“Don’t play out in the sun.  You’ll get too dark!”

Most Filipinos have heard this phrase from parents or elders numerous times when they were children.  For Filipino Americans, this phrase might strike a chord as an example of Filipinos’ preference for lighter skin.  For some, it may conjure up memories of being bullied, traumatized, and socially excluded for having darker skin.  For others, the phrase may simply be a reminder of how to maintain a certain privilege for having lighter skin.  Regardless of one’s memory of that phrase, skin tone has unfortunately shaped all of our lives.

Colorism, the prejudice and discrimination based on skin tone, is a centuries-old practice of class stratification in many societies.  In the Philippines, light-skinned folks have a tremendous amount of social privilege compared to those who are dark-skinned.  Filipino celebrities, for example, go to great lengths to maintain the light-skin tone in contradistinction to their largely dark-skinned audience.  As such, colorism has fueled a multi-billion dollar world-wide industry based on skin-lightening products.  But where and how did it originate?

Colorism predates European colonialism and has been prevalent in many complex societies all over the world where field and domestic labor under the sun is not valued highly.  The practice of binukot among the Panay Bukidnon, for example, where young women were shielded from the sun in order to attract higher suitors, predates Spanish arrival in the Philippines. Nonetheless, three centuries of colonialism has solidified and exacerbated colorism in Philippine society.  Colorism is a sad reality and it affects many people, including Filipino Americans.

However, folks like Asia Jackson and her #MagandangMorenx movement and the backlash from colorist ad campaigns from skin lightening products have made inroads into trying to change the cultural perception that light-skinned is better.  Many Filipino and Filipino Americans have been slowly changing the discourse around skin tone with phrases like “Brown is Beautiful” and owning the term, kayumanggi.  It’s an uphill, yet necessary battle.

Joanne Rondilla, SJSU Professor

In this episode, we talk about our experiences with colorism and where we’ve seen it manifest.  Then, we speak to Joanne Rondilla, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences at San Jose State University, who has done extensive research on colorism in the Philippines and in the United States.  Listen as she discusses the history of colorism in Philippine society, the “secret” of the skin-lightening industry, the limitations of “colonial mentality” as the sole explanation for colorism, and suggestions on how to deal with colorism in your family.  It was a tremendous privilege to have Joanne on TFAL and we hope you enjoy the episode as much as we did.

Listen through the embedded player below, download directly here, or subscribe to us on iTunes here.

What are you experiences with colorism?  Do people tell you that you’re “too dark.” Let us know by leaving a voicemail at (805) 394-TFAL (8325) or email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com.

Finally, a special shout out to our TPALs who emailed us some of their comments and questions.  Here’s a picture of TPAL, Toni Geurts, and her beautiful mother:

It’s no secret that Filipinos are obsessed with basketball.  Same goes for Filipino Americans.  Ask many Filipino Americans and more likely than not, they LOVE basketball.  TFAL even did an episode on it.  Did you know that several hundred Filipino Americans are in the Philippines playing basketball in the college, minor leagues, and the PBA? When the NBA seems out of reach for most, many Filipino Americans strive to join the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

What are the experiences of Filipino American ballers in the Philippines?  What is it like to move away from the U.S. to pursue their hoop dreams?  In this special TFAL episode from the Philippines, we speak with former PBA star Tony De La Cruz about his journey to the PBA.  He talks being among the first Filipino American players to join the PBA, the culture shock he experienced when moving to the Philippines, his current role as a basketball and life coach, and his views about Filipino-style of basketball and basketball in general.  He also discusses his battle with depression and the importance of mental health among Filipinos.  Tony truly believes that basketball is an apt metaphor for life.

Listen through the embedded player below, download directly here, or subscribe to us on iTunes here.

Tony is truly an inspiration and it was a honor to interview him.  He welcomed Joe and Gerlie to his lovely home and we broke bread with him.  Though the premise of the interview was basketball, our conversation was so much more.  We hope you enjoy this episode.

As a Filipino American, have you ever considered moving to the Philippines?  Whether you were born in the diaspora or moved from the Philippines as a small child, does the Philippines ever “call to you?” If you’ve ever contemplated it, you should check out this episode about two Filipino Americans who moved to the motherland to set up socially-conscious businesses.

In May, Joe and Resident Reality Checker Gerlie was able to carve out some time during their Philippine vacation to speak with a couple of Manila’s newest Fil Am residents. In this TFAL episode, we speak to Roland Ros of Kumu, the hottest social streaming app to hit the Philippines (download it now!). We also speak to Carmel Laurino of Kalsada Coffee, a company that supports Filipino coffee producers in their efforts to bring Philippine coffee to the world. Listen as these two talk about the reasons why they decided to move to the Philippines, how they work with local entrepreneurs to set up their respective businesses, and how they come to terms with their Fil Am privilege.

Listen through the embedded player below, download directly here, or subscribe to us on iTunes here.

Do you have any urge to move to the Philippines?  Let us know by leaving a voicemail at (805) 394-TFAL (8325) or email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com.

P.S. This is the photo of early Philippine coffee importers in Seattle that Carmel referenced in the interview.

(Image courtesy of Museum of History and Industry)

Despite efforts to create Filipino ethnic enclaves – Historic Filipinotown in LA, SoMa Pilipinas in San Francisco, Filipino Village in National City, Little Manila in Toronto, etc. – a common narrative out there is that Filipinos do not have a discernible ethnic enclave. Even heavy Filipino-populated suburban cities such as Daly City, Carson, Vallejo, Jersey City, etc. are not majority Filipino and arguably do not have a markedly Filipino character, economic activity, or cultural identity like say a Chinatown, Japantown, Little India, or Koreatown.  Are they considered Filipino ethnic enclaves?

In this TFAL episode, the crew discuss Filipino ethnic enclaves in the United States.  Do enclaves – in the common American immigration context – exist?  Are they necessary? What would Filipino Americans gain or lose if a Filipino ethnic enclave existed? Are current geographies – where Filipinos are largely scattered in a metropolitan area with some concentrations in certain urban neighborhoods and suburban cities – adequate for the Filipino American community? We also talk about Joe’s early – and quite embarrassing – obsession on Filipinotowns.

Listen through the embedded player below, download directly here, or subscribe to us on iTunes here.

Here is the picture of the Joe’s drawing referenced in the episode.  Please remember that Joe was 15 when he drew this. =)

We only scratch the surface on this subject and admittedly neglect certain topics.  For a more in-depth analysis on Filipino ethnic enclaves, feel free to download Joe’s dissertation about Filipino American racial space in Los Angeles.

TFAL crew on the train to Vancouver

Passport Stamps!

Tim Horton’s is life.

Producer Mike must have ice cream.

Kulinarya Kamayan

Breaking bread with our Filipino Canadian hosts

We didn’t want the conversations to end.

Post meal night cap at Bao Down

Welcome to Canada, eh?  In addition to our trip to Seattle last month, the TFAL crew was able to take a trip to our neighbor to the north, Canada…Vancouver to be exact.  In our next couple episodes, we talk to some of Van-city’s awesomest Filipino community leaders.  This episode focuses on political and community organizing in the city and Canada as a whole.  Mable Elmore, Member of Legislative Assembly for British Columbia, and RJ Aquino discuss the benefits of being in a more tolerable country like Canada (unlike the hyper-capitalist United States).  We then talk to Maureen Mendoza of the Kababayan Academic Mentorship Program (KAMP) and Marjorie Eda of Tulayan, two extraordinary Filipino organizations working on empowering Filipino Canadian youth.

Mable Elmore MLA Office

Mable Elmore MLA

RJ Aquino

Marjorie Eda of Tulayan

Marjorie Eda of Tulayan

Listen through the embedded player below, download directly here, or subscribe to us on iTunes here.

Special shout out goes to RJ Aquino and Sammie Jo Rumbaua for helping us coordinate the interviews and for your warm hospitality!