#Poetry is the archive of our soul.
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) May 6, 2013
May 6, 2013
Quote for the day
April 29, 2013
POEM: lying in my bed: april 29, 1992
April is National Poetry Writing Month #NaPoWriMo. Here is a poem/diary/memoir I started years ago and edited last year, on the 20th anniversary of Sa-i-Gu. Follow me on Twitter for more poetry, tsismis, and daily updates: @emilylawsin
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lying in my bed: april 29, 1992
© by emily p. lawsin
i remember living in Hershey Hall, at UCLA, trying to call our loved ones,
hugging Joyce, my Korean American roommate,
who crouched, praying, glued to the tube,
as the revolution was, indeed, being televised.
she bit her nails, wound her long ebony hair up tight in a bun,
worried about her mom and pop.
despite the miles of jammed phone lines, we learned that their store
stood strong, shielded by the foot of the San Bernardino Mountains.
we stayed on the edge of Westwood, but could still hear the helicopters whirring
and smell the fires burning, the weight of a heavier smog choking our chests.
i had just finished reading “A Fire in Fontana” by Hisaye Yamamoto, for a grad class
in Asian American history: its black type fading under strays of yellow highlighter.
i don’t remember having or going to any classes that day,
but i knew that my comrades and classmates would gather
to start teach-ins outside Campbell Hall,
if not caravanning to clean up Koreatown.
as i headed out the door, my elderly Mama and Papa called, saying in Taglish that
they didn’t want to see their anak on CNN patrolling the L.A. streets with a BB gun
(as if i had brought mine when i moved from Seattle the previous August)
and for the first time ever, they told me that i should just skip class.
i didn’t completely comprehend all of the conversations, or the impending transgressions,
or the necessary healing that would follow until years later,
but time slow-dragged, marched, and rallied on that smoke-filled day.
as the fires smoldered and the sun set, my long-distance-but-soon-to-be-ex boyfriend finally called me
after seeing the crumpled faces of the rest of his newspaper’s staff,
their eyebrows arching as high as the Kingdome’s cloud over Chinatown.
when he returned to his desk after lobbing tennis balls with his assistant
(the sway of her hips and the name on her racquet a cheap imitation of mine),
he found mounds of my phone messages on pink “While You Were Out” slips,
stabbed in the back by the spear of a tarnished paper weight, imported from Hong Kong.
hours after the melee on Florence and Normandie had quelled, perhaps afraid that i would cause my
own riot over his alleged tennis game, he had the nerve to ask me to write a column on the uprisings.
i wrote it; he edited it: our last collaboration,
right at the moment when rodney king pleaded to the press, “can we all just get along?”
twenty years later, i realize that everything that happened that day gave us all room to grow,
and my first front page story which began, “Welcome to Los Angeles”.
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april 29, 2012
detroit
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April 12, 2013
POEM: “Salmon Run” (in 6 incomplete Tweets) #NaPoWriMo Day 12
April=#NationalPoetryMonth, writing a poem a day, some only 140 characters. My #NaPoWriMo Day 12: “SALMON RUN”… (in 6 incomplete parts)
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 13, 2013
When Mom returned from Alaska,she taught me how to skin Sockeye and Kings with her white-handled bladeshe had stolen from the cannery.
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 13, 2013
2) like a soldier with a bolo knife,Mom wielded the blade to cut the fins,flipped to the dull side to scrape the scales, ignoring the guts
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 13, 2013
3) one of the fish scales flies in her eye. she says that’s how she got that scarunder her bangs,how I shouldn’t mess around, ever…
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 13, 2013
4) Oh, I know. One morning, from behind the banister, I saw Papa tiptoe up the stairs after one-too-many beers out with who-knows-who…
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 13, 2013
5) Mom whipped out that same knife from under her pillow and Papa tripped back down the stairs. He never came home late like that again…
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 13, 2013
Working in a salmon cannery, you learn that even though those dented-white-handled knives look small, they bite stronger than Steelhead.
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 13, 2013
April 11, 2013
POEM: Mud [NaPoWriMo Day 11]
you may think her kayumanggi skinlooks like mud, but it roots centuries of warriorsbirthing a movement that digs deep beyond your soil.
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 11, 2013
April 10, 2013
POEM: Anting-Anting [NaPoWriMo Day 10]
Circles of califas,Diwata spirits, and Babaylan legendsProtect me Everywhere I go.#blessed #NaPoWriMo Day 9
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 10, 2013
I showed my class THE FILIPINO AMERICANS book by Barbara Posadas & it fell open to the page with my Mom & war bride Aunties smiling at me
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 10, 2013
April 8, 2013
POEMS + Excerpts from Miscarriage V: Lost in Translation, 2003. [NaPoWriMo Day 8]
It’s #nationalpoetrymonth #NaPoWriMo Day8: I’m Tweeting 8 or more lines from poems that I’ve written, some published or performed, some not.
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 8, 2013
10 yrs since I lost you, I weep, reminded every month by a bleeding cruel joke or by daily hugs from the miracle that followed. #NaPoWriMo
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 8, 2013
I silently wonder: where do the souls of the wanted, the unborn go? Not by choice: into their mother’s buried well of tears. #NaPoWriMo
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 8, 2013
At the bed of the river, we wove a wreath of daisies, roses and chrysanthemums, with our circle of friends chanting prayer songs. #NaPoWriMo
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 8, 2013
What lifts the spirit of the wanted unborn to the sky? A weighted crucifix pulled by the ropes of their parents’ arms, clenching? #NaPoWriMo
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 8, 2013
Who hears the cries of the unborn, weeping in my belly? The silence deafens me. #NaPoWriMo
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 8, 2013
Words unspoken fuel the scarcity of these poems, miscarried, hiding in the shadows, tearing at the stained sheets. #NaPoWriMo
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 8, 2013
Lines etched in my palms, /poems became my lifeline, /voice to outside world. #NaPoWriMo #haiku #credo
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 8, 2013
Growing up with tragedies in your family teaches you the power of words like “Kawawa Naman,” as if they truly feel sorry for you. #NaPoWriMo
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 8, 2013
You avoid telling your immigrant mother, her back bent washing others’ laundry, because you have no words to translate all that. #NaPoWriMo
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 8, 2013
Growing up #Filipino in America, you learn to record all this sh*t down in writing. To avoid schizophrenia, you become a poet. #NaPoWriMo
— Emily P. Lawsin (@emilylawsin) April 8, 2013
2003
January 20, 2013
The Winds of January: NVM visits
I know this blog has been MIA, but life happens. I’ve been sick for more than a week, woke up and tried to post this on Facebook and *poof* it was gone! (augh) So I typed it out again here. Follow me on Twitter for more daily updates: @emilylawsin
NVM Gonzalez plays violin at his Hayward, California home, after the Pangarap: Filipino American Literature Symposium, 1992. Photo by Emily Lawsin.
The Winds of January: NVM visits
© by Emily P. Lawsin
Sunday, January 20, 2013
I was awakened twice in the middle of the night by 60 miles-per-hour winds, silver maple and birch branches crashing and rolling down our pitched roof. When I was finally able to fall back asleep at 5 AM, I had a dream about my former professor, the late author and Philippine National Artist, NVM Gonzalez. We were at a ceremony honoring him, I’m not sure where or why.
I kept getting voice mails from my late mother and her friend, Auntie Flori Montante, founder of Pagdiriwang and the Filipino Cultural Heritage Society of Washington, who passed away two weeks ago. They said, “Peter Bacho says that you should give the award, anak.” Peter is a family friend from Seattle, an American Book Award winner, and my former professor too. “He said he can’t be there, so you should do it.”
“What?” I was frantic, running in circles, “What award, a plaque? Where? Hello?”
As I tripped down a hall, a glowing NVM walked in, with an entourage spanning the bright yellow walls. He squinted through his glasses, waved me to him with his cane, stretched out his arms, and said, “Emily, my dear!”
My jaw dropped. “What are you doing here?” I said.
“Do not be afraid,” NVM said. “These nice fellows just wanted to have a party. What are you writing these days?”
“You remember me?”
“Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?” he said. Then he was whisked up to the stage, where his violin sat on a gold altar. He sat in a throne and played the most beautiful song: the music of wrinkled eyebrows, with each bend of his bow, then wide-eyed smiles as he plucked upbeat notes.
I looked up to take a photograph and noticed a white placard on an easel next to him that said, “THE WINDS OF APRIL”.
In the dream, it was supposed to be the title of the song that he played. In reality, it is the title of the last book that he signed for me when I visited him in Manila, the last time that I saw him.
Then I suddenly woke up, with a smile and a tear in my eye. The winds had died down and the sun was shining through my bedroom window on this cold January day.
Salamat po, NVM, thank you, for visiting me.
Michigan 10:56 AM
# # #
1:04 PM ET:
Detroit Free Press reports 195,000 without power in Michigan due to 60 m.p.h. winds.
October 3, 2012
Day 3 of Filipino American History Month: Screen a Film! Filipino Americans: Discovering their Past for the Future
October is Filipino American History Month! I’ve accepted Kevin Nadal’s (fellow FANHS Trustee) challenge of posting a photo of something Filipino American every day. (If you accept the challenge too, on Instagram or Twitter, use the hashtag #fahm2012.) Today is October 3rd, so here’s my 3rd FAHM installment:
On our revamped Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) website, there is a list of ways you can observe Filipino American History Month, here: http://fanhs-national.org/fahm2012.html
The easiest thing to do — for all ages — is to screen a film. You can watch it by yourself, but it’s more fun to watch with others, then have a discussion. Our FANHS chapters throughout the country have done this for many years, often partnering with another organization, or a local school or community center. In the 21 years since FANHS started observing Filipino American History Month, many more films have been made by or about Filipino Americans. (There have even been Filipino Americans who have won Academy Awards for production and design.) Here is a great FANHS film that you can use for starters.
Filipino Americans: Discovering their Past for the Future
Produced by Filipino American National Historical Society
and JF Wehman & Associates/MoonRae Productions, National Video Profiles, Inc. (54 minutes, 1994)
“THREE STARS!” – Video Rating Guide for Libraries
Winner of CINE Golden Eagle Award in History, and Bronze Award, Houston International Film Festival/Worldfest
Film description:
This fascinating documentary explores hidden pages in American history and delves into the 400-year-old chronicle of one of the largest ethnic groups in the United States. Interviews with historians, readings from historical letters and transcriptions, combined with more than 300 archival photos reveal Filipino Americans in Hawai’ian plantations, California migrant farms, Alaskan fish canneries and Louisiana shrimp fishing.
FILIPINO AMERICANS: DISCOVERING THEIR PAST FOR THE FUTURE documents their involvement during World War II and their contributions to the advancement of labor organizations. Family units and strong social bonds helped them survive while dealing with discrimination and hard economic times. This video illustrates how Filipino American history has contributed to the American way of life and is an essential component of United States history.
“It is rich United States history and it’s a story that should be told…Filipino Americans have been a quiet voice in promoting their contributions to American society. This video will hopefully open America’s eyes to what Filipino Americans have gone through and contributed.”
- Fred Cordova, Author/Historian and Founding President Emeritus of FANHS
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Currently, the film is only available on VHS video cassette, for purchase through the FANHS National Office in Seattle, on Ebay, or through the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), here. When it was produced in 1994, AT&T agreed to sponsor it to help fund its distribution; they ended up giving videos to their customers who had Philippine international calling plans (so ask your relatives, they might have it). Some university and public libraries have it too; if your local library doesn’t carry it, ask them to purchase one from CAAM. The film later aired on PBS and someone I don’t know posted that in 4 parts on YouTube, here. (Yeah, I don’t know if that person has the copyright permission to post it, but bahala na. And just so you know: FANHS is a totally volunteer-run organization, with an office and archives, and no salaried staff and no regular source of funding, so when you purchase products from the national office or one of the 30 FANHS Chapters, you are helping preserve even more of Filipino American history. All donations are tax-deductible too.)
So, have you seen the film? What are your thoughts about it? Please leave comments below. Mabuhay and salamat.
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#FilipinoAmericanHistoryMonth #fahm2012 #fahm
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To read my other posts on Filipino American History Month, click here:
http://divadiba.wordpress.com/tag/filipino-american-history-month/
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October 2, 2012
DAY 2 of Filipino American History Month: Read a Good Book – Tomorrow’s Memories: A Diary, 1924-1928
It’s Day 2 of Filipino American History Month and I’m going to try to drop some knowledge more regularly on this blog, at least during October.
Since I am a professor/lecturer and poet, folks often ask me what books they should read to learn more about Filipino American history. Short of handing them a syllabus (or the reading list that IS actually printed in the back of my first book), I often tell them some basic standard texts, that anyone of any age could read and appreciate: Filipinos: Forgotten Asian Americans by Fred Cordova, America Is In The Heart by Carlos Bulosan, Philip Vera Cruz: A History of Filipino Immigrants and the Farmworkers Movement by Craig Scharlin and Lilia Villanueva, The Filipino Americans by Barbara Posadas, and the list goes on. If they’ve taken any kind of Asian American Studies class or even just read my posts on this blog, they might have heard of those books or read them already. Then I like to pull out one of my favorite books, Tomorrow’s Memories: A Diary, 1924-1928, by Angeles Monrayo Raymundo (University of Hawai’i Press, 2003).
I am proud to have helped and relentlessly encouraged Angeles’ eldest daughter, Rizaline Raymundo, to publish the book. Riz had first typed excerpts of her mother’s handwritten diary and published them in the Filipino American National Historical Society Santa Clara Valley Chapter Journal in the early 1990s. When I first read the diary excerpts, I knew that students and countless others would appreciate the rarity of having history told from a young, female perspective. Now you can too:
Tomorrow’s Memories: A Diary, 1924-1928
by Angeles Monrayo
Edited by Rizaline R. Raymundo, with historical essays by Jonathan Okamura and Dawn Mabalon (2003)
From the Publisher, University of Hawai’i Press:
http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/p-2788-9780824826710.aspx
“I would like to read about me–what everyday things happened to me–when I am an old woman. Right now I am only 11 years, 5 months.” ~Angeles Monrayo, 1924
“Angeles Monrayo (1912–2000) began her diary on January 10, 1924, a few months before she and her father and older brother moved from a sugar plantation in Waipahu to Pablo Manlapit’s strike camp in Honolulu. Here for the first time is a young Filipino girl’s view of life in Hawaii and central California in the first decades of the twentieth century—a significant and often turbulent period for immigrant and migrant labor in both settings. Angeles’ vivid, simple language takes us into the heart of an early Filipino family as its members come to terms with poverty and racism and struggle to build new lives in a new world. But even as Angeles recounts the hardships of immigrant life, her diary of “everyday things” never lets us forget that she and the people around her went to school and church, enjoyed music and dancing, told jokes, went to the movies, and fell in love. Essays by Jonathan Okamura and Dawn Mabalon enlarge on Angeles’ account of early working-class Filipinos and situate her experience in the larger history of Filipino migration to the United States.”
#fahm #fahm2012 #FilipinoAmericanHistoryMonth
I hope you add this to your reading list, if you haven’t read it already, then tell me what you think of it!
For more on Fiipino American History Month, see: www.fanhs-national.org
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October 1, 2012
October is Filipino American History Month!
October is Filipino American History Month! The year 2012 marks 425 years since the first documented landing of Filipinos in what is now known as the continental United States. The Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) has been observing October as FAHM for the past 21 years, since 1991. You can read and download FANHS’ original resolution for Filipino American History Month on my main website: http://emilylawsin.com/resolution-on-filipino-american-history-month/
The United States Congress passed the Resolution to Recognize October as Filipino American History Month nationally in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Thank you to all the D.C. and nationwide friends of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) who made it possible. Click here to read the September 29, 2010 Congressional Record: http://tinyurl.com/FAHM2010, here to download the full text from 2009: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2009_record&page=H12172&position=all and here for the Senate Resolution from October 5, 2011: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r112:S05OC1-0040:/.
And just in time for history month, our FANHS website has been revamped and is back online with lots of good info on how our 30 chapters and affiliates across the country are observing Filipino American History Month. There is even a list on what you can do to organize, commemorate, and participate. Thanks to FANHS National President Mel Orpilla (Vallejo, CA) and FANHS National Secretary Patricia Espiritu Halagao (Honolulu, HI) for their work on revamping the FANHS website. Click the FANHStastic photo below and check it out! (And no, I did not know they would be posting a photo of my old FYA Drill Team on the FANHS website. But yes, that’s my FYA fam and me! Can you tell which one is me? YAY!)
* * *Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) Website Revamped! www.fanhs-national.org
Click photo to go to revamped http://www.fanhs-national.org website.
(Yes, there’s a hyphen in the website name,
but NOT in Filipino American National Historical Society, got it?)
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Twitter Hashtags #FAHM or #FilipinoAmericanHistoryMonth
Tweet #FilipinoAmericanHistoryMonth
Filipino American National Historical Society Facebook Page
and
Filipino American History Month Facebook Page
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Follow me on Twitter: @emilylawsin
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