by Almira Astudillo Gilles
I have been in a strange place lately. I’m not referring to my home on the shore of Lake Michigan—which is my default place for contemplation and rest—but in my mind. The activity on the streets, dictated in large part by instructions from somebody else’s (temporary) place of residence (a large sprawling white building), has made me wary about sidelong glances thrown in my direction by people wearing dark sunglasses.
October is Filipino American History Month, and in what I consider to be an act of bravery, the FilAm community has planned more activities than the month can hold. I’m sure it has occurred to more than a few people of color that festivities are prime opportunities for identifying those who are not “nationals.” Maybe some community members will be deterred by this, no matter what their status. But the point is, American history is replete with participation by Filipinos and we have engaged in transformative action that has made American civil society what it is today.
Manila village, the first permanent Asian settlement in the U.S., was established by Filipino sailors in 1763 along the shoreline of Lake Borgne in Louisiana. They pioneered a unique method of drying shrimp that influenced the seafood industry. In 1965, Larry Itliong, a Filipino agricultural worker who formed the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), led 1,500 Filipino farmworkers on a strike against the grape growers in and around Delano, California. This provided impetus for Cesar Chavez to bring his union, the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), to the massive grape boycott in 1965, where the two unions joined forces to form the United Farm Workers (UFW).
Closer to home, and on a more personal scale, on the site https://www.chicagohistory.org/the-filipino-american-historical-society-of-chicago/, there is a 1939 photo of a Filipino baseball migrant league championship near the Field Museum of Natural History.
More recently, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, along with support from the Field Museum, supported a project called “Art and Anthropology: Portrait of the Object as Filipino,” where Filipino American and Philippines-based visual artists collaborated on artwork inspired by the museum’s extensive Philippine artifacts collection (https://philippines.fieldmuseum.org/heritage/narrative/4712).
Literally and figuratively, Filipino blood has intermingled with the blood of many races that now call America home. So, as I sit watching the waves of Lake Michigan, I think about ancestors living in a community with a waterfront view in Louisiana, now long gone.
But we must remember. We must share our narratives, exploring both continuity and change, as we walk in the present and step into the future. Be bold and joyful. Go out and celebrate Filipino American history month!
Almira Astudillo Gilles (almiragilles@gmail.com) describes her heart’s work as conservation in two areas: indigenous cultural heritage and natural resources. Her cultural heritage work includes a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation grant for Art and Anthropology Project: Portrait of the Object as Filipino, an international artist exchange. She was the founder of 10,000 Kwentos (“Stories”) at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, a model of direct community engagement with the museum’s Philippine ethnographic collection.
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