Let's talk about our cultures! Join us and share in this important day as we celebrate Asian Heritage month at Sonoma State University. FREE ADMISSION & it's open to the public!

Peter Jamero is the keynote speaker. His talk is titled "Diversity, Pinakbet and You: A F ilipino American Perspetive." Mr. Jamero will be signing his book "Vanishing Filipino Americans: The Bridge Generation" as well.

The event includes:

- Opening and closing ritual performances by Lizae Reyes with
musicians Alexis Canillo and Titania Buchholdt
- An intergenerational diverse panel with:
Richard Hunt, Michael Uyeno, Jenn DeLaCruz, Jeannette Anglin,
Carol Kawase & Grace Villafuerte
- Group discussions

- Cultural fashion show curated by Marybelle Bustos
Models: Marybelle Bustos, Jay Landayan Malvar, Trisha Hunt,
Andrew Chen, Moe McElhinny, Alexis Canillo, Katherine Wong,
Danielle Zimmerman, Felicia Perez, Christine Jugueta

Featuring special textiles and jewels collected by Thelma & Titania Buchholdt Collection, one of a kind pieces by Native Sol, vintage accessories by Iraya Robles, Tshirts by Buko Tees, Fundtotes by MB, styling by Jay Landayan Malvar & Iraya Robles

Photographer: Lyra Lopez
 

- Traditional Filipino dances by Kapwa
- Tahitian dances by Kimberly Liaz
- Performance by Christine Jugueta
- There will be a "children's section"
- Baybayin by Christian Cabuay
- A community potluck so bring your favorite dish!

SPONSORED by:
* FANHS SoCo (The Filipino American National Historical Society)
* FAASSU (Filipino American Association @ Sonoma State University
* CfBS (Center for Babaylan Studies)
* FACSCI (Filpino American Community of Sonoma County Inc)
* Dr. Elisa Velasquez-Andrade, SSU Director of Diversity
* SSU Academic Senate Diversity Committee
* SSU Multicultural Center


More information about Mr. Jamero. The eldest son of Filipino immigrants, Mr. Jamero was raised on a Filipino farm worker camp operated by his parents. While serving as the former assistant secretary of the Washington State Department of Social & Health Services, director of the Washington State Division of Vocational Rehab, executive director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, assistant professor of Rehab Medicine of the University of Washington and other positions, he did not neglect his Filipino roots. He was previously the founding national vice-president of the Filipino American National Historical Society.

Babaylan Files: Defining Kapwa

Defining Kapwa (source babaylanfiles.blogspot)

Kapwa, meaning 'togetherness', is the core construct of Filipino Psychology. Kapwa has two categories, Ibang Tao (other people) and Hindi Ibang Tao (not other people). Wikipedia

(pronoun) kindred, both; fellow-being, equally (applied to one of a pair) - Kapwa dot Com

...the tendency to see the world with all its beings, both human and lower forms, as a holistic system where everything operates interdependently and inter-relatedly... It is a system where harmony with other people and the environment is a much-needed trait. - Henry F. Funtecha, Ph.D., The News Today, 7/4/2008

...the Tagalog word for "shared identity" or "brotherhood." - DavisWiki

One of the most important features of the Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (IKSP) is the tendency to see the world with all its beings as a holistic system where things operate interdependently. Harmony with other people and the environment is a much-needed trait today in our shrinking global village. This orientation is called "kapwa"—the shared self — in the Filipino traditional value system, as expounded by Sikolohiyang Pilipino (SP). - Leny Strobel, 1/27/2008

One of the most difficult questions and tasks about dismantling privilege is this requirement to shift our understanding of the Self from the "I" to "We/kapwa." In the latter, we (privileged Americans) must begin to know and feel deeply that our affluent lifestyles have a social cost and a social burden that is carried by the poor of the world and the Earth. - Leny Strobel, 1/4/2008

I think the primary action of decolonization for me is this realization that I am not the artifact called 'Filipina,' but a Filipina - one who interacts and is constantly remade as a Filipina with every interaction, every relationship forged, every action I make which ties me to my heritage. Being Filipina isn't defined only by what I do as an individual, but by the living, breathingness of Kapwa that takes into account my environment, my choices, the choices of others, my fears and triumphs, all at the same time, all in constant motion. Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor

“Kapwa”—a Filipino cultural concept of interconnectedness whereby other people are not “others” but part of what one is. (from the opening page; emphasis in original). - Eileen Tabios, Blind Chatelaine's Keys

Shared identity; fellow being; neighbor; the shared, "including" the Self.  - Katrin de Guia, p. 376 Kapwa: The Self in the Other (Anvil Publishing, Pasig City, 2005)