Lesser Known Asians
One of my ex-boyfriends once told me he had never met a Filipino before me. This statement has consumed my mind so much recently. I had mentioned in my previous blog post that I started unpacking my Filipino American Identity during university when I was surrounded by so many international students who took so much pride in their roots. Last year, I took a deeper dive in understanding my culture through cooking, films and reading (thanks to the extra free time in isolation.)
I read Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay that elaborated on the mass drug killings delegated by the current President Duterte and wondered why there aren’t enough Filipino authors that are on must read list. I started to pay more attention to representation in movies. Crazy Rich Asians, Farewell, To All the Boys franchise portray Singaporeans, Chinese, Korean cultures. In cuisine, most are familiar with Thai food, Indian food, Korean, Vietnamese and of course Chinese food. I recently recommended Adobo and rice as an easy dish to cook during the week to a friend on Instagram and she mentioned that she’s never had Filipino food before. This makes me feel invisible. Every culture and every country has their flaws, but I still have great pride in where I come from and the values instilled in me by my parents. Filipinos are such a diverse set of people ranging from their skin tone and languages they speak and our people need to be represented in the cuisine industry, onscreen, and in literature. It’s also sad that Filipino celebrities / entrepreneurs that have surfaced the internet and influential spaces are listed as solely asAmerican on their Wikipedia page like the current popular female musician today, Olivia Rodrigo.
Recently, I joined the audio focused social media app called Clubhouse and I immersed myself in rooms surrounding Filipino themes. It was the first time I have ever been surrounded by so many Filipinos both in the digital space and IRL space. It was liberating to meet more individuals that share the similar values and similar upbringing as I have from different professional industries. There wasn’t any need to explain ourselves further and who we are. We just understood each other. That’s how I felt during the first couple of weeks, after a while I became exhausted unpacking if I am Filipino enough. Is anyone ever really (insert culture / race here) enough? It takes awhile to rid oneself of this existential identity crisis but know that I have gained a sense of confidence in who I am culturally. Let me start by introducing myself.
I am Filipino-American. I grew up in the Philippines for part of my childhood. During my time in the Philippines, I spent most of it with the Aguilar side of my family whom share Spanish perspectives since my grandfather is Spanish. I navigated the first 15 years after I immigrated to the United States never feeling Filipino enough or American enough. I eventually learned in my mid twenties that one can be multifaceted culturally and within the identity spectrum itself so I hope more people can embrace who they are and rid themselves from constantly feeling if they are “X,Y,Z” enough.
I also hope to learn from other Filipinos about the history of our country, recipes on staple foods and of course, feel seen and be represented across all industries. Our stories matter.
