Filipino Americans inspired by today's headlines, write songs of defiance and love

Songwriters, rrom top left, clockwise: H.E.R., Jessica Sanchez,
Ruby Ibarra and Ella Jay Basco.

The younger generation finding their voice during the age of dual pandemics -- the coronavirus and hate -- may be the most self-aware and militant since the 1960s.

Four songwriters -- they happen to be all Filipino Americans -- released their songs reflecting what's happening around them, to them personally and with their friends and families.

H.E.R., aka Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson won an Oscar for her song "Fight For You." written for the movie Judas and the Black Messiah.

Although the movie takes place in another era, the aforementioned 60s at the height of the Black Panthers power, her intent and lyrics are applicable to today as it would have been for that time.

Read the lyrics and it could have been written for George Floyd or any of the other Black, Latino and AAPI who have died at the hands of the police:

All the smoke in the air
Feel the hate when they stare
All the pain that we bear
Oh, you better beware
Their guns don't play fair
All we got is a prayer
It was all in their plans
Wash the blood from your hands

[Pre-Chorus]
Freedom for my brothers
Freedom 'cause they judge us
Freedom from the others
Freedom from the leaders, they keepin' us
Freedom gon' keep us strong
Freedom if you just hold on
Freedom ain't free at all, oh no

"Musicians, filmmakers, I believe we have an opportunity and a responsibility, to tell the truth, and to write history the way that it was, and how it connects us to today, and what we see going on in the world today," says H.E.R. 

Ella Jay Basco is only 14 years old but she's trying to have an impact on the world of her future. The Filipino Korean American actress who debuted in Birds of Prey as Cassandra, the orphan waif who will become the future Batgirl, is a singer and songwriter, too.

She wrote the song "Gold " and collaborated with Filipino American rapper Ruby Ibarra, and Ella’s writing partner (and brother) Darryl J. Basco, the song is a love letter to the Asian American community. 

Sometimes I never win
but I was blessed with the Golden skin
Don’t stress about where you’ve been
Just look inside, find what’s within
Girl you know you’re beautiful
Stand tall, unmovable
It’s undisputable
You a Boss Bitch as usual, You a Boss Bitch as usual!

“GOLD ft. @rubyibarra is out now!!! Mainly streaming on Spotify, Apple, and BandCamp so go check it out!!! We wanted to make a song that speaks out to brown pride and the color of our beautiful golden skin,” Ella Jay Basco wrote on Instagram. 

“(The song) is about me taking ownership and power of my GOLD/Brown skin. Not everyone fits in the typical boxes. I asked Ruby Ibarra to guest on it because she is a Dope Filipino rapper,” she explains.

Jessica Sanchez, the 25-year-old singer, who performed on American Idol’s 11th season, wrote and composed “Us,” a song that she hopes can unite people together against the rash of violence against Asian Americans.

The hate directed at AAPI felt compelled to do something the best way she knew how.

"I'm all about spreading positivity," she told the San DIego Union Tribune. "but I'm a very quiet person at the same time, I'm not very good at talking. The way that I express myself is through my music."

Her lyrics go:

Done, I’m trying to numb the pain
That only we could ever change
Still we’re running everyday
I wanna know why we’re afraid
Can we believe again
If it was just for a day
Would we still feel the same
Can we believe in Justice today
Would we still be the same if...
All of us could see that
No one’s to blame
All of us realize
Our heart beat the same...

“It’s super important to remind each other that, like, we have to find a solution and the solution is to bring each other together, and to unite and to support each other no matter what color, what age, what gender,” Sanchez said. We all have to come together and love each other and support one another, especially when people are being pushed down.”

She hopes her fans will enjoy the song when it is released on May 7. In the meantime, she told the Union-Tribune, “I’m super happy that my first song I’m able to release is something bigger than who I am.”

Will Batgirl be an Asian American?

Ella Jay Basco will play Cassandra Cain, who eventually become Batgirl, right.

NEWCOMER ELLA JAY BASCO has nabbed the pivotal role of Cassandra Cain in the upcoming production of Birds of Prey.

The superhero movie stars Margot Robbie, who is also executive producer, reprising her role of bat-wielding Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad.

For those of you unfamiliar with the DC mythology, Cassandra Cain is the alter ego of Batgirl and exists in the same D.C. universe as Batman, the Joker, Superman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman.

Cassandra is the daughter of assassins David Cain and Lady Shiva. They raise their daughter in their own image, keeping human contact to a bare minimum and deprive her of speech so that she may become hone her skills as an extremely skilled assassin.

Margot Robbie plays Harley Quinn.

Without speech, Cassandra develops the unique ability to anticipate someone's movements by reading their body language. This gives her an advantage against any assailants.

In the comics, she eventually meets Batman and that leads her on the path to becoming Batgirl. 

Birds of Prey occurs before Cassandra's transformation into a bad-ass when she was only 12-years old. 

There is a Batgirl movie in development and it hasn't been cast. There might be a time jump between Birds of Prey and the grown-up Batgirl. If so, Ella might not be cast as the more mature Batgirld. But if Ella can pull off Cassanddra convincingly, ... well, by the time Batgirls starts filming, she'll be a teenager. Anything can can happen.

Cassandra Cain would be the biggest role for for the Filipina-Korean-American actress. Previously, she has had roles in Grey’s Anatomy, Happyland, Veep, and Superior Donuts. She is the niece of Dante Basco, who played  the iconic role of leader of the Lost Boys, Rufio, in the classic movie Hook opposite Robin Williams.


Cathy Yan (Dead Pigs) is directing the movie, the first female Asian director to helm a superhero film,. She recently confirmed that Birds of Prey will be an R-Rated movie scheduled to be released in 2020.

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Ella Jay Basco with her huncle, Dante Basco.

In Birds of Prey, she'll be too young to make an appearance as the super hero. We assume that Batgirl will make her debut in a followup film.

The addition of the Cassandra Cain version of Batgirl is a pretty interesting choice. In the comics, the character has a speech disability, which heightens her sight. Cain is able to anticipate movements from assailants by expertly reading body language. 

The cast of Birds of Prey keeps on growing. We now have word that newcomer Ella Jay Basco is in negotiations to play Cassandra Cain in the upcoming live-action DC Comics adaptation. It's not only a major break for an up-and-coming actress, but it could mean very big things for the on-screen DC universe, as Cassandra Cain is one of the characters who eventually becomes Batgirl.

She is the niece of Dante Basco.

According to a new report, Ella Jay Basco is only expected to be playing Cassandra Cain in Birds of Prey, so this doesn't mean that Batgirl is going to show up. And the previous indication was that the hero would appear at a later date, as Warner Bros. also has a Batgirl movie in development, which Joss Whedon was attached to write and possibly direct at one point. Other cast members confirmed up to this point include Margot Robbie, reprising her role as Harley Quinn, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress and Jurnee Smollett-bell as Black Canary, With Ewan McGregor set to portray the villain Black Mask.

For those who may not be familiar, Cassandra Cain, in the world of DC Comics, is the daughter of David Cain and Lady Shiva, both accomplished assassins. They raise her without much human contact and deprive her of speech so that she may become a great assassin. Eventually, she meets Bruce Wayne and that leads her on a path to becoming Batgirl. Barbara Gordon, daughter of Jim Gordon is the other, probably more well-known Batgirl. This report also comes with some new plot details. Apparently, Cassandra Cain stumbles across a diamond that belongs to Black Mask, a nefarious kingpin in Gotham City's criminal underworld. It's then up to Harley, Huntress and Black Canary to protect her. It was previously reported that this version of Gotham City won't have Batman around to protect it, so don't expect to see Batfleck show up to back them up. Ella Jay Basco is only twelve years old, so this version of Cassandra Cain will be very young.

Related: Every DC Comics Movie in Development

This will be the next DC movie to enter production. It's just one of several spin-offs centered on Harley Quinn that entered development after the success of Suicide Squad. It also, somewhat surprisingly, will enter production before Suicide Squad 2, which looked like it was going to begin filming early next year before the studio decided to move forward with this instead. Currently, Wonder Woman 1984and the Joker origin movie, not connected to the current live-action DC movies, are filming

Prior to this, Ella Jay Basco only had minor roles in shows like Grey's Anatomy, Veep and Superior Donuts. Needless to say, this is a big step up. Cathy Yan (Dead Pigs) is in the director's chair, working from a script by Christina Hodson (Bumblebee), who is also working on the Batgirl movie. Bird of Prey is currently scheduled to hit theaters on February 7, 2020. 

Congrats to “newcomer” Ella Jay Basco who is in negotiations to star as Cassandra Cain (AKA the future Batgirl) in Warner Bros’ Harley Quinn spin-off BIRDS OF PREY! Basco is of Korean and Filipina descent. From Variety:

Margot Robbie is back as Quinn with Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Jurnee Smollett-Bell on board as Huntress and Black Canary, respectively. Ewan McGregor will play the film’s villain and Rosie Perez will portray Gotham City police detective Renee Montoya.

Cathy Yan is directing the pic with Robbie producing, along with Sue Kroll and Bryan Unkeless.

In the new film, Robbie, Winstead, and Smollett-Bell team up to protect Cain’s character when she comes across a diamond belonging to McGregor’s Black Mask, a kingpin in Gotham City’s criminal underworld.

In DC Comics, Cain is the daughter of assassins David Cain and Lady Shiva, and is deprived of speech and human contact during her childhood as conditioning to become the world’s greatest assassin. She eventually befriends Bruce Wayne and goes on to become Batgirl. It is unknown whether the Batgirl element will be included in this storyline as WB is already developing a “Batgirl” movie.