with students Diane Valencia, Lorenzo Perillo, and student groups Samahang Pilipino and members of PAGaSA to present an evening of performance.

During Fowler Out Loud, SiGAw performed excerpts from their show Pasanin Mo Pasanin Ko: Bridging the Struggle of Filipinas.  Members addressed the issue of violence against women through narratives, poems, and song.  Terrie Cervas, SiGAw member and Vice Chair of GABRIELA-USA, stated, “Here in the US, Filipinas face multiple forms of violence, such as rape, discrimination, sexual harassment and more.  Filipinas back home face similar forms of violence and they also suffer under the violence perpetrated by the government.  Over 200 women have fallen as victims to the human rights violations committed by the administration of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA).  It’s because of the repressive government and depressed economy that over 3,000 Filipinos leave the country everyday, majority of whom are women.”

UCLA students similarly explored the issues of human rights injustices through dance at workshops conducted with Habi Arts co-founding member and Filipina-American torture survivor Melissa Roxas.  The workshops resulted in a collaborative piece with Melissa, choreographers Lorenzo and Nico, and UCLA dancers.  The final performance presented was a movement piece that expressed the profound effect of human rights violations on individuals and the community.  The dance was accompanied by narration and projected images of victims of human rights violations in the Philippines.   Roxas stated, “our aim of the collaborative piece was to speak about human rights injustices by pushing the boundaries of traditional dance.  For many of the students, this was the first time that they were learning about the human rights situation in the Philippines and it was also the first time they were learning to dance and move beyond the confines of traditional dance.  I was told by the dancers that they were profoundly moved by the whole process.  It also provided an opening for what I hope will be a continuing conversation about the human rights situation in the Philippines.”

The Fowler Out Loud event ended with a People’s March, with audience members and performers chanting and marching along a path marked by signs exposing election related fraud and violence in the Philippines.  People poured into Moore hall, the venue for Power in Numbers. BAYAN-USA organized Power in Numbers as a national concert tour, aimed to build awareness and opposition to the election related violence that has intensified with the approaching May 10 elections in the Philippines.  Organizers also called on audience members to spread the word and get out the vote for progressive partylists and senatorial candidates, such as Liza Maza, Satur Ocampo, Anakpawis, GABRIELA Women’s Partylist, and Kabataan Partylist.

The Los Angeles leg of the Power in Numbers concert featured the talents of musicians E.K.H, K.See, Divine Daughters, Shining Sons, L.U.V, and DJs ET and Em-One. The event also featured the UCLA premiere screening of “Sounds of a New Hope,” a documentary film by UCLA alumnus Eric Tandoc.  The film chronicles the life of Filipino-American MC Kiwi and the growing use of hip-hop as an organizing tool in the people’s movement for national liberation and democracy in the Philippines.

AnakBayan Los Angeles member, Nikole Cababa stated, “The Los Angeles concert was held at UCLA to inspire students and the local community to put international pressure on the Philippine government to conduct fair elections and refrain from using violence to suppress democratic rights.”

GMA’s administration has received widespread criticism for rampant human rights violations from the international community, which recently included groups such as the World Council of Churches.  Investigations by UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston have linked enforced disappearances, torture, and other gross human rights violations to the Philippine military, with no persecution of the perpetrators by the GMA administration. The Armed Forces of the Philippines has implemented Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL), a counter-insurgency program that the government touts will defeat the armed revolutionary movement by 2010.  In reality, OBL stands as the Philippine government’s bloodiest and most vicious counter-insurgency program to date, targeting both the revolutionary armed struggle and the legal democratic movement.

Currently the Philippine government receives the largest amount of US military aid in Asia. BAYAN-USA has initiated a campaign, calling for the end of US military aid to the Philippines.  During the Power in Numbers concert, audience members signed postcards in support of the campaign, which call to uphold human rights and democracy.  The postcards will be delivered to Congressman Howard Berman, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.  BAYAN-USA calls on all concerned community members to support the campaign and urge Congressman Berman to end military aid to the Philippines. More information can be obtained by contacting info@bayanusa.org.

STOP THE KILLINGS!
END OPLAN BANTAY LAYA!
END US MILITARY AID TO THE PHILIPPINES!

BAYAN-USA is an alliance of progressive Filipino groups in the US representing organizations of students, scholars, women, workers, and youth. As the only international chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN-Philippines), BAYAN-USA serves as an information bureau for the national democratic movement of the Philippines and as a campaign center for anti-imperialist Filipinos in the US.

Kundiman Reading and Salon Celebrating Asian American Poetry!

Click on the image to enlarge.

Kundiman West, Flying Fists Collective and Habi Arts invite you to a

Kundiman Reading and Salon celebrating Asian American poetry!

Featuring Melissa Roxas, Nicky Schildkraut, Ngoc Luu, Jackson Bliss, Oliver de la Paz

+ a salon celebrating Asian American poetry (bring a poem by your favorite Asian American poet + your own to share!)

Emceed by Neil Aitken and Ching-In Chen.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Casa Princesa
4527 York Blvd (two blocks east of Eagle Rock Blvd)
Los Angeles, CA 90041
(323) 474-6860
casaprincesa.com

$3 – 10 suggested donation — to benefit Kundiman (no one turned away for lack of funds).

About our featured readers:

Melissa Roxas is a poet, writer, and human rights activist. For the past 15 years, she has done community work in Southern California and in the Philippines. While conducting community health work in May of 2009, she was abducted and tortured by the Philippine military. This experience has deepened her commitment to human rights work and to continue writing for truth and justice.

Nicky Schildkraut’s poems have appeared in Asian American Poetry and Writing, Salmagundi, The New England Review, The Mississippi Review, The Sante Fe Review Online, the 2007 Korean-English anthology I Didn’t Know Who I Was, and has prose poems in the March issue of The Offending Adam. She is working on a Ph.D. degree in English Literature & Creative Writing at the University of Southern California and currently serves as the President for the Circle For Asian American Literary Studies. She is also an incoming Kundiman Fellow.

Ngoc Luu received her undergraduate degree in English at UC Berkeley and completed her MFA in Creative Writing at UC Riverside. She was given a full scholarship to attend the Summer Poetry in Idyllwild and participated in the Kundiman Asian American Poetry Retreat during its inaugural year. She was offered a merit scholarship to study in the Summer Literary Seminars in 2006 and the John Woods Scholarship from the Summer in Prague Program in 2004. Additionally Ngoc has been published in the Naranjas y Nopales poetry broadside.

Hailing from Chicago, Jackson Bliss is the winner of the La Vie de Bohème Literary Award and the 2007 Sparks Prize in Fiction. Jackson has lived in Seattle, Portland, New York, West Africa and Argentina and is a former Americorps and Peace Corp volunteer, crossing lines of longitude whenever he can both in his writing, his volunteer service and his travels. Armed with a MFA from the University of Notre Dame, Jackson is now a PhD student in Literature + Creative Writing at USC. His short stories have been published in Fiction, Kenyon Review, ZYZZYVA, Notre Dame Review, Connecticut Review, African American Review, Stand (UK), South Loop Review, Writers Post-Journal, Ink Collective, Pittsburgh Quarterly, 3:am Magazine, Word Riot, Fringe, DJ Booth and Denver Syntax, among others.

Oliver de la Paz is the author of three collections of poetry, Names Above Houses, Furious Lullaby (SIU Press 2001, 2007), and the forthcoming Requiem for the Orchard (U. of Akron Press 2010), winner of the Akron Prize for poetry chosen by Martìn Espada. He co-chairs the advisory board of Kundiman, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of Asian American Poetry. A recipient of a NYFA Fellowship Award and a GAP Grant from Artist Trust, his work has appeared in journals like Virginia Quarterly Review, North American Review, Tin House, Chattahoochee Review, and in anthologies such as Asian American Poetry: The Next Generation. He teaches at Western Washington University.

About our emcees:

Ching-In Chen is the author of The Heart’s Traffic (Arktoi Books/Red Hen Press). The daughter of Chinese immigrants, she is a Kundiman, Macondo and Lambda Fellow.

Neil Tangaroa Aitken is the author of The Lost Country of Sight and a Kundiman Fellow. Neil serves as the editor of Boxcar Poetry Review, an online literary journal focused on publishing poetry and showcasing reviews and interviews pertaining to first books of poetry.

About our organizations:

The Flying Fists Collective is a crew of talented Asian-American writers, poets, photographers, graphic novelists + artists around the world. We believe three simple things: 1. There needs to be more Asian art in the world. 2. Culturally speaking, art is crucial in the world. 3. Art needs to kick (your) ass in some way. Based out of Southern California, the FFC is now a global organization open to all people that want to interact with, contribute to, and help support Asian art in all of its forms.

Habi Arts is a Los Angeles-based Filipino cultural organization dedicated to promoting community empowerment and progressive social change through the arts. habi-arts.org

Kundiman is an organization dedicated to the creation, cultivation and promotion of Asian American poetry by creating an affirming and rigorous space where Asian American poets can explore, through art, the unique challenges that face the new and ever changing diaspora. In order to help mentor the next generation of Asian-American poets, Kundiman sponsors an annual Poetry Retreat for emerging Asian American poets. kundiman.org

Art Beyond Barriers Photos

Photos from the Art Beyond Barriers, Live Art Petition in Los Angeles, San Francisco, East Bay, and Berkeley have been posted.  Check out the photos by clicking here!

Free the 43 Health Workers

Please spread the word about the 43 health workers illegally arrested and detained in the Philippines by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.  Click on the image to enlarge.