America is not a land of one race or one class of men. We are all Americans that have toiled and suffered and known oppression and defeat, from the first Indian that offered peace in Manhattan to the last Filipino pea pickers. America is not bound by geographical latitudes. America is not merely a land or an institution. America is in the hearts of men that died for freedom; it is also in the eyes of men that are building a new world. America is a prophecy of a new society of men: of a system that knows no sorrow or strife or suffering. America is a warning to those who would try to falsify the ideas of free men.
America is also the nameless foreigner, the homeless refugee, the hungry boy begging for a job and the black body dangling from a tree. America is the illiterate immigrant who is ashamed that the world of books and intellectual opportunities is closed to him. We are that nameless foreigner, that homeless refugee, that hungry boy, that illiterate immigrant and that lynched black body. All of us, from the first Adams to the last Filipino, native born or alien, educated or illiterate—We are America!
Filipino American Dance Culture in Suburbia: The Story of Funki Junction By Cheryl Cambay
Empire of Funk is a project by DJ Kuttin Kandi and Hip Hop scholar Mark Villegas. The purpose is to highlight contributions Filipinos have had on Hip Hop culture. Since my interest and focus is on Hip Hop dance and street dance (see my D-Cypher post here), it was dope to see an article on the 90s Filipino experience in Hip Hop dance culture. I used to look up to the older teens at this time and always wanted to learn more about their his/herstories. What is interesting that seems to be a pattern for many pinoy and pinay dancers, is how Hip Hop dance helped create a true Filipino American identity for themselves. Check out this article by Cheryl Cambay and her experience getting down in Cerritos, CA with crews TRIBE and Funki Juntion.
