Part of the mural "Filipino Americans: A Glorious History, Golden Legacy" (1995) by Eliseo Silva located in Los Angeles' Historic Filipinotown.
This year, Filipino American History Month is highlighting the history of social activism among the Filipino individuals and communities scattered across the United States.
The history of Filipino Americans is filled with stories of fighting for equal rights. Filipino American activists were in the fields on the West Coast, the plantations of Hawaii, the canneries and fishing boats in Alaska. Today, change makers can be found in the oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, the nation's urban classrooms, fighting for affordable housing, ethnic studies and affirmative action. You'll find Filipino American activists in the care homes and hospitals caring for senior citizens and patients with coronavirus.
This year, we all have an opportunity to be activists, a chance to change the direction of this country, march for against racism and for racial justice by working for a candidate and cause you care about and going to the polls and voting.
Following is a statement from Filipino Americans for Biden-Harris:
By Filipino Americans for Biden-HarrisOCTOBER 1, 2020
October is Filipino American History Month, a time to celebrate the multitude of historical contributions that Filipino Americans have made and continue to make to the United States.
We are proud to recognize that Filipino American History Month is observed every October since 1991 as established by the Filipino American National Historical Society and as recognized by the United States Congress in 2009. October commemorates the first recorded presence and arrival of Filipinos in the United States 433 years ago from a Spanish galleon at what is now Morro Bay, California.
Today, there are now about four million Filipino Americans in the United States, the third largest population amongst Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.
The states of California, Hawaii, Texas, Washington, Nevada, Illinois, New York, Florida, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Arizona have the highest population of Filipino Americans.
Filipino Americans have contributed greatly to the fine arts, music, dance, literature, education, business, food, literature, journalism, sports, fashion, politics, government, science, technology, labor rights and other fields in the United States that enrich the landscape of the country. (See AARP: "A Filipino American Story")
For this year’s Filipino American History month, Filipino Americans for Biden Harris want to pay particular respect to Filipino Americans who are an integral part of the United States health care system — our nurses, doctors, caregivers and other health care professionals. They are heroes on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic.
You know them all too well. They are your sisters, your daughters, your cousins, your spouses. Nearly one hundred and fifty thousand nurses in the U.S. are Filipino.
In California, Filipino nurses make up nearly twenty percent of all registered nurses. Right now, many of them are working on the frontlines, caring for COVID-19 patients.
Working as a healer is an honored part of the Filipino heritage. Unfortunately, just because they work as healers doesn't mean they are immune to the virus. Many of them have fallen sick, some have died.
But it didn't have to be that way. Many of them are at risk, working in dangerous conditions without essential supplies, masks or personal protective equipment. Some of them had to buy equipment on our own that should have been available through the government supply chain.
This failure of the Trump Administration to provide leadership at every turn whether that's a lack of essential supplies for frontline workers or the failure to articulate a clear, consistent national policy on testing for the coronavirus, and the use of masks or Trump's ignoring the professional guidance offered by members his own task force is just plain deadly.
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Filipino American registered nurses picket outside a U.S. hospital
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Filipino nurses and healthcare workers continue to put their lives at risk by showing up, day after day, to do their job, often without the supplies they need. Regular citizens do their job by wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and caring for family members. All of this is made more difficult by the fact the President and members of his administration fail to do their job, they fail to lead. Instead, they play pretend.
They pretend things are getting better when they're not. They pretend to be smarter and stronger than the virus but they're not. Children play pretend, adults take responsibility for themselves and their community and do what they must. Many of you are wondering why your community ended up losing so many nurses and healthcare workers to the coronavirus. Young, old, nurses, therapists, nursing home staff—all they wanted to do was to care for people and that is what they did, working on the frontlines, caring for those with the virus until the end.
Only a fool ignores the advice of his doctor, particularly if he ignores it because he is afraid he might get advice he doesn't like.
No one would send our soldiers into battle without the right equipment. Don't our nurses and caregivers —many of them your children and spouses —deserve the same respect? Shouldn't the Trump Administration take care of those who take care of others?
The bad news is experts now think there may be a new round of the virus this winter. Close to half the states in America are now seeing an increase in coronavirus infections. Over 6 million Americans have been infected and sadly, over 205,000 have died.
The good news is that there is something you can do to protect your family from a President who likes to play pretend. You can vote this November. Voting is a vaccine that can protect against government neglect.
Our children and grandchildren on the coronavirus frontlines are risking their lives for America. The least we can do is honor their sacrifice this November by voting for real leadership. And that means voting for Joe Biden for President and Kamala Harris for Vice President.
A Biden Harris Administration knows the government must look like the rest of America, including Filipino Americans. They know how to bring diverse stakeholders to the table to ensure that communities impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, police violence, discrimination, lack of health care, college loan debt, protection of our environment, unemployment are part of the decision-making. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will ensure that Filipino Americans will be treated with dignity and have a fair shot at the American Dream.
We are resilient, passionate, take pride in our families, respectful, help one another, values tradition and culture which are all uniquely core tenants of the American story.
