Filipino American History Month: Kyla Ross named FilAm Youth Role Model

UCLA

UCLA gymnast Kyla Ross named Filipino American Youth Role Model.

Olympic gold medalist, NCAA champion, gold at the Worlds. It's not hard to see why young girls look up to Kyla Ross, UCLA gymnast. Throughout her gymnastic creer, she's left behind a trail of perfect 10's.

Now, she can add "Fil-Am Youth Role Model" to her resume. It's fitting because this year, the theme of FAHM is "Pinay Visionaries," celebrating those women who have made an impact in their careers or specialty areas.

“I’m super excited to be able to receive this award — I think it’s super cool to be able to be an athlete and Filipino American and really represent this culture, so really excited today to receive this award,” said the leader of the UCLA women's gymnastics team.

As part of Filipino American History Month, the City of Carson has given the award to the 23-year-old Hawaii-born, California-raised Ross. 

“I feel really fortunate to have continued my gymnastics career at ucla and its really been to stay in LA and do something that I love so much and still breaking records has been really fun. But it’s bittersweet I’ve been doing gymnastics my whole life but I’m also ready to have a new chapter in life.”

Ross is competing in her final year of eligibility for UCLA. Her final and fifth year she will concentrate in completing her major in microbiology.

SCREEN CAPTURE / BALITANG AMERICA

Carson lauds Filipino American Olympian Kyla Ross as a "role model.'

She won her Olympic gold as a member of the Fierce Five in 2012. As a college freshman in 2017, Ross was the national champion in the balance beam and the co-champion in the uneven bars, which made her the first gymnast to ever win Olympic, world championship and NCAA titles.

Her clutch performance on the balance beam helped the Bruins win the 2018 NCAA championship in dramatic fashion, according to the L.A. Times.

Last season, Ross was at her peak. she scored a dozen perfect 10's during the season and she led her team to the NCAA championship barely losing to Oklahoma for the national title.

In addition, just over a year ago, she joined the women gymnasts in accusing Olympic gymnastics physician, Dr. Larry Nassar, of abusing them.

“She’s just so magnificent,” UCLA coach Valorie Kondos-Field told the Times. “I love the example that she not just gives our athletes, but gives to everyone that watches that it’s OK not be perfect. She’s what the sport is all about, get your ego out of it and just do the best you can in the moment.”

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This FilAm History Month, Celebrate Filipina American women

The vital but underreported role of Filipinas in Filipino American history is the theme for this year's Filipino American History Month this October.

“Pinay Visionaries: Celebrating Filipina American Women” and their contributions to history and the Filipina/o American community nationwide has been adopted by the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS).

Throughout history, Pinay — Filipina American women — leaders, laborers, scholars, scientists, and activists have been the backbone of the Filipina/o American community. These Filipina Americans have overcome racial and gender discrimination, and have persevered to contribute to their respective fields. 

This year, Filipino American communities and organizations are encouraged to celebrate Filipina American women across the United States, including:

• Dr. Dorothy Laigo Cordova – Founder and Executive Director of the Filipino American National Historical Society. She began organizing and advocating for the Filipino American community since the 1950s. Her vision has paved the way for FANHS, Filipino American History Month, and Filipino American Studies.
• Victoria “Vicki” Manalo Draves – the first Asian American Olympic gold medalist. She won two gold medals in platform and springboard diving in 1948.
• Dr. Felicisima “Ping” Serafica – the first Filipina American professor of psychology to receive tenure in the US. She helped establish one of the Philippines’ first hospitals for children with mental disabilities and the country’s first interdisciplinary mental health clinic.
• Thelma Buchholdt – the first Filipina American elected to a legislature in the United States in 1974 and the first Asian American elected to serve as President of the National Order of Women Legislators.
• Dr. Dawn Bohulano Mabalon – the first Filipina/o to receive a Ph.D. in History from Stanford University. She was a professor, a historic preservationist, and the author of Little Manila is in the Heart and Journey for Justice: The Life of Larry Itliong.

This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment. Passed by Congress on June 4, 1919 (and later ratified in 1920), the 19th Amendment gave women in the United States the right to vote. Although Filipina Americans (and other women of color) could not vote until much later) the 19th Amendment was a measure that dramatically altered the political and social landscape of the US. 

FANHS encourages organizations and communities across the United States to incorporate this theme of celebrating Filipina American Women in their Filipino American History Month events. 

FANHS encourages everyone to share their stories of Pinay Visionaries in their life and communities at #FAHM2019 on social media, including Instagram, Twitter (@fanhs_national) and it's Facebook page @FANHSnatl.

The celebration of Filipino American History Month in October commemorates the first recorded presence of Filipinos in the continental US, which occurred on October 18, 1587, when “Luzones Indios” came ashore from the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Esperanza and landed at what is now Morro Bay, California. 

In 2009, Congress recognized October as Filipino American History Month in the US. Various states, counties and cities in the US have established proclamations and resolutions declaring observance of Filipino American History Month.

The year 2019 also marks the 37th anniversary of the Filipino American National Historical Society. Across the nation, the 37 FANHS chapters, colleges, universities, museums, and community groups, will be commemorating Filipino American History Month with various activities and events to bring awareness of the significant role Filipinos have played in American history.

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