Category: Filipino American
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Support Kusina ng Bayan, the Kitchen that Feeds More than Hunger
Chicago’s Filipinx/a/o community has faced plenty of hardships this year, from rising prices and lower wages to reduced access to healthcare and attacks on our immigrant communities. Amid these challenges, food has become one of the primary ways our community continues to stay connected, resilient, and rooted. Through these challenges, Chicago’s Filipino food landscape has…
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Pamana Children’s Library-From the Author’s Desk
This December at Pamana Library Corner, we celebrate Rizal Month by highlighting one of the most refreshing contributions to Filipino children’s literature: Halo-Halo Histories. Published by Tahanan Books, the series has won the hearts of readers by showing that history can be fun, colorful, and easy to enjoy. Created by a talented group of writers…
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Pamana at Two: A Growing Legacy of Filipino Culture for Our Children
Rizal Center’s Pamana Library will celebrate its two year anniversary on December 9! Let’s take a look back at some of the ways Pamana has shared the love of Filipino culture with kids since then: We look back with gratitude on the many people who made our December 9, 2023 ribbon-cutting festival possible. Consul Ella…
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Making Filipino American History
by: Gabriel “Jay” Catanus In October of 1587, Filipinos landed in what we now call Morro Bay, CA. They were either sailors or slaves on board a Spanish trading ship Nuestra Seniora de Buena Esperanza that sailed between Manila and Acapulco. A similar arrival is recorded in 1595. Many years later, in 1763, Filipino sailors…
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The mini saints and ghoulish little people and adults of Halloween
They were mini saints carrying their respective instruments, attributing to their special holiness. The little St. Cecilia carried a small keyboard representing an organ, signifying her role as patron saint of music. The little Veronica showed extended arms with a length of fabric impressed with the legendary three faces of Christ from Lenten rituals. The…
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Tagalog comes to the rescue in the wintry cold of Chicago
The winter term at Rizal Center’s Tagalog Class will begin on Monday, January 19, 2026, in 2-hour sessions in 15 meetings, for a total of 30 hours. The class will meet every Monday and Thursday from 6 to 8 pm. The nurturing warmth and spirit of the Philippines’ heritage language is designed to temper the…
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Tagalog helped ease the pain of a father’s coming home
Never had a language – not mere words – played a poignant role in easing the waving aches of grief over a father who had passed away, away from the land and family he missed and loved through the years. But Tagalog did. This is the story of how the Philippines’ heritage language became the…
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PILIPINO KA BA? (11/25)
by Almira Astudillo Gilles In the Philippines, we have an All Souls Day tradition of going to the cemetery and keeping vigil. As is customary with any prolonged Filipino activity, having food sufficient for the length of the visit is of primary concern, so we bring “baon.” Feast of All Souls We visit our beloved…
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Featuring: Myra Kalaw
Myra Kalaw Myra (she/her) was born and raised in the Philippines where she first discovered a love for books and reading. At Columbia College Chicago, she combined her two passions — Poetry and Book & Paper Arts, by learning how to print books the old-fashioned way like the poets, Blake and Whitman. She has lived…
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Filipino American History Month: A Living Struggle for Dignity
October is Filipino American History Month, first officially recognized by the United States Congress in 2009. The U.S. Senate was the first to act, passing S.Res. 298 on October 1, 2009, introduced by Sen. Harry Reid with bipartisan co-sponsors, which recognized October as Filipino American History Month. The U.S. House followed on November 2, 2009,…