Michele Garlit on Moving and Making Boston Home

It’s officially September, and for so many people in the city, it marks the start of a new chapter. The students – both in college and grad school — are back for their classes. And a lot of people have moved. 

September 1st is when most of the leases in Boston begin. People across town are making their apartments and brownstones feel like home — including many who are moving here for the first time. In this episode, Michele Garlit shares tips for moving, apartment hunting, getting settled and making friends. Michele is a law student at Suffolk University. She moved to East Boston in July of 2020 to start the program.

Listen to the full episode for more.

Transcript:

Kaitlin Milliken: Hello, and welcome to the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken, and this show is obviously made by BOSFilipinos.

It’s officially September, and for so many people in the city, it marks the start of a new chapter. The students – both in college and grad school — are back in Boston for their classes. Vacation season is over and lots of folks are starting new jobs. And a lot of people have moved.

September 1st is when most of the leases in Boston begin. People across town are making their apartments and brownstones feel like home — including many who are moving here for the first time. So today, we’re going to talk tips for moving, apartment hunting, getting settled and making friends. For this conversation, I’m joined by Michele Garlit. Michele is a law student at Suffolk university. She moved to East Boston in July of 2020 to start the program, which was particularly exciting for me. Because Michele is also my best friend from my hometown, San Jose, California. She’s going to be my roommate, and she’s also Filipino so she was a perfect fit for this episode.

With those disclaimers and introductions out of the way. Let’s get started.

Thanks so much, Michelle, for being on the show. This is incredibly uncomfortable, because we know each other.

Michele Garlit: My dad was asking, “Oh, is this gonna be like a conversation?” I'm like, “I hope because otherwise it’s not gonna work.”

Kaitlin Milliken: Yeah. That's fair. That's fair. So obviously, I know the answer to all of these questions. But for our listeners, tell me about when you moved to Boston and what that experience was like.

Michele Garlit: So I moved to Boston during the pandy-wandy of 2020. July 2020, I moved to Boston from the California Bay Area for law school, which was a time. It made it very difficult for seeing places and figuring everything out, like regardless of me being on the other coast, too. So that was a time.

Kaitlin Milliken: Yeah, rough time to move. So you moved here in July of 2020. You've been in Boston for about a year. What surprised you about moving here that you weren't expecting?

Michele Garlit: There has been a lot of changes, primarily with I guess, coming from the Bay Area. The one of the biggest things I was happy about, but also I knew was going to be a challenge, was primarily not having a car. Because I chose to not bring my vehicle over to Boston because I'm like, “Oh, their transit system — I love the T #TAllTheWay.” However, it's just something to get used to. Because what would normally be a 20 minute drive is 50 minutes, one hour, depending if you're on the green line. Love that B line. Love it.

Kaitlin Milliken: That's how you know you've been here long enough. You have strong opinions about the green line. Everyone does who stays for more than six months.

Michele Garlit: Oh, absolutely. And that was definitely one of the biggest culture shocks. But then there's the literal culture shock coming from the Bay Area. Being of mixed race being Mexican, Filipino, and Japanese. I could get all of my favorite foods everywhere I wanted. Boston, not so much.

Kaitlin Milliken: Is there anything that you wish you knew about living in Boston before you moved?

Michele Garlit: I think the hardest part, even now I would say, is probably figuring out the neighborhoods, because I feel like there's very different vibes in very different neighborhoods in the city.

I have moved now to Brighton, which is off of the B line and pretty close to the C line where we are. And it's very different, very different vibe. I think and especially like from like North End or Somerville.

Kaitlin Milliken: And you were living in Eastie, too.

Michele Garlit: I was. Yeah, when I initially moved. I moved to Eastie which I was like, “Oh $720 rent? Heck yeah, I totally want to go there.”

Kaitlin Milliken: Fastest train ride into downtown.

Michele Garlit: I will say only took 20 minutes, which you know, like for how far I was going it was pretty dope. I think there's different vibes and it's something that I didn't know coming into Boston, and I wish I had more of a knowledge about.

Kaitlin Milliken: You, obviously have been able to do a little bit more exploring having been in the city for a little bit. Are there any neighborhoods or things you particularly like to do that you would recommend to other folks?

Michele Garlit: Well, there's always the classic touristy thing: Going to the commons and public garden. I really say I'm so I'm actually going to Suffolk Law School. So it's like right there. It's right next to the Park Street Station. And it is right across from the commons. And I gotta say it's just like, it's really nice. It's so pretty. It's so nice to hang around that area. Back Bay is really cool. I will say I do like to hang Around Back Bay. I love that they have Trader Joe's there. Chinatown is really fun. I like getting like stuff that I can get in California Bay Area.

Kaitlin Milliken: Yeah, definitely. So you mentioned a few times you're in law school, which is very exciting. And there are a lot of students in the city and a lot of folks who listen to the show or have found BosFilipinos came to the city initially as students, or are about to be in their first year of grad school or undergrad in Boston, having not lived here as a resident before. What has been helpful when it comes to meeting people and making friends in the academic setting?

Michele Garlit: I think the really cool thing about Boston is just how young it is. So a lot of people are in your shoes. Yes, a lot of people will move, I have found moved, to the area for undergrad. Like a lot of my fellow classmates and came to Boston, like three, four, or five years ago for school. So a lot of them will have that. However, nearly everyone is still transplants. Most of the people I know, especially young people, are not Massachusetts natives. Like there's very few. Like out of my roommates, there's five of us, which is quite a bit. Like only one of them came from Massachusetts. Everyone else is from Connecticut, further away, like one of them was from Haiti. One of them was originally from Uganda. So it's a very diverse city. So a lot of people are also just trying to find their way, trying to figure out Boston themselves. So I think just don't be scared to talk about like, “Oh, I'm from LA, blah, blah.” And then people are like, “Oh my gosh, I think that's a cool place.” Or “Hey, I want to go to” or, “Hey, I'm from there, too.” So it's really easy to find that.

Kaitlin Milliken: But yes, I'm sure that like there's been kind of the socially opening up that you've gotten a chance to see you having moved and been there when things were very isolated. That's a word.

Michele Garlit: That’s a good word.

Kaitlin Milliken: To where they are now.

Michele Garlit: Yes, absolutely. It was definitely nicer to get to view Boston and more of its full glory of Bostonian hanging out outside-ness, and all that lovely humidity. Love it.

Kaitlin Milliken: Okay. Okay. You have to realize, once it tiptoes above 50 degrees sun's out guns out. Get your base burn. I don't have that problem, but I've learned a lot about the base burn after moving here, which brings me to my next question. I feel like we all have that moment where you're like, “Oh, man, I actually live here.” Like the thing that makes you realize your sense of place or you kind of feel a little bit more at home. Have you had that moment yet?

Michele Garlit: I don't think I've had it yet.

Kaitlin Milliken: It's like when you find yourself in a Dunks ordering an iced coffee in February, and you’re like, “Man…”

Michele Garlit: Okay, I did kind of have a moment about that, but actually more sparked a larger conversation with people like this lovely individual across from me, Katie. But, so I was coming back from the grocery store. So Eastie, or at least my part of Eastie that I was living in is called orient heights. AKA there are hills. So I'm walking up hills pushing my little grocery cart — a little old lady grocery cart — up the hill. Not like… I didn't steal a cart. I want to clarify, I did not steal a cart from a Star Market. I got one of those little like push carts.

Kaitlin Milliken: Yeah, the push for old people.

Michele Garlit: You understand.

Kaitlin Milliken: Yeah, ‘cause I bought you that push cart.

Michele Garlit: Exactly. I was going uphill with it, and I go across it. I'm like, chilling because like I'm like, “Oh, yeah, they're so good at like cleaning off like snow from stoops here.” And I slip and fall very hard on a driveway. And I was like, “Oh no, I'm in the north, aren't I?”

Kaitlin Milliken: That's true. The weather is a bit of a shock for a lot of folks who didn't grow up in the northeast. A good coat. A must. And shoes with traction.

Michele Garlit: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And that was the thing I was wearing, like my snow boots, too. So I was like, really shocked that I slipped and fell and my eggs, my poor eggs. RIP my eggs. But yes, that was the moment that really like, “Am I Bostonian yet? I think I'm a Bostonian.” But then actually, that sparked a larger conversation with lovely Katie and some of my other fellow Massachusetts people. And I'm like, “Hey, what do you think are the like five or like the five signs that you're a Massachusetts person,” aka this is kind of inspired by the terrible show, terrible, great show, that is You. Second season.

Kaitlin Milliken: Oh, yeah. The five tenants of living in LA.

Michele Garlit: Yeah, exactly. So it's kind of inspired by that and I did see the Keytar Bear. I was told that was one of the tenants of being a Bostonian.

Kaitlin Milliken: Absolutely. Keytar Bear. Seeing a car going the wrong direction on Commonwealth Avenue.

Michele Garlit: Oh, getting Storrowed.

Kaitlin Milliken: Seeing someone get Storrowed. That’s a thing. I feel like there's a whole bunch of other stuff. Iced coffee in the winter.

Michele Garlit: I was going to say iced coffee during the winter. I did do that a couple times.

Kaitlin Milliken: There we go. That's how you know.

Michele Garlit: I haven't gotten Storrowed or watched someone get Storrowed. But I've heard enough about it to know I don't want to experience that.

Kaitlin Milliken: Yeah, wouldn't be that hard to put a sign up. They might have already done it.

Michele Garlit: They have. Like, seriously like a mile back. So we were going with my former roommates, we were going up to near the Mass General. And so we went on Storrow Drive. And they have signs like upwards to two miles before the tunnel like “Do not go in this tunnel. If you have a big, big U Haul, do not go in this tunnel. Do not do that.” And still.

Kaitlin Milliken: So I feel like we've covered the moving tip of be careful where you drive your U Haul, which is always good advice. You mentioned being a little bit more acquainted with the neighborhood might have been something you were you wish you had done before moving. What else is helpful for people to know about finding housing, securing housing, finding roommates if they're like young people looking for roommates that you wish you had known or that you learned when you were planning your move?

Michele Garlit: I didn't look for roommates before I found housing. I just found housing. Because I just really looked I was really worried about my budget because...

Kaitlin Milliken: That's actually super common, by the way to look for available housing, and then having the roommates be like part of the deal.

Michele Garlit: That's what happened to me. And I will say my roommates got along very well. And they're all my age and we were very friendly. We would cook together and hang out together. And then I would say to not be scared of Facebook house groups.

Kaitlin Milliken: That's a great tip. There are so many not just like the Boston roommates one but they have them by university. They have them by location.

Michele Garlit: Absolutely. That is definitely I think something that really, I was weird about. I know when Katie, lovely Katie, here was assisting me looking for places. She was like, “Oh, we should go on Facebook.” And I was really I think pushing back so much against her.

Kaitlin Milliken: Because it sounds sketchy.

Michele Garlit: It sounds sketchy. It sounds like you're like why would I go on Facebook like people are posting this?

Kaitlin Milliken: Oh, especially if you're like a femme presenting person or like worried about being with like sketchy people I can get why Facebook sounds the alarm bells initially.

Michele Garlit: It extremely does and I know it was really it made me very anxious. But I will say you find like almost all the places that you're looking are best found on Facebook. Unless you really want to do apartments.com and you really want Jeff Goldblum to be your spirit animal then yes, go on apartments.com.

Kaitlin Milliken: Craigslist is a thing too.

Michele Garlit: Exactly a lot of people post on Craigslist. I was actually surprised.

Kaitlin Milliken: I feel like Craigslist is great for empty units. Like there's no pre-existing roommates. And there you're just looking to sign. Craigslist also does rooms for rent. But usually I've looked for places that are empty before, like one bedroom, two bedrooms. That's a good place to go for empty places, along with your apartments.com whatever whenever calling management companies. But roommates, Facebook is super super common.

Michele Garlit: Yes. Also don't be scared of MLS. It sounds like you're like, “What is this term? I've never heard of it.” It’s multiple listing sites…

Kaitlin Milliken: Multiple listing service, multi listing services?

Michele Garlit: Yeah, basically real estate companies will put their listings on multiple places. So it'll be the same exact listing found on various sites for people to look for. So that means it could be on Zillow or Redfin, etc, etc, etc. And sometimes they'll actually do a posting in Facebook groups as well. So that's kind of part of it. And so don't be scared to talk to these real estate agents, I think, especially for young people. It's like really scary. It's like, “I know nothing about this stuff.” But just go for it.

I mean, and also, going off Katie's point with Boston Roommates, have seen people meet people there and then go house searching with them. And it turns out great.

Kaitlin Milliken: Oh, yeah. When you find the roommate there, then you look at houses with brokers? Through different real estate services.

So you've been here for about a year. I know that like the first year, there were a lot of restrictions on things that you know, typically... like there was no Boston Marathon. There was no St. Patrick's Day Parade. Is there anything you're really looking forward to in the coming like remainder of your time in law school because I don't know.

Michele Garlit: We don't know how long I’m staying.

Kaitlin Milliken: I don't have timelines of when they're gonna start rescheduling stuff. Sure, because of the gestures broadly. But is there anything that you're particularly looking forward to? And that could be one of the big city things that could be like a small thing that you just haven't had the time to do yet because of being busy.

Michele Garlit: Redsox. I'm so excited to go to a Red Sox game. So little known fact about me: I'm very much kind of sort of really into baseball. And I will say I do support the Giants. Sorry, everyone, San Francisco Giants.

Kaitlin Milliken: Different league, different league. So it doesn’t matter.

Michele Garlit: I do like the A's too, though.

Kaitlin Milliken: Well, that's a you problem.

Michele Garlit: So I do really like the Oakland Athletics and like I've been to all the stadiums around here. I've gotten a chance to go Levi, which was really cool. So I'm really excited, like really excited to go see the Green Monster in person. I just really want to go catch a baseball game out there. And at the Red Sox stadium. I'm excited for that.

Kaitlin Milliken: We'll make sure that happens.

Michele Garlit: That needs to happen. Especially ‘cause sports. I like sports.

Kaitlin Milliken: Sports are good. Boston is a good town for sports. This is my final question for you, Michele. What's one thing that you'd want to leave with a new resident like one tip that you'd like them to internalize?

Michele Garlit: Go out of your comfort zone for food. I will say the Korean food is really good.

Kaitlin Milliken: Yeah, there's a lot of good Korean food in Allston.

Michele Garlit: Really good Korean food in Allston. So I'd say yes. Like try out different foods. Don't just hang out at Bertinelli. What is that spaghetti restaurant?

Kaitlin Milliken: Bertucci’s?

Michele Garlit: That's the one.

Kaitlin Milliken: I feel like that’s the second time someone has mentioned Bertucci’s to me in the last two weeks. I’m like, “Who's going to Bertucci’s in Boston?

Michele Garlit: Apparently a lot of people.

Kaitlin Milliken: Wow. Okay, I guess I'm the one person who hasn't been to Bertucci's in Boston.

Michele Garlit: Should we take a trip to Bertucci’s is that what we’re saying?

Kaitlin Milliken: Scratch that last tip. We’re going to Bertucci’s.

Michele Garlit: I will say another thing is just don't be scared to go out of your comfort zone on places.

Kaitlin Milliken: Park your car with caution. Wear good shoes.

Michele Garlit: Absolutely. Yes. See, those are good tips. Do wear good shoes, you're gonna be walking. And also just don't be scared of using public transit. There's nothing wrong with buses. There's nothing wrong with the train. Also, the B line is awful. Don't take the B line.

Kaitlin Milliken: And with that, thank you Michele for your time.

Michele Garlit: Happy to be here.

Kaitlin Milliken: This has been the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken. Music for our show was made by Matt Garamella. Special thanks to Michele for joining us. If you’re new to the city, welcome! I hope that you can find home and make special memories here. If you liked this episode of our show, you can subscribe to the BOSFilipinos Podcast on your streaming platform of choice. You can also follow us on Instagram, @bosfilipinos, to stay connected. If you have ideas of what we should cover, you can let us know at bosfilipinos.com. Thanks for listening and see you soon.

Paulina Mangubat on Campaigning for Michelle Wu

Paulina Mangubat moved to Boston in February of 2021. She’s spent her career working in the political sector and relocated to the city to work on a high profile race: Boston’s upcoming mayoral election. Paulina is the Digital Director on the Michelle Wu campaign. During our conversation, Paulina shared why she was drawn to the Michelle Wu campaign and what got her started in politics.

The mayoral primaries are right around the corner on September 14. No matter who you support, be sure to check if you're registered so you can cast your ballot.

Listen to the full conversation below, or subscribe to our show on Apple Podcast, Google Play, Stitcher, and Spotify.

Transcript

Kaitlin Milliken: Hello, and welcome to the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken, and this show is obviously made by BOSFilipinos. 

In each episode of our podcast, we highlight a different aspect of Filipino life in the Greater Boston area. So today we’re to chat with one member of Boston’s Fil-Am community. 

Paulina Mangubat moved to Boston this year in February of 2021. She’s spent her career working in the political sector and relocated to the city to work on a high profile race: Boston’s upcoming mayoral election. Paulina is the Digital Director on the Michelle Wu campaign. So she’s writing tweets, filming videos, making TikToks, coordinating signage — and so much more. 

During our conversation, Paulina shared why she was drawn to the Michelle Wu campaign and what got her started in politics. She also talked about how growing up in Arizona shaped her perspective.

Thank you so much, Paulina, for chatting today. 

Paulina Mangubat: Thank you so much for having me. 

Kaitlin Milliken: So just to get started, let's talk a little bit about what brought you to Boston.

Paulina Mangubat: So I moved to Brighton in February to join Michelle Wu’s campaign for mayor. I actually started working for her campaign in January — working remotely. I moved to Boston in February, and have been here ever since working as a digital and creative director. 

Kaitlin Milliken: You moved to the area and sort of embedded into the Boston political scene. What has been surprising about that? What has it been like working on the mayoral campaign?

Paulina Mangubat: As a person of color, I think everyone hears certain things about Boston in general, about it being a little bit unwelcoming to people of color. I think that's a stereotype. And so I think that I was a little bit hesitant to move, just hearing all of those things. But honestly, like, after being here for a couple of months, I really enjoy it. I have the added benefit of being able to see the city, from Michelle's point of view, which I think is such a blessing. Because you know, she's been here for so long. She's been so active in the community and in the local political scene. So she knows people in every single neighborhood. She knows all the good restaurants. She knows all the great community centers. And so, I've really gotten to see neighborhoods that, even if I had lived here not working on her campaign for a year, I probably wouldn't have been able to see.

Kaitlin Milliken: It's very cool that you're working on the Michelle Wu campaign. Obviously, she is also Asian American, and has been one of the Boston city councilors at large. What was it that drew you specifically to her campaign in order to promote her message and the things she's working on?

Paulina Mangubat: I think that Michelle is someone who really embodies the full package of what a politician should and also can be. Her family backstory has so many elements that I think other Asian Americans can relate to. Her parents are from Taiwan. She grew up as the interpreter for her parents growing up. She was the eldest in her family, I'm also the eldest in my family, and has had to deal with a lot of real life issues — mental health problems, and just taking care of her family as her mom underwent a mental health crisis and all the cultural barriers and differences that are wrapped up in that. And then on top of that, the political work that she's doing really centers people. I could talk all day about this. I feel very passionately about her. So it's just cool to see the consistency of her leadership, and also just the relatability of her story.

Kaitlin Milliken: When it comes to city and local races, there are a lot of issues specific to an area. What are some of the things that you had to learn about when you took this position and started doing the messaging for this campaign that is, so based in the issues relevant to here?

Paulina Mangubat: I think that there's a lot of specific things that exist in the city, not just specific to Boston, but generally, parts of the city code and how city systems are structured, but no one really knows until you're in it.

Kaitlin Milliken: We do love a good zoning regulation here.

Paulina Mangubat: Right? Yeah. And the other thing is that there's so much history here in Boston, where you're not just talking about buildings, you're talking about buildings that literally have been around for centuries. And so there's a lot of, in addition to meeting the moment, currently now, there's also all of this history that's wrapped up in the buildings and in the bricks that make the buildings and then like the people who built the buildings. I think that that's one thing. And then the other thing is just how much character each neighborhood here in Boston has. I think that most people who live in Boston know that it's representation and media is like, I guess the joke is that it's like The Departed and like Goodwill Hunting. 

Kaitlin Milliken: And that's it.

Paulina Mangubat: And that's it.

Kaitlin Milliken: We also had Ted. 

Paulina Mangubat: Yes. And Ted. 

Kaitlin Milliken: Oh, fever pitch when Jimmy Fallon would act. I think that's not all of them. But that's a lot of them.

Paulina Mangubat: Yes. But then when you come here, you're like, “Oh, like this is what — not to say that every single neighborhood is a monolith — but like, there's so much more than what people see in media.” And it's all extremely specific. And you know, Boston is a relatively small city. I went to college in New York, but each neighborhood feels super alive and distinct. And I thought that was really interesting. And there was a there was a lot to learn and I'm still learning.

Kaitlin Milliken: What's your day look like? What types of things are you doing — platforms, stuff like that?

Paulina Mangubat: Yeah, so I come from a digital background. And what that generally means in campaigns is you're working on email fundraising. You're working in social media, and you're working on digital ads, whether that be fundraising ads, or persuasion ads to get people to hear more about your candidate, and increase their name recognition on this particular campaign, because it is a local race. And we don't have that much staff. It's social media. It's managing our persuasion ad programs to make sure that people are hearing from Michelle. It's working on our print collateral and all of our signs. Anything that has some element of design to it, that has Michelle's name on it, I helped create, and also Michelle loves doing video content. So she has me edit a lot of videos and help her film a lot of videos from her home as well.

Kaitlin Milliken: So what got you interested in being involved in politics since you've been doing that since you graduated from college?

Paulina Mangubat: So I'm originally from Arizona. What's nice about Arizona is I think it's a state that's in transition, like so many other southern states. It has a huge POC population, a huge immigrant population. People tend to think of it as a very conservative place. And so I grew up in a very white neighborhood, going to very white schools, and living kind of both sides of it coming from an immigrant family. 

I always knew that there was more to be done, and that I wanted to be part of making whatever city that I was in feel more welcoming. So that's sort of what got it started. Again, because my parents are from the Philippines, I feel like they moved here and they weren't super aware of all the job opportunities that exist in politics. I think that's a pretty common experience for a lot of children of immigrants. Their parents were like, “We moved here so that you could have a better life. And now you want to change how life is here in the States?” You know, it's really just like a desire to make things better for people. Honestly, Arizona made me who I am like, this is why I'm like this.

Kaitlin Milliken: I love that. I feel like hometowns shaped so much of how we experience and see the world. I love to take a deeper dive into your cultural identity. How did you experience your culture as someone who has immigrant parents, parents from the Philippines, while you were living in Arizona?

Paulina Mangubat: The first thing is that I think that there are Filipinos everywhere. For me, growing up in Arizona, even though the communities that I was in were majority white, there was always you know… My parents both work in health care. So they had this huge network of random Filipino friends who they either met in Arizona, or maybe they knew from college, and they had moved to Arizona. And so I was constantly navigating between these spaces that were all Filipino — karaoke with my titas and like all of these parties, and all of that — with my school life, and my let's say like everyday life, where there just weren't other Filipinos around in the spaces. And so that was really interesting to see. And I think the most interesting thing is, my parents are fairly Catholic. And they sent me to Catholic schools, because they were like, “Makes sense.” So there was always that cultural link between the two worlds. And yet, they just didn't seem to crossover at all when I was an either. 

Kaitlin Milliken: Yeah, that is super interesting. You mentioned to that — when we chatted before we started recording — you have a lot of family in the Philippines. Did you, prior to the pandemic, find yourself going back and forth a lot? 

Paulina Mangubat: So my mom has a really big family. They're ethnically Chinese, but my mom was born and raised in the Philippines. And so there's just a lot of culture happening, both Chinese and Filipino. I, as a kid would go over to the Philippines during the summer to visit my grandparents. I was actually last there right before the pandemic hit for my grandparents 65th wedding anniversary, which was both incredibly fabulous to see very old people still very much in love, but also terrifying because news of COVID was just starting to circulate when I was last there. 

I also  went to kindergarten there and I feel really blessed that I have had that opportunity because it is sort of like a best of both worlds thing. That being said, my Tagalog is still really bad. So that is the one thing that I didn't get out of it which I probably should have but did not.

Kaitlin Milliken: Are there any cultural values that you kind of bring with you, having spent so much time in touch with the Filipino side of your identity? 

Paulina Mangubat: I think that so much of being Filipino is being very welcoming and generous. Whether that be with your time, or with your food, or just generally like a spirit of generosity. I think that in the States, there's so much focus on independence and operating separately from your family. Not really leaning on community supports as much, which is really great and awesome to have. But in the Philippines, it's always making food for people. My mom, I think, was always just super generous with her time, like she showed up to volleyball practices with McDonald's for the entire team. And everyone thought that was kind of strange, but that's super normal, because food is a love language. So yeah, that's what I always say, a spirit of generosity and not minding going out of your way to make someone feel comfortable.

Kaitlin Milliken: Asking where we can see some of the things you've worked on is inherently asking where we can see and learn more about Michelle. So I will ask you, where can we see the things that you're working on for Michelle, which combines both of those questions? 

Paulina Mangubat: Well, you can find Michelle Wu on Twitter @wutrain, and on Instagram at @wutrain, on Facebook at Michelle for Boston, and her website is michelleforboston.com. During my tenure as her digital creative director, we also made her a TikTok so you can find her on TikTok @wutrain. And if that's not enough for you, and you want to also hear from me directly, you can follow me on Twitter @paulinaVEVO, because I think I’m funny.

Kaitlin Milliken: Awesome. Thank you so much, Paulina, for taking the time. 

Paulina Mangubat: Thank you for having me.

[MUSIC]
Kaitlin Milliken: This has been the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken. Music for our show was made by Matt Garamella. Special thanks to Paulina for joining us. The primaries are right around the corner — September 14th to be exact. No matter who you support, be sure to check if you're registered so you can cast your ballot. If you liked this episode of our show, you can subscribe to the BOSFilipinos Podcast on your streaming platform of choice. You can also follow us on Instagram, @bosfilipinos, to stay connected. If you have ideas of what we should cover, you can let us know at bosfilipinos.com. Thanks for listening and see you soon.

Lilia Mundelius on Supporting Human Rights Causes Through Baking

Lilia Mundelius, chapter coordinator for Malaya Movement Massachusetts, has been involved with fundraising since they were young. After moving to Boston post-grad, Lilia combined their experience raising money for important causes with their love of cooking to support Filipino human rights campaigns through baking. During our conversation, Lilia shared how they decided to start hosing bake sales to support these issues, and resources to get connected to causes in the Philippines. 

For updates about where Lilia will be fundraising next, follow their Instragram @floral.filipinx. Books, websites, and resources mentioned in this episode are linked in the transcript below. 

Listen to the full conversation below, or subscribe to our show on Apple Podcast, Google Play, Stitcher, and Spotify.

Transcript 

[MUSIC]

Kaitlin Milliken: Hello, and welcome to the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken, and this show is obviously made by BOSFilipinos. 

In each episode of our podcast, we highlight a different aspect of Filipino life in the Greater Boston area. So today we’re to chat about fundraising to support causes that affect people living in the Philippines. 

Lilia Mundelius, chapter coordinator for Malaya Movement Massachusetts, has been involved with fundraising since they were young. After moving to Boston post-grad, Lilia combined their experience raising money with their love of cooking to support Filipino human rights campaigns through baking. During our conversation, Lilia shared how they decided to start hosing bake sales to support these issues, and resources to get connected to causes in the Philippines. 

We will be linking the organizations, books, and websites mentioned in our show notes at bosfilipinos.com. 

Thank you so much, Lilia, for joining us today. 

Lilia Mundelius: Yeah, thanks for having me. 

Kaitlin Milliken: So I just love to start off by asking when you decided to start fundraising through selling baked goods? What drove you to do that?

Lilia Mundelius: So I've always done fundraising ever since I was little. There's like Relay for Life kind of stuff. So I've done that since I was a kid. Most recently, Liyang NorCal had their like giving circle. And so they gave us, like, how to fundraise, what you should do, like all that kind of stuff. And so it kind of sparked my interest in getting back into it. I'd also been really wanting to get back into cooking and baking like Filipino food and snacks. “Oh, the stars have aligned, I can start selling these snacks.”

Kaitlin Milliken: And we were chatting earlier. You mentioned that you grew up in Kentucky. Did you learn how to bake and cook Filipino food there? Was that something you grew up with?

Lilia Mundelius: Yeah, definitely. Nay, I would also always make pancit and lumpia. All of the classic Filipino stuff. I learned how to bake from my dad. He liked to make breads and cakes and all that kind of stuff. And so I learned how to make pan de sol later in life. But I'd already had that basis for breadmaking.

Kaitlin Milliken: It's so hard to get Filipino baked goods in Boston and Massachusetts. And it's also hard to find, you know, reliable recipes. Are you looking online? Do you do the cookbook thing?

Lilia Mundelius: Yeah. So I always asked Nay, “Do you know how to make this?” If she does, she'll tell me. Filipinos sometimes don't really write down recipes. You just kind of like have a feeling. For pan de sol, I actually got that recipe from the cookbook that I am Filipino Cookbook. I don't know if you guys know it. That recipes stray from that. So it's basically a vegan recipe.

Kaitlin Milliken: Dang, that's awesome. I also find that there's sort of this myth of Filipino food is not vegetarian or vegan friendly. And I think there are so many new recipes or modified recipes that really adapt to that, which is awesome. 

Lilia Mundelius: Yeah, definitely.

Kaitlin Milliken:  So I know that you're supporting different organizations through your fundraising. Can you tell us a little bit about, you know, what issues you're most passionate about supporting, and some of the orgs that you're fundraising for?

Lilia Mundelius: The organizations that I support are mainly human rights organizations, and either based in the Philippines or based around Filipino issues. The ones that I have supported so far are... So there's Sabokahan, which is like Lumad, like women, they are trying to continue their education of their community and like have community resources spread around themselves. The Lumad people have been under attack. Their schools have been being destroyed, and they haven't been able to like keep up with education a lot because of that. I fundraise for them. 

And then there's Karapatan Alliance. They literally do, like legal work around human rights, trying to get political prisoners free and standing up for human rights activists and stuff. And then there's also Malaya Movement, which is I'm part of. We're a US based organization, and we do mainly the PHRIA campaign. So we're lobbying our legislators trying to ask them stop sending us tax dollars, which there's a lot of Filipinos here. We pay taxes here. And we're basically funding like the genocide of our family and friends back home. Getting funds to them, so we can stop sending money over to Duterte and things like that.

Kaitlin Milliken: It's so cool that you're a part of Malaya Massachusetts. I know that that's one of the Filipino organizations that folks throughout the state can be a part of. Can you talk a little bit about how you got involved there? What got you started? 

Lilia Mundelius: We had gotten in contact with the New York chapter of Malaya. There's a couple of friends who got in contact with Boston PEAR, which I'm also part of. For people who don't know, PEAR is, Boston, Filipino Education Advocacy Resources. So they were trying to build a coalition with us. And then they asked, “Do you want to make a chapter in Massachusetts?” And we're like, “Actually, yeah, that's really cool.” So a bunch of us decided to take up leadership roles. As I said before, I'm the coordinator. We one day just started a chapter. I think in December last year, so now here we are. 

Kaitlin Milliken: Wow, that’s so new. 

Lilia Mundelius: We're babies. We're actually recently going to be lobbying Ed Markey soon. We have a planning committee meeting up next week. So that's exciting.

Kaitlin Milliken: And I'll definitely ask a little bit later, how folks can get involved. But I do want to get a little bit more into your cultural identity. So you were born and raised in Kentucky and moved out here, Have you always been really plugged into your Filipino identity? Was that something that you had to build up and connect with over time?

Lilia Mundelius: I don't think I had any interactions with Filipinos until I went to college. And even then it was just kind of one person I kind of knew. And we didn't try to be friends. When I moved here, I was informed about PEAR and I was like, “Oh, my God, Filipinos, this is great.” And then there's also a poetry event that I went to. It was called Four Brown Girls, which is literally like four girls who are brown. And one of them was Gretchen, who runs BRWN GRLZ the earrings on Instagram, and I went there, I cried. So hard. I was like, “ have never known this kind of representation. This is the possibility of what I can be.” From there, I just kind of was always trying to reach out to other Filipinos, anything and everything about Filipinos got my hands on and read and listened to. And it's just been really amazing to kind of reconnect to that part of my life. 

Because you know, like, my mom moved here, before I was born, and all of my family is still in Cebu. So I haven't been able to physically meet any of them. It was like heartbreaking to grow up with. And sometimes I feel like that now. I feel like really disconnected. I've been trying to connect more and more through learning, and also like, finally, Facebook has allowed us to talk. So that's been really, really great. 

Kaitlin Milliken: That's awesome. I know, you mentioned you're a big reader. And we were talking about some books a little bit earlier. I love — and I'm putting you on the spot here [LAUGHS] – but I'd love it if you could share  anything that you've read that you felt really helped foster that connection or reading picks for folks who want to learn about Filipino culture through that?

Lilia Mundelius: One of my favorite fictional books is called In The Country. It just has so many like short stories and snippets of like Filipinos living just being you know, and it's just a really great place to start. I guess. If you want to get like more kind of academic on Filipino things, there's also the website called Ibon. And they have links to a lot of like articles and essays, and it's all free and open to anyone to read. 

One of the books that I'm currently reading is called Tikim. I think a lot of people might know about it now like it's been covered in a lot of news stories and things since last year. And that one's a lot about like Filipino cuisine and not just like factually stating what are the flavors, but actually the culture behind it. When you sit down with people and connections, What memories those bring up. It's just like a whole new world that you're diving into.

Kaitlin Milliken: It's so great that you're doing a bunch of fundraising and that you've really kept up with issues that affect the Filipino community abroad. I think that's something that can feel very intimidating to folks who may not know very much about it. And like they're Filipino. They're Filipino American, and they want to learn more, but don't know where to start. How do you recommend learning about these issues for folks who you know, want to be more involved in that?

Lilia Mundelius: Yeah, so if you're more curious about the political issues stuff, you can either go on the website for like Malaya Movement, you can follow them on Instagram, just @malayamovement can sign up for their newsletter on the website. There's also like Liyang Network. I would also suggest following them on Instagram and on Facebook. I'll give you guys the spelling later. 

Kaitlin Milliken: We will also put all the information in our show notes on the website, which is great. And this is my final question for you, Lillia. Where can we catch you in July in August for fundraising and for supporting your baked goods? And what can people expect to indulge in food wise?

Lilia Mundelius: Ah, okay, so it's kind of embarrassing that I don't have a schedule out that far. I do. Go in front of Brookline Booksmith which is in Brookline, and I also go in front of the Trader Joe's and continue them out Alston but I try to post on my Instagram like where I'm gonna be. I've been trying to do like the monthly schedule, so I will probably have that post out soon.

Kaitlin Milliken: Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Lilia for chatting. We really appreciate it. 

Lilia Mundelius: Yeah, thanks for inviting me.

[ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS] 

Kaitlin Milliken: This has been the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken. Music for our show was made by Matt Garamella. Special thanks to Lilia for joining us. To find out where Lilia and their delicious cooking will be next, you can follow their instagram at @floral.filipinx. If you liked this episode of our show, you can subscribe to the BOSFilipinos Podcast on your streaming platform of choice. You can also follow us on Instagram, @bosfilipinos, to stay connected. If you have ideas of what we should cover, you can let us know at bosfilipinos.com. Thanks for listening and see you soon. 

Hortense Gerardo on Writing Plays and Unlocking Creativity

Hortense Gerardo describes herself primarily as a writer. With a background as an anthropologist, she writes plays about modern relationships, culture, and what the world may look like post-pandemic. Hortense also has experience as an artist working with film and movement.

“Art is something you cultivate the way you cultivate any ability, like sports, or any other kind of skill,” Hortense says. “A lot of people assume, ‘Oh, you're either born with this artistic talent, or you don't have it.’”

Hortense Gerardo grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and spent childhood summers in Quezon City in the Philippines. She moved to Boston to attend Boston University. She has spent most of her adult life in the Greater Boston area and on Cape Cod.

In this episode of the BOSFilipinos Podcast, Hortense shares what inspired her to start writing plays and where she finds inspiration. You can learn more about her work at hortensegerardo.com.

Listen to the full conversation below, or subscribe to our show on Apple Podcast, Google Play, Stitcher, and Spotify.

Transcript

[MUSIC]

Kaitlin Milliken: Hello, and welcome to the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken, and this show is obviously made by BOSFilipinos.

In each episode of our podcast, we highlight a different aspect of Filipino life in the Greater Boston area. So today we’re back to talk about the theatre, as well as dance, writing, and pursuing the arts with Hortense Gerardo.

Hortense describes herself primarily as a writer and a playwright. She is also an anthropologist and has experience making art through movement and on film. She grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and spent the summers with family in Quezon City in the Philippines. She attended Boston University and has spent much of her life since in Boston and on the Cape. Today, she is also spending time in California leading a program at UC San Diego.

And with that introduction, thank you so much Hortense for being here.

Hortense Gerardo: Oh, you're very welcome. It's my pleasure.

Kaitlin Milliken: Great. So super excited to talk to you about your journey as a writer, how you ventured into plays and the arts. So just to get started, what inspired you to start writing and then start writing plays?

Hortense Gerardo: Oh, what started me writing plays, it actually was a very clear moment in my head. In the summer of 1997. I was at an art exhibition in Vienna, and it was called “Angel Angel.” And it looked like an innocent enough exhibition. I went there, because the publicity showed a painting by Andy Warhol of Jackie Kennedy. And there were several images of angels. And I was there with my son, and we were wandering around, looking at all the paintings and sculptures. And at one point, he ran away from me and ended up in a tiny side room of the gallery. And when I found him, he was staring transperfect transfixed at a very large work that involved a young girl about his age and a gun. And I won't go into detail, but it was a shocking image, to say the least. And I remember at the time taking his hand and leading him away, and trying really hard not to convey my shock and anger that there had been no warning signs whatsoever to allow me to make the choice of whether or not I wanted to allow my five-year-old son to see that image.

But at the same time, around that time, the photographer Sally Mann was being vilified for the portraits of her children, and the NEA was embattled in contestation, with the performance artists caring Finley about first amendment rights and freedom of expression. And I remember being really torn at the time about how I felt about these issues. Because as an artist, I'm very supportive about the right of freedom of expression, particularly artistic expression. While on the other hand, being a parent and wanting to protect my child from violent pornographic imagery that passes itself off is high art.

So I was really grappling with these two sets of feelings. And that summer, I took my very first playwriting class at the University of Edinburgh. And the teacher really just invited all of us to write about the things that make us angry or scared or confused. And I wrote my very first piece there, and it received the staged reading and was performed during the Edinburgh Festival, and I just got hooked on the craft. So that really started me off and ever since then, playwriting has a way for me to get down on paper, some complex issues that I feel like I personally need to work out. And, yeah, that's been my MO.

Kaitlin Milliken: I'm sure not everyone has really an idea of like, what goes into writing a play. Can you talk a little bit about your process? How do you come up with ideas and get them from being in the idea stage to being performed?

Hortense Gerardo: I don't have a regular pattern about how I approach what I write about. Oftentimes, it'll be something that I will read in an article or I'll hear on the radio or see on film and TV that really gets me thinking. Again, it's always something that has me really torn and something that I feel like I need to work through in my own head. And the way that I work it through is through these voices that end up being characters in my plays.

I'm really drawn towards, I guess, issues and also people who are very complex, who were also grappling with these kinds of questions. So I guess that starts the process, it'll start with an idea that really hooks me. Or it will be a person or a character that is intriguing. Sometimes I'll just hear a snippet of conversation. And that'll get me thinking about what's their backstory?

Kaitlin Milliken: Thank you so much for sharing. I know that you sort of touched on writing as being a way that you're processing your emotions. Can you talk a little bit about some of the subjects that are in your place and the topics that you cover?

Hortense Gerardo: I've written about the complexities of modern day relationships. Not just romantic — filial and familial. Because by day, I am an anthropologist, and at heart, I'm really interested in the human condition, human stories, and human relationships. So for me, the storytelling is born out of those relationships and the occurrences that happen, you know, within people's lives.

Part of what I love so much about the theater is the sense of its ritualistic aspects, both on an everyday scale and in the epic scale. And I find that when I am in the theater, I have a real sense of that feeling of ritual that kind of distinguishes itself from everyday life. So everything just feels heightened.

Kaitlin Milliken: I do like that idea. That's part of what makes going to see shows such a moving experience. Can you tell us a little bit about some of the projects that you've done, or that you have in your pipeline? I'd love to hear an example of some of the characters that you've written, or the storylines that you've put yourself into.

Hortense Gerardo: I've been really fortunate lately that a lot of the projects I've been writing have been commissioned works. And so oftentimes, there will be a theme or a subject that I'm asked to write about. I just recently wrote a new play for Fresh Ink Theatre, and the theme was Boston in ten. And when I was invited to write something, I was so honored. It was really in the summer of 2020, when the end of the pandemic was nowhere in sight. And we were asked to write how we envision Boston in ten. And they said that ten could be any way you interpret it, years, days, months, epics. I ended up just landing on 10 months. And as it turned out, even though I wrote it a year ago, I'm actually writing about now.

I wrote about now, and how people would be being introduced into the world, trying to establish a sense of normality. Again, trying to get back to the before-times, which may never happen. So that was one project.

And I'm working right now on another project with Flat Earth Theatre on something called Seven Rooms: the Mask of the Red Death, and seven of us playwrights were selected to write our modern day interpretation of one of the rooms based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story, “The Mask of the Red Death.” I asked for and was given the orange room. So I've written a new horror play. I'm relatively new in the horror genre, but I've been really having fun with that, which is very related to a commission that I got from Umbrella Stage Theater. They were very interested in a one piece that was in the horror genre. So I wrote a piece for them called “Incantation.”

It's all over the map. I write about the stuff that I love to write about, things that just catch my interest. And then I'm fortunate enough to get commissioned to write.

Kaitlin Milliken: Obviously, our show talks a lot about culture, given the nature of it. Can you talk a little bit about your Filipino identity and if that influences your writing at all?

Hortense Gerardo: It is interesting that it took me so long to actually begin to embrace my Filipino identity. I think growing up in the States, in which my family were really the only people of color. In that environment, I didn't really see myself as a person of color. I just assumed I blended in with everybody else. And I don't think I actually recognized that my identity was distinctly different than anyone else's. It's only in retrospect, that I'm actually seeing how my identity has been shaped by the intersectional challenges of being a Filipino in a predominantly white suburban community. And I can pinpoint the time when it finally dawned on me.

Actually, it was in 2014, the year of Tamir Rice's shooting, I was visiting my family for the Thanksgiving holiday. And I learned about the shooting because the traffic was jammed. There had been a protest that blocked all the traffic on the highways. And the more that I learned about the incident, the more outraged I became. And I became determined to write something about it. And then after I had done a lot of reading and research, it dawned on me that I can't really write about this event with any kind of authenticity, from any other standpoint, then from being a Filipino, who was raised in Cleveland. Not part of the African American community, but certainly a person of color. And it was at that moment that I started writing my first real play about the Filipino American Experience called “The Token Filopians of Middleton Heights.” And it was the first time that I really leaned into this recognition that we were different.

Even though I didn't realize it at the time. And all those things that made us different are part of what made up for some very funny scenes, and also some sad and tragic scenes. And, that was my first reckoning with my Filipino identity. But after that, you couldn't stop me. I ended up writing what's right now a trilogy of plays about the Asian American, Pacific Islander, and specifically Filipino experience.

But you know, I have big dreams. I'd like to expand that beyond a trilogy, I'd like to think I'm writing a cycle that will span like a century. I would aspire to something like what the late great August Wilson had done for the African American experience. So I'm really, I'm really now just really embracing that. And I'm loving it. I'm finding that the writing just happened so organically, when I'm finally embracing that and not trying to write like… I started writing in Edinburgh, and I kept thinking, all my characters have to sound like they're from the UK and have these British accents. It was horrible. No wonder they weren't getting produced. [LAUGHS]

Kaitlin Milliken: I think it's so interesting how hometowns really influence our cultural experiences and sort of the lessons people take when they move on and grow up, out of wherever they were from.

Hortense Gerardo: Well, I grew up in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. So I have a very Midwestern American sensibility. But my parents also would bring our family back to the Philippines every summer. So I became used to this kind of schedule of academic years in the US and summer vacation in Quezon City. And I think that was my earliest introduction to my life as an anthropologist.

I'm a card carrying anthropologist, and I think the legacy of all that childhood travel is that I never felt entirely home in either place. I was always the observer, a kind of outsider looking in, but also kind of like passing in both situations. So, um, yeah, I consider myself a Midwestern kid. But I moved to Boston to go to Boston University. And most of my adult life has been really around Boston and Cape Cod with holiday visits to family in back in Cleveland because most of my family is still in the Cleveland area.

It's only also very recently that I took up a position in San Diego so now I have another home base in San Diego, which is really eye opening because there's a huge Filipino community here. And it feels like home. And I appreciate it a lot. But you know, I also like being, like we call it the token Filopians of Middleton Heights. I grew up in a suburb called Middleburg Heights. And, the term Filopians came about because I was introduced as a Filopian inadvertently by my American girlfriend who didn't know what to call Filipinos. And I was so Americanized, I didn't know what to call Filipinos. So when she introduced me as a Filopian to her mom and dad, I just went along with it. I was like, “Oh, yeah, I'm Filopian.”

Kaitlin Milliken: You're balancing so many different identities — anthropologist, playwright — different geographies that you're splitting your time between. How do you navigate that, and how does having all of these different sides of yourself influence your creative process?

Hortense Gerardo: I was trained in a very multidisciplinary way. My doctorate was in both anthropology and the performing arts. So right then, and there, I was given an excuse to be able to balance the social sciences and the humanities. And then I was very fortunate enough to land a joint appointment as a faculty member at La Salle college for very many years. And then now, I'm heading up a very brand new program in something that's just a confluence of all the things that I love, which is the anthropology, performance, and technology program. It's the first in the country. And I have to hand it to the visionary thinking of my dean, and the faculty at UCSD to be willing to really pursue this very multidisciplinary way of teaching and educating our students.

Kaitlin Milliken: I'd love to take a quick dive into some of the other types of performance that you have done. So I know that your work includes not just writing but also film and something that you've referred to as movement. Can you talk a little bit about your experience in both of those mediums, and what that looks like?

Hortense Gerardo: I am very keen on making sure I don't refer to myself as a dancer. I'm not a dancer, I came to dance very late in life when most dancers are retiring. Practically speaking, I didn't actually start regularly dancing until I honed in on my anthropology subject as a master's student — a graduate student. I was really interested in drum communication. And I wanted to understand how it worked. And it wasn't until my first field trip to Africa that I realized, “Oh, women aren't supposed to be drumming over there. The women are supposed to dance. And the men are supposed to quote, unquote, supposed to be drummers.” And so the only way that I could study the drumming was if I were to learn African dance. So that's really when I started doing dance.

And then I started to get acquainted with other people in the dance community of Boston and all the different forms of dance. And I ended up doing my doctoral work on a study of the survivability of dance companies. It was really a way to see how nonprofit organizations survive. And then I got invited to perform with one of the dance companies with Deborah Butler's Kitsune Dance Theater. I loved learning about the dance of darkness, or Bhutto, and I started developing my own forms of movement that incorporated storytelling, and sometimes spoken word and sometimes movement.

Kaitlin Milliken: That's so interesting. It's so great that you've gotten the chance to explore all these different creative pursuits. Which brings me to my closing question for you: What are some things that listeners can do to unlock some of their own creativity, even if they're not trained as an artist or a dancer or a writer or in the theater?

Hortense Gerardo: Some of the most disciplined people I know. And I know a lot of scientists, people who are engineers and doctors. But the most, I think, disciplined people that I know in terms of practice are artists, and the artists who I admire the most are ones who have found a way to make art a part of their everyday life. Even if it's just to sit down and write a little bit every morning or late at night, or, some of the dancers who always find a way to be in the studio on a regular basis. Art is something you cultivate the way you cultivate any ability, like sports, or any other kind of skill, because I think a lot of people assume, “Oh, you're either born with this artistic talent, or you don't have it.”

I am a poster child for the fact that no hard work, diligence and a kind of reverential dedication to the craft, is really what being an artist is about. And you better love it, because it may not pay. It may. You don't do it in this country, unfortunately, with dreams of getting paid a lot of money. Some people are, but if you go into it with that aspect, I think it might be a fraught journey. Choose something that you love to do. Find time to make space for something that gives you joy, and that is art in itself.

Kaitlin Milliken: Wonderful. And I think that's a great note to close our interview on. Thank you so much for your time.

Hortense Gerardo: I really enjoyed talking with you.

[ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS]

Kaitlin Milliken: This has been the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken. Music for our show was made by Matt Garamella. Special thanks to Hortense for joining us. To learn more about Hortense’s work, you can visit hortensegerardo.com. The link will also be in our show notes. If you liked this episode of our show, you can subscribe to the BOSFilipinos Podcast on your streaming platform of choice. You can also follow us on Instagram, @bosfilipinos, to stay connected. If you have ideas of what we should cover, you can let us know at bosfilipinos.com. Thanks for listening and see you soon.

Northeast Organizers on Black & Asian Solidarity

The past year has been called a national reckoning for race. The killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Daunte Wright, and other Black people by white police officers led to protests in the streets — stretching from the summer until now. The past year has also been a time of increased anti-Asian sentiment. According to NBC news, there has been an 80 percent increase in Anti-Asian hate crimes in Boston. 

This panel explores why it is important for Black and Asian people to be in solidarity with each other, and historical examples of support between these communities. This conversation took place on April 20, the day that Derek Chauvin was found guilty of all charges in the death of George Floyd. The conversation includes representatives from the following organizations: Boston PEAR, Malaya Massachusetts, Boston South Asian Coalition, The Party for Socialism and Liberation’s Boston and Rhode Island Chapters, and the ANSWER Coalition. 

Listen to the full conversation below, or subscribe to our show on Apple Podcast, Google Play, Stitcher, and Spotify.

Transcript

[MUSIC]

Kaitlin Milliken: Hello, and welcome to the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken, and this show is obviously made by BOSFilipinos. 

In each episode of our podcast, we highlight a different aspect of Filipino life in the Greater Boston area. And today we’re taking a broader perspective and sharing a panel conversation on Black and Asian Solidarity Against Racism.

The past year has been called a national reckoning for race. The killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Daunte Wright, and other Black people by white police officers led to protests in the streets — stretching from the summer until now. 

The past year has also been a time of increased anti-Asian sentiment. According to NBC news, there has been an 80 percent increase in Anti-Asian hate crimes in Boston. Analysis from the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, found a 164% increase in reports of anti-Asian hate crimes in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the same period last year. That study was conducted across 16 cities including Boston. One of those instances of violence included spa shootings in Atlanta that left six women of Asian descent dead. 

This panel explores why it is important for Black and Asian people to be in solidarity with each other, and historical examples of support between these communities. Panelists also discuss current events and imperialism. This conversation took place on April 20th, the day that Derek Chauvin was found guilty of all charges in the death of George Floyd. The conversation includes representatives from the following organizations: Boston PEAR, Malaya Massachusetts, Boston South Asian Coalition, The Party for Socialism and Liberation’s Boston and Rhode Island Chapters, and the ANSWER Coalition. In the recording the speakers introduce themselves and talk a little bit about their organizations. 

We’re grateful to all of the organizations who participated in the conversation and allowed us to share the recording on our show. Special thanks to Daven McQueen who coordinated with me. This conversation has been edited for length. Now, on to the panel. 

Gabby Ballard: The question is, you know, where are you located in this conversation around Afro-Asian solidarity in the Asian community, the Black community, solidarity between them. I can kick us off. My name is Gabby. And as you can see, I have family from St. Vincent. I identify with being Black, African-American. Sharing just a little bit about me. I’m organizing based in Boston. And for me, what really struck me and motivated me in terms of learning more about the relationships between Asian and African communities was was initially as Nino mentioned, reading about China and learning just about the similarities between the African American struggle here in the Americas having your community pumped full of drugs, asking a lot of questions about how are we supposed to overcome colonization overcome imperialism, exploitation, racism.

I realized how many similarities there were between our communities being exploited, colonized again. And the inspiration that really was offered through the struggle. So the title of the book is China Revolution and Counter Revolution. That's a little bit about me. I'll be moderating the panel and I want to open it up to our panelists to share about your perspective so that folks know where you're coming from. So Meilyn, if you want to kick us off.

Meilyn Huq: My full name is Meilyn Chan Huq. I am the daughter of Chinese and Bangladeshi immigrants. They are actually both born in Africa. My mom was born in Mozambique, and my dad was born in Sudan, and I'm also a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. What really spurned my interest in Afro and Asian solidarity was actually like the history of my mom, like just growing up. She lived through the Mozambican civil war for independence, I was told a lot of things about socialism, that like growing up and about China, Mainland China, that my mom was like, very divorced from. She was only like, 12 when the war happened. I think like this panel, and just doing research on my own, has really uncovered a lot of that. Just between, like the relationship between Africa and China. We need to talk about that, to also be able to unpack the relationship between Asian American communities in the US and Black in the Black community here as well.

Gabby Ballard: And we'll go on to Daven. Can you share? 

Daven McQueen: My name is Devin McQueen. I'm part of Boston PEAR, Philipinx Education Advocacy and Resources. I am coming at this issue from the perspective of being Black and Asian. My mom's family is from the Philippines, and my dad's family is Black Jamaican. And then at the same time, like kind of extrapolating from the personal aspect for me, I've seen you know growing up and learned from my parents the abroad of imperialism in the countries that they grew up in. In the Philippines and in Jamaica, and you know, heard stories from both my parents about their experiences as Asian Americans, Black Americans, respectively, in the US, being in study with all of these folks for this panel. And you know, learning more about the history of Black and Asian solidarity in the US and globally, has just been a really helpful framing to think about what it looks like moving forward, what solidarity can look like and can continue to look like. 

Gabby Ballard: Thanks, Devon. Satya?

Satya Mohapatra: Hi everyone. My name is Satya Mohapatra. And I organize for the ANSWER Coalition in Rhode Island. I'm from South Asia, India, in particular. And so growing up in India, so there was a natural history of understanding the decolonization struggle. And with that, we kind of theoretically knew about the joint struggle between Afro-Asia right when I came to the US. 

In the states, once I was walking, a couple of years ago that I was working in a neighborhood in the Boston area, and I was wearing my sunglasses. Then some neighbor called the police. And the police report says that a Black man was roaming around the neighborhood, right? So I'm Indian, South Asian, but my identity could immediately be confused. I could be, in this racialized system we live in, it can create this confused identity. All the Asian and Asian violence that has been happening, they are in this racialized structure.  Being South Asians, it's not even considered like Asia, right? One has to remind everyone that Southeast Asia and East Asia my understanding here in this panel would bring this idea that why Afro Asia have a very joint, sad history of struggle and how we take that struggle further.

 Gabby Ballard: Lillia, you want to introduce yourself?

Lilia Mundelius: Hi, everyone. My name is Lillia. Today's pronouns are they/them. I'm the chapter coordinator for Malaya Movement Massachusetts, and Malaya movement is a national US organization of Filipino Americans and allies that are fighting for human rights in the Philippines. So for me, I'm half Filipino, half white, and I grew up in a very white, very racist town, and therefore I was very overtly racist, raised and grew up with thinking. And that mostly changed when I went to college and met other people. And also like, got into like, actually interacting with other Filipinos because my mom and I were the only people of color in the entire town. I started, you know, actively looking more and more into history, and just finding all of these things that weren't taught to me. It's just amazing, like the rich like history of like Filipinos in the Philippines and in the US of like activism and like how they have and just like not just Filipinos, but just like Asian Americans in general, being in solidarity with like, the Black community and other communities.

Gabby Ballard: Micah?

Micah Fong: My name is Micah Fong. I'm an organizer with PSL Boston. I'm half Chinese and half white. And I was born and raised in Southern California. So I was, you know, lucky to grow up in an extremely diverse environment, as well as you know, in a place that has such a rich history of working class, Asian resistance, and solidarity, I really just wasn't taught about those histories. I was definitely encouraged to succeed in a very capitalist, not solidarity, kind of path. The government that we live currently under has caused so much devastation in both Asia and Africa. That really opened my eyes. And even though we might be upheld, as model minorities, sometimes as Asians that can so easily be turned around right back to yellow peril when it benefits our government, as we've seen with the demonization of China, and COVID, and many, many other instances. So yeah, really happy to be here. And looking forward to this conversation.

Gabby Ballard: And we have a few more. Sharik? 

Sharik Purkar: My name is Sharik. I use they/them pronouns or any pronouns. I'm an organizer with the Boston South Asian coalition. I was born in India, and I spent a great amount of my early life. And so imperialism was not an abstract concept. Before I ever learned the word I saw in front of my eyes. On top of this, right, you also see the propaganda that's done between oppressed communities to other each other, right? So I'm also coming from a Muslim family. I was the other in India being that and then also simultaneously you see the propaganda against Pakistan again. And then, you know, once once I came over to America at the peak of Islamophobia, a great time to realize my Muslim identity was kind of the one that was directed the most slurs at. 

Once I got to college, the only place that I could actually learn about imperialism, without it being a liberal whitewashed version was in my African studies classes. And the more that I learned about that, the more that I realize that Malcolm X is not just this one individual that represents this one identity, but is at the cross section of all of these different identities. A lot of Malcolm X's legacy is maintained and carried on by people in Asia, by people in Asia who've been taking inspiration from Malcolm the Panthers. So this whole time on, and really coming to see the unification of our struggle as one.

Gabby Ballard: To wrap up our intros. I'm going to turn it over to Nino to quickly introduce yourself one more time.

Nino Brown: My name is Nino, again, organizer, ANSWER Coalition. I also organized with the Jericho Movement, which is a movement to free political prisoners, many of them who come from the era of third world national liberation, where African, Asian, Latin American countries were freeing themselves from imperialism. And you know, so we defend the revolutionaries who have survived, you know, and are incarcerated from that era. My personal family comes from Jamaica, prior to that were stolen from somewhere in West Africa, most likely Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, who really knows but, you know. In Jamaica, we have had this, you know, so-called coolie labor system. And, you know, I've heard my parents describe how the ruling classes be they Black or white have used the race question to divide the Jamaican masses. 

And my family lives in New York City in Brooklyn, with our strong Asian, you know, communities from Queens, and in Brooklyn itself. And in New York City, you know, there have been a slew of hate crimes against Asians and particularly Chinese Americans. And even though New York City is segregated, like many American cities, we all live next to each other and on top of each other, and understanding the historical efforts of Black Americans to lend solidarity to, you know, Asian liberation movements, whether they be in Korea, Vietnam, right, but also building active solidarity in places like the Caribbean, and even in China and Africa today.

Gabby Ballard: For this next question, I just want to hear from a few panelists about how do we understand what is the black community? What is the Asian community? What are the interactions between them, and the history of the development of these two communities, especially within the United States, but of course, you know, keeping a perspective to the international connections and relationships?

Satya Mohapatra: Asian people there is that sad, kind of common history because almost all Asian countries were either victims of European colonization, or some of them were in a semicolonial control, not fully colonized, right? But well, Spain, but mostly Britain and France, they also had Caribbean colonies around the United States. United States also wanted English settlement, right? But Asian, when they came to the United States are all like in the greater United States around the Caribbean area, then retain that national identity.

Lilia Mundelius: If people know Frederick Douglass, so in 1969, he spoke out about free migration, like as a fundamental human right when there is all of those restrictions on Chinese immigration and Japanese immigration. And he argued that if we were supposed to restrict migration for the East Asians, then that should also apply to Europeans, but it doesn't. So he pointed out that hypocrisy and was trying to say to people that like, we shouldn't be afraid of like Asian languages, cultures, or people. 

Specifically in Filipino history in 1999, when there's like the Filipino American War, so for those who don't know, the Philippines was a colony of Spain. Yes, Spain, for like 300 years at the end of World War II, when people were giving up their colonies the US bought us and then it was just kind of like new management of imperialism. And so they were resisting and they sent military which they sent a lot of like Black soldiers. A lot of people were saying like, they don't want to be used as like, a weapon and this imperialist war. A lot of people spoke up like Henry Turner and Ida B. Wells empathizing with like Filipino freedom and such. And there's even like, Black soldiers who defected to fight with the Filipino people. And one of the most notable is David Fagan, who took up arms. And he said, his quote, “Took up arms against a country races to the core and bent on Empire at the expense of dark skinned people.”

Another thing that's probably less well known is in 1955, there's the Bandung Conference, otherwise known as the African Asian conference. It was organized by Indonesia and a couple other countries with a total of 29, African and Asian countries coming together and their core principles of this conference was political self-determination, mutual respect for sovereignty, non aggression, non interference in internal affairs, and equality. And this was during a time when, like, many countries were becoming independent, they were like, trying to gain their own power. So they came together in solidarity against these bigger Western powers just like finding out how to get power for themselves and being able to govern themselves and not being under colonial rule.

Gabby Ballard: So Meilyn, and then if you want to weigh in? 

Meilyn Huq: Immigrants, in general, have like this shared story that they traveled here in search for a better life, while escaping wreckage and war that, like imperialism has, like done abroad. And then when they come here, they actually find out that they're still being oppressed, and they're still being targeted, and they're still being harassed, and they're still being killed, and they're still being discriminated against. It's just like, the saddest part of like, the immigrant story, or just the Asian immigrant story is just like you're trying to escape imperialism, but you're just by going to it to the heart of it, and you think that like going to the heart of it to the source will like help you. Like, just by being geographically closer, but it actually is not the case.

Nino Brown: Yeah, I mean, I really agree with what everyone's saying. And I think, we are historically determined beings, we're not pigs and goats and chickens and ducks, which is what was the process was kind of the result, right? The thing is, Black people, African people were kidnapped off the shores of West Africa. Yeah, we were different peoples, right. We were our Europa Ebo will have Fulani what have you. And through the process of slavery, and Jim Crow, it took us Iran, which robbed us of our humanity, really, where they tried to in our culture, our language, our God, and in the United States, or the Western Hemisphere, we've developed into new nations, right, but into a distinct Black nation. 

That distinct African American nation, which the United States has still not reconciled with. They tried to turn Black people into just mules, mules of the world, just you know, just labor, right? No soul, no religion, no anything, just workers. 

We have to bring our history and what actually determined our communities to the conversation, because in that history, we have, we can see the common oppression. So in the same ways that Africa was colonized in the 1890s is the same way that Asia was colonized and semi-colonized in the 1890s. With the Opium War, and I think what brings our communities together, is a lot of the needs of capital and imperialism has objectively segregated us together, objectively, you know, jailed us together, killed us together. And, you know, hopefully, we can talk about how we can build conscious resistance to that, in light of that history, that it isn't just, you know, tragedy, right, there's actually moments where we've stood in solidarity consciously.

Gabby Ballard: And that's a great segue to our next point. I mean, given all the diversity within these, you know, large groupings, these large categories of Asian or Black, what do I mean by solidarity? And why is it important?

Micah Fong: I feel like there's definitely been in recent years like a liberal co-option of the idea of solidarity. And it kind of has resulted in a very, like transactional view of allyship. I've seen a lot of Asian people use this really inaccurate rhetoric of like, “Oh, well, we supported the Black Lives Matter movement. And now you should, the Black community should be standing up for us,” as if these are two separate struggles. And ultimately, like those attacks are just super misguided because we all have one common enemy. You know, it really benefits that common enemy of, you know, capitalism, white supremacy of the US government. It benefits them for us to be pointing fingers at each other instead of remaining united and recognizing that we all benefit from fighting white supremacy and capitalism, and that none of us are going to truly be liberated until all of us are.

Gabby Ballard: Satya. Go ahead add on.

Satya Mohapatra: It also means learning from others' struggles. And that's exactly as a few examples I want to throw here. Well, one one is, for example, Black folks, if they lived in the United States, they understood that the impact of Jim Crow and the British Empire, compared it, and the moment decolonization happened, right, the British Empire began to disintegrate. That's the also the time Jim Crow is going to lose it right. In fact, if you look at the statistics that that that NAACP and other organizations they were all rooting for, for Indians, India's decolonization. In fact, Paul Robeson says that India is the key. That means South Asia at that time, that's what he meant. India was the key to the entire colonial issue. W. E. B. Dubois wrote, like up to two letters to all the Indian anti colonial fighters. So the solidarity they were practicing.

Gabby Ballard: Thanks. It's been a minute since we've heard from Sharik, so let's hear from Sharik and then Meilyn, and we'll keep on with this question.

Sharik Purkar: A perfect example of solidarity, right? And this also hits because, when in 1961, the Indian armed forces were going to liberate a part of India, Goa, from Portuguese rule, because most of India was colonized by the British, but some parts were by the Portuguese and French. The Portuguese Armada was on its way. But [a group] in Egypt said, “No, you're not gonna get it through here.” And that's how Goa was liberated. So yeah, that does the Quick, quick, actual demonstration of real solidarity.

Meilyn Huq: Historically, in the US, like Black radicals and Black activists were, like displaying solidarity, in their writings in their demonstrations with the Asian people abroad. A great example of that is when W. E. B. Dubois went to China when it was illegal to go there. I'm going to just read this quote, he was struck by the transformation of the Chinese, in particular, what he perceived as the emancipation of women. And he left convinced that China would lead the underdeveloped nations on the road towards socialism. In China, after long centuries, he told an audience of Chinese communists attending his 91st birthday celebration, “China has arisen to her feet, and leapt forward, Africa arise and stand straight. Speak and think. Act turn from the west and face the rising sun.” So his language here is like very pointedly like connecting the century of humiliation that the Chinese had undergone after the Opium War, and the hundreds of years of humiliation that the Black community had faced, because of chattel slavery, understanding the oppression that both these communities like face and that they have a common enemy. It is like Western imperialism.

Nino Brown: We're not fighting for white people to like Black people, or for white people to like, Asian Americans, right? We're actually fighting for actual material gains, right? We agree that, you know, there is a material reality. We're all a part of it, and interconnected in 1,001 ways. Our struggles and our understanding of how do we strategically work together against our common enemy that really exists, right? US imperialism. It's not, you know, an idea of, you know, just racist ideas. We see the massive amounts of just deindustrialization has happened in the United States from the 1970s, where most of these industrial jobs have been sent to Asia, right? St the behest of the capitalists, right. So now, you know, whenever capital has shifted, we've seen that the working class has expanded, right? 

So we have workers or you know, people who are formerly farmers, you know, so called peasants, now becoming industrial workers, right in Bangladesh, working in factories, and the Philippines and Vietnam, you know, formerly in China, but as China is now growing, its pay scale is really increasing, because it's no longer you know, the sweatshop of the world. 

Capitalism has spread its tentacles all over the world. Right? It has, you know, lashed all of our backs, at least once. And that's the material basis — our solidarity, right? Is that we're all you know, are predominantly working class people. For Black people in this country, there were no illusions about it. We were brought here to work and as capitalism has expanded and made, expanded the working class in Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific That's the basis of solidarity.

Gabby Ballard: We've heard a lot of examples of solidarity. We've heard of the material basis and the root for solidarity, that our struggles are interconnected. Well, how do we build unity? And what are the barriers to building unity? And I guess I'll open up with an example of this. There is a Nightline video from ABC News that will show in a hot second, that speaks to this question. 

In addition to that, I mean, in talking about social media, I can say from my personal experience for Black History Month, there were a lot of calls for the Black community to stand up for Asians. To do more for the Asian community — this is during Black History Month that I was seeing this — and, um, I just think that it really raises a lot of questions around “Well, we're talking about all this material basis and history.” Do we actually see that today? Is this is a valid approach, can we actually build this unity and how? So before we get into that, I do want to show folks this video. So if we have that available, we can pull it up right now. And it's very short 20 seconds. 

Nightline Video: I think as the targeting of the Asian American community, we need the Black community to realize that the Black people are hurting Asians, and they need to speak out in their own community.

Gabby Ballard: Maybe, Daven, if you want to open us up on this point and talk a little bit about this contradiction here?

Daven McQueen: This contradiction here. Racism is one of capitalism's favorite tools to divide the people to divide the working class. And this exists, you know, at the level that we usually think of racism as like Black versus white, or white versus non-white, but is also at work within our communities, within the Black and Asian communities. And sort of as this video clip shows, the mainstream media and the ruling class media is just simply a tool for aiding in stoking that division and that racism in between our communities. 

In this video, we don't see what question that people interviewed are asked, but we can imagine it something about “What is your perspective on the Black and Asian American relationship?” Very leading questions to sort of get people to express this division, even though it's historically not the case. Even though we can see so many examples from what folks have said today in the panel, about ways that we've seen tangible solidarity in between Black and Asian communities, both in the US and abroad.

Gabby Ballard: Let's hear from Meilyn and then.

Meilyn Huq: Recently, I read in the Boston Globe piece saying, “Can Asian people even unite because they don't even get along with each other?” Like, that wasn't the exact language but that's what they were saying. And that line of thinking, like it goes along with like, “Can Asian and Black people get along?” It's just racist to say that, like, Asian people are inherently racist. They're saying like, yeah, like there is racism, like between minority groups. But like, where does this racism come from? Like a lot of people don't even try to understand that they think that like, racism, just like is inherited through their DNA, and like you're born racist. And like that, in itself is like subscribing to race science, like eugenics, this race, science and race eugenics came from colonialism. There was historically xenophobia, like fear of foreigners, like in different communities before colonialism. But after colonialism, the idea of like a race, being inferior to another race is like where this idea came from. 

Gabby Ballard: Satya, you can wrap us up on this question of the barriers to unity, how we build unity, and then we'll end off with one last whip around of all the panelists to talk about why it matters and what we need to do to move forward.

Sharik Purkar: And one of the barriers that is being talked about is the model minority myth among Asians. But as we know that Asia is not the same, that there are many disparities in Asia and model minorities not even applied uniformly right. And in fact, actually oppressed people who came to the US from Southeast Asia was born basically from Vietnam, Cambodia, and they were also put in this same category of model minority expectations, and actually that's what's the one of the things building solidarity? That kind of that that's one of the barriers, but the model minority had a basis also right because it was the United States in turn. Japanese Americans during the Second World War, put them in concentration camps, but right after that, it was the fear of Otitis Media. 

Oh, it has a bit of a lens to it. So in a modern mind it was created that time first for Japanese Americans and then it percolated a little bit to other groups. But the example is when a Minneapolis for George Floyd uprising was happening last year, one Bangladeshi restaurant was burned down, the owner of the restaurant said, “Let it burn down, because we need justice.”

Gabby Ballard: With that, we're gonna go ahead and move into our closing points. So just from each panelists, we want to hear why does it matter that we are building unity building solidarity, what do we need to move forward, and if you do have a book recommendation or something to leave folks with an event recommendation, anything like that, definitely feel free to do that.

Meilyn Huq: Like I was reading in like one of the books like in preparation for this, the first example that people think about when they think about Afro-Asian solidarity is like Rush Hour, like, what like, there's a history that's been like completely erased, that we need to revive. Like, we have to understand that these acts of violence and terror against our people, like they're not isolated incidents. 

They're connected to each other. Earlier, we're talking about, like this impending war with China, like China bashing is gonna keep happening, and keep happening and meet and  like, historically, where we lie on these issues. And as long as like one community is oppressed, we can't have liberation of one without the other. And representation is not going to cut it. But yeah, my recommendation, I was just reading Vijay Prashad’s Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting is a really good historical analysis on African and Asian relations globally. 

Sharik Purkar: The biggest barrier to unity, all of the panelists have talked about is the illusion that there is this unity, or rather the illusion that there are these separate struggles. They’ve never been separate. It was the word from the old road force on this very land that they use to build their Armada us to go enslave our siblings in Africa to dominate Asia, it was it was the word from right here that they use, you know, as you already talked about how they use Indian soldiers, they also use the Indian opium to semi-colonize China. They used colonize soldiers from Africa, in parts of Asia, they use filters from India in other parts of the world. So our oppression has always been always been one. We're one struggle. We're not going to get liberated individually. We're not going to get liberated as separate groups, book recommendation, I guess bouncing off of Meilyn’s Vijay Prashad, The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World.

Daven McQueen: Oftentimes capitalism will try to make us believe that you know, all of the struggles that we're facing as a community as people are, these individual struggles against you know, one another, like between communities. And as both Sharik and Meilyn said, we are facing one oppressor. We are against the entire system. We just heard the verdict of Derek Chauvin trial, and he is guilty on all counts. But like, putting one one cop in jail isn't going to break down the system that's oppressing us. And that goes for conversations about Black and Asian unity.

Lilia Mundelius: In the US and abroad as well, things that we can do. Like there's like three recommendations I have is like, look up your history research, open up Google and listen. Events like these are great for being here. And, you know, ultimately trying to learn. The second thing is talk to your elders. Talk to your parents talk to your grandparents, like ask about their stories, their histories, like maybe they were in the revolution, you don't know. Talk to your Asian parents about anti-Blackness. And that kind of assumed automatically that Asian elders already didn't know about the struggle and weren't in solidarity with the struggle. That's why I say, you know, talk to them and ask them first before assuming, “Oh, they're anti-Black.” I know, my mom is anti-Black because we've had these conversations, and we're still having these conversations. And yeah, you know, talking to elders is also you know, like, have these conversations, not just with your elders, but your family, your peers, like anyone who displays like racist attitudes. 

And then the last thing is things to stay away from representation politics, people keep, like, Asians keep saying like, “We need more representation.” Representation isn't gonna like do anything for us. Like that's just perpetuating into the model minority myth. I've been seeing like, Asian Americans being like, “Oh, yeah, like we're working with the police. Like, making sure to cooperate fully and like.” That's not gonna that no, like increased policing has proven time and time again. That's not going to do anything. It's just going to be terrorizing communities more.

Satya Mohapatra: So, learn from history, although history will not adapt, we have to learn and study the presence, right? We really have to study the present with the uprising against police brutality, has unified the multinational working class that Asian Black with with central to this multinational, operating. This phobia of China, that's being propagated by the ruling class. Watch out for that. Because that's going to actually go back to haunt not only Chinese people, but for everyone, including all Asians.

Micah Fong: It's crucial to completely oppose and organize against imperialism in every instance. And you know, defend African, Asian, Latin American rights to self determination, advocate for the end of sanctions for the end of military occupation by the US. And be wary of the attempts of those same governments and corporations that are doing most of the exploiting to distract you by pointing fingers at what other countries are doing.

Nino Brown: I think one thing is the slogan that we say in the streets, “One struggle, one fight.” I think it's pertinent we understand, I think Sharik has said that this is one global struggle, and we're all on different fronts of the same fight. So this matters, because even though there's a resurgence of resistance, what we still face is the counter revolutionary violence of the US war machine. The war on our people is real, right? The divide and conquer is not just then, but it's also now. 

We have the 400 years of contradictions bursting at the seams, Jim Crow, to the Opium War, right, all of these things in our ancient history that all manifests in the present. We have to see and make these connections between the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes, and also the rise of police violence. We have to defend our movements that are critiquing war in the streets. That's that's where we'll find our solidarity, right? Because we know that our theories of solidarity can only become a material force in the streets, not in the abstract, right? The war on China, the war on the people in the Middle East, right, they all had rebounding effects on the United States, with just increased terror internally. So really, I agree with what everyone said in my book recommendation will be Afro Asia: Revolutionary Political and Cultural Connections between African Americans and Asian Americans edited by Fred Ho and Bill Mullen, but it's a compilation of essays on Afro Asian solidarity historically. 

So join the organization, check out the ANSWER Coalition, check out the organizations here, realize that you know, we are not minorities, right? The world's majority are actually Africa, Asia, Latin America, we can reject this militant minority or this minority notion and realize that we are part of the working class majority and that's where our power lies.

Gabby Ballard: Excellent. Thank you all panelists once again for all your comments thanks to everyone who attended everyone who organized this and for all the work that you are consistently doing. Have a great night everybody.

Kaitlin Milliken: This has been the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken. Music for our show was made by Matt Garamella. Special thanks to Daven for helping coordinate this conversation. We will link all of the organizations that participated in this panel in the show notes on bosfilipinos.com.  If you liked this episode of our show, you can subscribe to the BOSFilipinos Podcast on your streaming platform of choice. You can also follow us on Instagram, @bosfilipinos, to stay connected. Thanks for listening and see you soon. 

Inside Bren Bataclan’s Fe: A Traumatized Son’s Graphic Memoir

Bren Bataclan’s Fe: A Traumatized Son’s Graphic Memoir, explores developing love and understanding for the people who shape us. 

“So my mom, she had lots of fits of rages and tantrums... She lacked the maternal skills, but she was a great friend,” Bren says. “[The book is] about this dual personality of hers. In the end, it's all about love and forgiveness and the strength of a Filipino family.”

Bren Bataclan is a full-time artist based in Boston. He has also spent time teaching design and computer animation at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. 

In this episode of the BOSFilipinos Podcast, Bren shares the process behind creating his graphic memoir and shares some of the stories featured in his book. Get a copy of the book at fememoir.com.

Listen to the full conversation below, or subscribe to our show on Apple Podcast, Google Play, Stitcher, and Spotify.

Transcript

[MUSIC]

Kaitlin Milliken: Hello, and welcome to the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken, and this show is obviously made by BOSFilipinos. 

In each episode of our podcast, we highlight a different aspect of Filipino life in the Greater Boston area. So today we’re back with a reading recommendation — Bren Bataclan’s Fe: A Traumatized Son’s Graphic Memoir. 

Bren is a Boston-based artist. He was born in the Philippines and immigrated to Daly City, California before making his cross country move to the bay state. Bren also spent time teaching design and computer animation at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Today, Bren is a full time artist. This is his first memoir. 

Bren sent me a copy of his book before our interview and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The graphic memoir is an empathetic look at Bren’s relationship with his late mother. While the comic goes through the aspects that made their relationship tense, it also celebrates the things Bren loved most about his mom. Throughout, Bren also shares aspects of his identity — as an artist, as an immigrant, as a gay person, son, brother, husband. And with that introduction, thank you so much Bren for being here.

Bren Bataclan: Well, thanks for having me. I'm so excited.

Kaitlin Milliken: So to kick us off, tell us a little bit about your new book, Fe: A Traumatized Son’s Graphic Memoir, what inspired you to kick off the writing process?

Bren Bataclan: If you asked me just a year ago, if I would have a graphic memoir published or even have a rough version of it, I would have laughed. About a year ago, when we started to lockdown, all my mural residencies have either been rescheduled or cancelled. So I was really panicking. I had two choices, one to really freak out, and just being a corner fetal, worrying about everything, or be creative. So I tried a whole bunch of things. So I started to paint some pandemic related art that sounded too gloomy, then I kind of reached back. And a few years ago, I had an exhibit about my immigration experience at the Pao Arts Center. And the pieces that I painted, they almost looked like comic book strips. So actually Grace Talusan was the one who pointed out and said, “Hey, Bren, maybe you should consider having a graphic novel.” And I just laughed again, this was 2018. I said, “What, no way.” Last March, I started to consider that. I just promised myself again, that I would not kind of waste time and not be creative. And so this is what came about.

Kaitlin Milliken: And the book really focuses on your mother Fe. Can you paint a picture of your relationship with your mom, for folks who may not have a chance to have seen the book yet?

Bren Bataclan: To put it mildly my mom was a challenge. You read the book. This is sort of like a tribute for her. She passed away, close to three years, about two and a half years. So a little bit more, I guess it's a way for me to deal with my relationship with her and also her death. The book deals with a lot of mental health issues and hers were not diagnosed. So we don't even you know, know if it's really real, if that's just who she was. So it's hard to tell, because she was not diagnosed because you know, at her age, she was 83 when she passed away. So actually seeing a psychiatrist in the Philippine-American community, that's still a taboo — was back then, it still is. 

So my mom, she had lots of fits of rages and tantrums. To top that all off, she started to hoard. When my dad moved back to the Philippines and when he passed away, this is when her hoarding started. So that added kind of like real layers to like the challenges already. But at the same time, she was a really good friend. So she lacked the maternal skills, but she was a great friend. And she was also really open minded and really gay friendly. So when I came out, I knew that it wasn't going to be a big deal. It's about this dual personality of hers. In the end, it's all about love and forgiveness and the strength of a Filipino family.

Kaitlin Milliken: That's great. One of the things I really loved when I was reading your graphic memoir, was how much empathy came through when you read it. How did you come to have that understanding towards her perspective, as much as you did when writing the book?

Bren Bataclan:  That's a really good question. Last night, I received this really heartfelt and moving feedback from a non-Filipino person and then she said, “You know parents should not put this much burden on their children.” And at the same time, how can you miss something you never had? That was my experience, and I had to work through that. And I actually responded, and I said, “I wish I built resilience through a more...like maybe through sports, or camp or the Boy Scouts. But that wasn't the case. And I like how I grew up to be, like who I am now.” So I guess that's the sum of all of my experiences. I guess that's how I dealt with what was given to me, and I made the most out of it. 

Kaitlin Milliken: You mentioned resilience, one of the things that you bring up in the book is the relationship that you have with your siblings as well, your older sister and brother, can you talk a little bit about that relationship that the three of you developed living with your mom?

Bren Bataclan: I didn't know my siblings when I was a kid in the Philippines, because there's like a big gap, like at least six or seven years between my brother and then more with my sister. So when I was sort of aware of who they were, I was maybe seven or eight, they were all already teenagers. And so we didn't have anything in common. They have always been close, because they only have two years apart. And then there was me. I think my parents, though they didn't verbally say, they were happy with a boy and a girl. And it was like, “Oh, there’s a surprise! There's Bren.” 

So it wasn't until later on that we became super close. This was the most challenging part of the book, because I really value... The last thing I wanted was to burn the bridges between my siblings tonight, because again, we’re really, really close, because I painted my mom in, you know, in good and not so favorable ways. And also their experience with my parents are completely different from mine, because when we were in the Philippines, they were pretty much the traditional parents, like my dad worked and my mom stayed at home, even though she didn't do any chores. Yeah, but that was the norm. And when we moved here, my parents were already in their 50s. And, you know, we moved from a five bedroom house to a one bedroom apartment. And they both had to get jobs. And then my dad has to do housework, which he never used to do. So it was kind of like a role reversal. And at that point, my siblings left home, and they got married. 

So I had to deal with all of the changes that my parents had to go through. And I think that's when all the mental health issues kicked in, I was really concerned how they would see the book, because in a lot of ways, how I described my parents, it's not how they see my parents, because we had totally different experiences. But then my brother did have to take care of my mom during her last three years of her life. And there's a part of that book where, you know, my brother experienced the insanity of having to take care of my mom. So in a lot of ways, they can relate to what I've experienced as well. But I was so really concerned how my family would see my book.

Kaitlin Milliken: So if there's a story or a memory that’s in your memoir that you want to share, go ahead. 

Bren Bataclan: I like the beginning of the book because it ties in with my immigration experience exhibit at the Pao Arts Center in Boston. So Grace was one of the first ones who saw the rough version of my book. And she said to highlight your immigration experience. So like initially, that wasn't a part of my book. So my book starts out with my grandfather fighting alongside the Americans. So it's the chain migration part of how we got here. So he fought alongside the Americans, and he petitioned or he brought his family members here, and there talks about how, as a kid, I was able to adapt really well, because most kids I mean, most folks in the Philippines speak English. Then we moved to a Filipino town. So it's really easy. But my dad, who was again in his 50s, he had to leave his side of the family behind and it was all my mom's family members here. So it's highlighting all the challenges of my family's immigration experience. 

So I guess one of the funny experiences that I'd like to highlight was in the late 90s, after my dad passed away, like years after I sign up my mom to a video dating service. So this is pre-internet.

Kaitlin Milliken: Proto-Tinder.

Bren Bataclan: Proto-Tinder. Yeah, just oh my god. This is all video, and it costs a lot of money. And she was really into it too. She saw lots of ads about it. This is in the late 90s. So I flew from Boston to California, and she looked really young for her age and one of the first thing she asked me was like, “Bren I want a guy in his 40s.” I'm like, “What, that's only 10 years older than me mom at that point.” And we were driving along the Golden Gate Bridge and, and I said, “it's just gonna be a big headache.” 

They videotaped her. And eventually we would go to the center, and she would review tapes of guys that she might eventually date. And there were other people there. And she would just like, kind of yell out all these like insane comments like, “oh, he looks really short.” I said, “Mom, you’ve seen only the first two seconds” or like, “He's not handsome.” 

She finally had her first date. And you know, in the Philippines, like, if you ask a woman to pay for the meal, half the meal, that’s the end of everything. So I guess, this 40-year-old guy that she found was hip and modern. And then he made her pay. It was a disaster. So she called me immediately. It was just a crying session. Just after one date, she said, “Bren, I'm not going to go back.” 

“Mom,” I said, “I paid thousands of dollars for this.” And then it switched to she said, “Okay, how if we go to like these ballroom dancing for senior citizens.” So I flew back to San Francisco again, took her there, and she hated it. Because it turned out everyone was her age. And she felt all the 60-year-old people were too old. So she remained single.

Kaitlin Milliken: Sometimes you win, and you lose when it comes to, I guess, tape dating, I think that the family element of your book is so interesting. I grew up in a Filipino family as well. There's a lot of closeness. But you also mention your now husband at the time you were dating Bob sort of getting accustomed to the family where there's a lot of cultural differences. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Bren Bataclan: Sure. So Bob, and I, we just celebrated our 25th anniversary.

Kaitlin Milliken: Congratulations.

Bren Bataclan: Thank you. So he's super WASP. Like he's from here. He's from Massachusetts. It's like his ancestors are like...they've been here. He has like two cousins. I have 40. The difference is just insane. 

You know, in the Filipino culture, you're only allowed to be by yourself, like, possibly on two occasions. One if you're studying. Two if you’re mad. Then the rest of the time, you're hanging on the couch, like you're together. So this was a challenge in our relationship. When we first started even now, like he loves to read, he reads like 200 books a year. And I would like nuzzle next to him, hanging out with him and he’d say, “Bren, we have two rooms. Why aren't you there?” Like, “Why aren't you with me? You know, we're a couple.” So even the two of us here, I have no sense of space. He's all about space. 

So when he's with my family, it's just completely insanity. And so we spent about a month in San Francisco every year. And he loves it. He's like, for three weeks he's surrounded by 40 Filipinos. There's like karaoke or Mahjong going here. So he's used to it. Now. There is a part of the book where he, like, a couple of years after we started dating, I invited him to join us at one of our family vacations to Florida. And my sister and her husband, they live in California. My mom was in California. My brother and his family were in the Midwest. And we all met in Florida. 

And we walked into the suite. And Bob — I didn't tell him anything because I knew he wouldn't accompany us. So he asked, “So when are we going to our own suite?” I said, “No, we’re all here.” It’s not like we couldn't afford that. But our mentality is like “We don't spend enough time together. We have to be together every single second of this week.” Our kind of bedroom security where we're going to sleep? I said, “Well, my brother and his wife, my sister and her husband will be in one room. The kids will be in the living room. And bonus, my mom and the two of us will be in the same room. You should be thankful that there are two beds, because she wouldn't mind snuggling with us because that's just the way we roll.” 

Then in all of that my mom had one of her epic meltdowns. You just have to read that. So that wasn't the worst part of the book. Yeah, there's like more and it deals with Bennigan's, the restaurant, the former restaurant.

Kaitlin Milliken: When you specifically named drop Bennigan's Monte Cristos. I’m like, “Those are the best sandwiches!” I used to work by a Bennigan's. 

Bren Bataclan: Like remember, they would dare you to like eat all four of the slice sandwiches because they were just humongous.

Kaitlin Milliken: You leave feeling so gross, but it's also so deeply satisfying. And,

Bren Bataclan: And then I have no funny story about that, too. When I first started this book project, I cuz I'm a big fan of David Sedaris. And I looked at his agents list and one of his agents sounds totally Pinay. So I sent her a copy of my book, and she passed it to David Sedaris and he read it and he mailed me a written postcard and he said, “The Bennigan's portion of your book is my favorite.” And I have that postcard framed.

Kaitlin Milliken: So a big part of the book, while it deals a lot with your mom and your relationship with your mom, it has a lot to do with your identity as well. So your Filipino identity, your immigration story, your experience as a gay man. What was the writing process like when you were deciding what you wanted to talk about what the right mix of these different parts of yourself we're going to end up in the final book?

Bren Bataclan:  Prior to embarking on this project most of my work has been with elementary school kids, and so they've all just been kid friendly. And there are some not so G related stuff i tried to book. I mean there's no profanity, but you know what I mean right? The book is not for kids. So this was interesting, I was concerned that I might alienate some of my audience and my biggest worry is like some parents would just buy my book without even  considering the content. But I've warned enough on Facebook, like this is not for little kids and actually on one of the first pages it says, “This is not for little kids.” 

Also what's great about this is it's also almost like a coming out process with everyone because, unlike Bob who's out, he teaches high school so he's totally out. But I kind of have to come out every single week at a new school but having this book it's great because it's on my homepage. You can read about me. So I hope I don't have to… I can just be myself.

This is a real like a true portrayal of my mom which is really funny too because my sister just bought a whole bunch of the books that she sent to our relatives in the Philippines and that was worrisome to like, “How would they think about my mom?” No, they all agreed, “Yeah that's your mother.” 

The immigration experience that just a given. I guess it's just honesty. Because with my mom, one thing I like about it is it’s not about physical or sexual abuse. And I think can share it, it can still be funny and I didn't want to vilify her. So you know it's that kind of weird how much can I share?

Kaitlin Milliken: I do have two more questions. One has to do with the style of your graphic memoir. Most of the characters, they're hand drawn with the exception of your mom whose face is a photo and sometimes it's different photos. Sometimes there's drawing over the photos. Can you talk a little bit about that choice that you made to have her face be a pictured face?

Bren Bataclan: When I first started doing it, I said “I’m going to work on a graphic memoir.
I researched a lot. I bought a whole bunch of Filipino American graphic novels. So Malaka Gharib’s I Was Their American Dream that's my source of inspiration. Along with AJ Dungo’s In Waves. And I also branched out of Filipino American graphic novels. One of them is Mira Jacobs’ Good Talk. So I started combining all those sides because Mira Jacobs almost all her images are photographs but she is hand drawn but they all look photo-realistic. And then AJ’s sort of in the middle. And then Malaka’s very loose. 

So I didn't want to copy any of the style so I was researching and going, “Okay how can I make this Bren-like?” If you look at my other paintings, they're mostly just boxes like yellow rectangles with stick figures like ants and stuff. Then I rediscovered these photos of my mom. So when my mom passed away we found a box full of her candid photos and those are probably photos you wanted to burn but she didn't have the heart to do so because this was in the 80s and you couldn't back up photos. And I thought, “Oh someday I could use this.” And eventually these are wacky photos of my mom because she was really photogenic and the front cover is a big concern too because it's not so flattering and my siblings, my brother especially, when he first saw it there what they really said was “that was her expression all the time.” Like if you asked her for like a favorite she would give that kind of blank look. People in now starting to send me photos of that same expression with that book.

Kaitlin Milliken: This is my final question for you because we are just about wrapping up. What's something that you hope that people who read your graphic memoir leave with”

Bren Bataclan: It's love. Just be forgiving and who knows because even though I wish that the burden of me being more of a parent rather than my mom being a parent, I wish that wasn't the case. But it is, and you just accepted and you make the most out of it. And you never know. Like, I never thought that this kind of not so great experience would manifest into a book. So I'm really grateful for that. So you just never know, like, make the most out of what you have.

Kaitlin Milliken: And I think that's a really beautiful note to end on. Thank you so much, Bren, for taking the time.

Bren Bataclan: Salamat den, this is great.

Kaitlin Milliken: This has been the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken. Music for our show was made by Matt Garamella. Special thanks to Bren for joining us. To get a copy of Bren’s book, you can go fememior.com. There you can get the book directly from the publisher, PAWA, which is run by Filipino artists and writers. You can also check out Bel Canto Books, a Filipino-owned bookstore in Long Beach, California. This is our twelfth episode and last month our podcast turned one. So happy birthday to us! If you liked this episode of our show, you can subscribe to the BOSFilipinos Podcast on your streaming platform of choice. You can also follow us on Instagram, @bosfilipinos, to stay connected. If you have ideas of what we should cover, you can let us know at bosfilipinos.com. Thanks for listening and see you soon. 

Fatima Lacanlale on Finding Home in the US and Boston

In this episode, we profile Fatima Lacanlale. Fatima’s journey to Boston has taken her from the Philippines to the Bay Area to the Bay State with stops in Utah and Tennessee in between. During our conversation, Fatima discussed her immigration story and the tales behind her different moves throughout the US. She also shared her personal hobbies in the arts — including an upcoming series of 12 paintings that depict life in the Philippines.

Listen to the full conversation below, or subscribe to our show on Apple Podcast, Google Play, Stitcher, and Spotify.

Transcript 

[MUSIC]

Kaitlin Milliken: Hello, and welcome to the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken, and this show is obviously made by BOSFilipinos. 

In each episode of our podcast, we highlight a different aspect of Filipino life in the Greater Boston area. So today we’ll be profiling a member of that community: Fatima Lacanlale. Fatima’s journey to Boston has taken her from the Philippines to the Bay Area to the Bay State with stops in Utah and Tennessee in between. With each move, Fatima has had to refine her ways of staying connected with her culture and her family. 

During our conversation, Fatima and I discussed her immigration story and the tales behind her different moves throughout the US. We also discuss her personal hobbies in the arts — including an upcoming series of 12 paintings that depict life in the Philippines. 

Thank you so much, Fatima for joining us for this episode of our show.

Fatima Lacanlale: Yeah, thank you so much for having me. Glad to be here.

Kaitlin Milliken: To introduce you to our community. I'd love for you to sort of run through where you've been. I know that you grew up in the Philippines. Where did you grow up?

Fatima Lacanlale: Yeah, I grew up in Pampanga. It's like an hour away from Manila. And then I moved to the US back in 2010. I left with my three siblings that are here. Now. My mom left us when I was, I believe 10 years old, my auntie took care of us — her sibling. 

When my mom and my dad, you know, got separated — I would not call it divorce because we don't have divorce in the Philippines, it's called an annulment — we got super poor. And my mom just wanted to take care of us and the best for us. So that's why she sacrificed herself to be away from us. And she married this 72-year-old man. And it was very challenging for her. But since it's for us, nothing matters, as long as it can help us achieve and have a better life here in the US. She did what it took to get here. And then when she got here, she started working in retail as well. And then sending us money back in the Philippines until she got her US citizenship, and she started taking us in here. And now I'm super thankful my mom did that every day. I'm always grateful to be here. There's not even one rice that I can take and throw in the trash. Because from my experience in the Philippines, when my mom and my dad got divorced, we were like sleeping on the streets. My mom couldn't even buy me a 50 pesos bag. But now my mom keeps giving me bags now I'm like, “Mom, stop sending me.”

Kaitlin Milliken: That's such a Filipino mom thing. I don't know what it is with the moms and the bags, but it's like always with the bags. So you said you were living with your aunt and your siblings, when your mom was in the US until you were reunited. Can you tell me a little bit about your siblings? Like are you the oldest? Like tell me a little bit more about your aunt, that type of stuff.

Fatima Lacanlale: My big brother, He’s 27, 28. I'm 27. My sister, she's 26, and my younger brother, he's 25, I believe. So we're not far away, far apart from each other. And they're super amazing. I like how we get along. And now we're all matured like we're supporting our mom, getting into our lives. It's just like really good feeling, like how we've grown so much from each other. But we used to play a lot in the cornfields or like those waters. I miss those kinds of stuff.

And my auntie. Her name is Sonia. She is amazing. She is my traveling buddy. She's like my mentor. Shehe was so strict and conservative though, like I didn't like that. But thank you so much for doing that. Because when you're so young, you're like 16, you're so happy with your boyfriend you forget things like, what's real life is but she helped me prevent my life from going to a different path. So I'm so glad that she helped me with the right direction.

Kaitlin Milliken: Your mom petitioned for you and your siblings to come to the US. How old were you when you immigrated here?

Fatima Lacanlale: I mean maybe before 18 because I think the law at that time like you have to be minor.

Kaitlin Milliken: What was it like getting to live with your mom again, after having so much time lapse that you weren’t living in the same house and seeing each other every day?

Fatima Lacanlale: Actually, my mom traveled at least a few times back to the Philippines when she was here. And it was awkward to be honest not seeing her for years. So when she came back to the Philippines, it was really awkward. Like I've spent so much time with my auntie and just like seeing you in real person. Are you even real? Like, “Are you really my mom?” And because at that time when she left us with my auntie I can still remember I was singing “Open Arms” in the karaoke, I'm crying. “I wish you can just come back here. And like, don't leave us.” I didn't understand it at that time. But it all made sense now but just looking back at that time, it was very sad. But now I really have a great relationship with my mom. I call her almost every day just checking in with her. 

Kaitlin Milliken: That's great. So when you came to the US and you were like living with your mom, like What are the things that helped you guys bond and become close?

Fatima Lacanlale: Yeah, she took us, she gave us a tour and the whole San Francisco thing. And then we went to Disneyland. I can't believe I, my first time to Disneyland was 18. I was like, “We're too old for this.” And then she took us to Vegas, “Fine. I'm old for this.” And then took us to Reno. And then every time we went, she days she's off, she would take us to restaurants and stuff like that. And we go for a picnic and those kind of stuffs. 

Kaitlin Milliken: What were what was helpful during that time in terms of like making friends and having connections with other folks in the US outside of your family?

Fatima Lacanlale: I graduated high school in the Philippines. And then when I moved to the US, in order to support our financial aid, they asked us to wait for a year in a day. So they asked me to either go to community college or go back to high school while waiting. So I went back to high school here Balboa High School in San Francisco. I mean, it's in Balboa. So it's like, there's a lot of Filipino communities there, especially like our school too, as well. So they have their own separate like group and stuff. So it was easier to find. And everyone was just so friendly. They know what it feels like to be coming here in the US. And they would take us to Jollibee, the all the closest restaurants. So it was a lot easier. So I got two high school degree. And after that, I spend my time at City College of San Francisco and after City College, I went to University of San Francisco to get my bachelor's degree in business management.

Kaitlin Milliken: So you graduated with a degree in business management. Did you know that you wanted to be in the tech space? Or was like your first job? Did that just happen to be in tech? What brought you into that field?

Fatima Lacanlale: Yeah. So at first, I wanted to become an architect, because I love like, sketching, drawing and those kind of stuff. And then I want to become an economist. But it didn't work out for me. And but since I love — growing up, like I saw my families in the Philippines are so entrepreneurial people. So that's where I was like, “Well, I want to learn about business management, like what is the difference between here and the Philippines, so that I can help and maybe apply some and share some to my family in the Philippines.” So that's why I took that degree and um, I love it. It's awesome.

Kaitlin Milliken: So like sort of the hustle comes from what you were seeing from and learning from relatives who were like doing more entrepreneurial things in the Philippines. Can you talk a little bit about what those like entrepreneurial, like things were that inspired you to be like, “That's something I could see myself doing.

Fatima Lacanlale: My Auntie's always been in business. And I've always, she always she would always take me with her. And whenever she does business proposals and those kind of stuff, I kind of got inspired, of doing what she was doing. And like running her own business, just like not relying to other people and seeing it being successful. I know there are some ups and downs and challenges, but she's super strong, like mentally like to do it. So if she can do it, I can do it as well.

Kaitlin Milliken: We talked on the phone before interview you had gone from San Francisco, then I believe you went to Tennessee next. What was your next stop?

Fatima Lacanlale: Yeah, I went to Nashville, Tennessee. I lived there for a year.

Kaitlin Milliken: So you did San Francisco to Tennessee. I forgot. Did you move one other time before coming here as well?

Fatima Lacanlale: Yes. Moved to Utah.

Kaitlin Milliken: What were some of those differences between like the different areas that you lived in, especially when it came to your Filipino identity?

Fatima Lacanlale: I really love Nashville. It's like a music city. And it's really fun. But I didn't find many Filipino communities there. But maybe if I went far away from Nashville, I could have find them. But it wasn't a thing for me. And then we moved to Utah. And when I was in Utah, there's a Filipino community there. But just Utah was amazing. Like you can find national parks. They're amazing things to find there. But the weather wasn't meant for me. We were like, “Okay, let's try Boston.” And Boston is just perfect. Summer is perfect winter. I love Seeing the snow. And it was just working out for me. But I just wish that, you know, since we moved here is to find a Filipino community. But since, you know, maybe COVID happens, it kind of prevented me to find those activities, those events, because when we were in San Francisco, like they would create this events that you can go to. And it's just like, really fun. I forgot what it was, but it was in San Francisco downtown and all the Filipinos gather with music with food with, like, you can walk around like a fair.

Kaitlin Milliken: What made you want to move out of the Bay Area, you know, especially having the family and friends that you had, like, in that place? What prompted you to start your journey to these other places?

Fatima Lacanlale: I mean, it was hard. Like, I've never been away from my siblings, and my mom or like my family. So I really wanted to feel how to be independent. And when I moved to Nashville, oh my gosh, I wish I didn't ask to be independent, because so hard. I was super homesick. It was a really like, adventure for me. So it was hard, but I think I'm getting used to it. I just like probably being independent. Because when I was in the Philippines, like, yeah, you have your relatives, you have maids, they're like, they do everything for you. So it was hard for me to do things here in the US, especially when I was by myself. Like I had to literally learn how to cook, making sure I really clean like everything, and stuff like that, and then making sure that I'm having income too as well to survive. So, but definitely, it was worth it. To be honest, it was really a good adventure. I feel like moving to different cities. It's like, knowing different cultures as well. It's my pleasure to travel. Like literally, it was really worth it.

Kaitlin Milliken: Great. And I also know that you're a painter. Can you talk a little bit about, you know, how you got into painting what inspires you? And all of that?

Fatima Lacanlale: Yeah, absolutely. So when I was an elementary in the Philippines, there was a painting competition. So, I won that, and they gave me this encyclopedias, books. There's so many of them. Ever since then, when I was in high school with this, all girls school, I joined the art club. And then when I got into the US, like, it kind of changed a little bit. I've been busy with different stuff. But now since like working from home, I've been kind of getting back to that one. And also, you know, sending paintings to my mom. paintings. There are so many paintings a lot in our place. Like I know from other people, they have a different ways to relieve their stress. But for me, it's just like very relaxing. I actually have planned for myself, I want to do this, like 12 series of paintings. It's basically I want to start my own photography, like about people in the Philippines. Like because there's so many kids in the Philippines that are on the streets. I just want to capture those, like very inspiring moments of those people in the Philippines.

Kaitlin Milliken: Do you have to wait to travel before you start that project?

Fatima Lacanlale: I'm planning to go back to the Philippines end of this year. So hopefully that happens. But definitely, I've been following a lot of Filipinos in the Philippines who are photographers and there are so amazing picture. So I'm kind of doing that as an inspiration first, and then I'll start doing next year.

Kaitlin Milliken: When did you decide that that was a project that you wanted to do?

Fatima Lacanlale: Actually was last year when this COVID happened. And I had so much free time and gave me something to think like what I really want to do for my life. And I was like, I see people on Instagram like famous artists having their 12 series like one example is like nature, like or months or whatever, seasons. I'm like, what do I want to do for myself or my 12 series? And then I was like, “Well, why don't I just like leverage where I grew up, you know, like what was like to be living in the Philippines, and I want to capture that and paint it, and see it, and see it every day, and it's like a reminder for me like how lucky I am to be here.”

I can't wait to go back to the Philippines and start like different 12 different styles of people that are living on the streets. It's either like children playing on the streets or a Lola sitting on the street or like anything like someone carrying like the taho thing you know, those kind of stuff. So that's why I called my 12 series like 12 different scenarios of lifestyle in the Philippines.

Kaitlin Milliken: And are you looking to focus on like your hometown or any specific geography? I know that you said you're going back I don't know to where.

Fatima Lacanlale: Definitely most likely Pampanga but for sure, when we go to Manila, go to the Divisoria. Like maybe I would like capture some of those stuff or go to Subic which is like super close to Pampanga, or maybe in Boracay. So I feel like, whatever I go to the Philippines, that's what I would capture. I mean, something that is super capturing that would really resonate. It's very compelling. I will not say dramatic, but something that would break your heart just looking at the picture.

Kaitlin Milliken: So this is my final question for you. Do you have any advice for like Filipinos or Filipino Americans that are looking to move to Boston on how they can make it feel like their home?

Fatima Lacanlale: I mean, from my experience, I know, so it's a big city, so. But don't be afraid of new opportunities. You know, since you don't have probably don't have any family in town, treat your new friends and co-workers as your family. And remember, you can call your family anytime. So I think that would be the best thing I can do. Other than that start following people on Instagram, I started following you, the BOSFilipinos, everyone like who's cooking here, like just to find the community here and this where I found you.

Kaitlin Milliken: Great. Well, I think that's a great note to end on. Thank you so much Fatima for your time.

Fatima Lacanlale: Of course. Thanks for having me.

[MUSIC]

Kaitlin Milliken: This has been the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken. Music for our show was made by Matt Garamella. Special thanks to Fatima for joining us. If you liked this episode of our show, you can subscribe to the BOSFilipinos Podcast on your streaming platform of choice. You can also follow us on Instagram, @bosfilipinos, to stay connected. If you have ideas of what we should cover, you can let us know at bosfilipinos.com. Thanks for listening and see you soon. 

Josee on Life as a First-Gen Graduate and Young Professional

When she was growing up, Josee Matela would tell her family that she spoke eight languages. That included, English, Filipino, and Boston. She grew up wanting to go to college in Boston, and achieved those dreams by attending BU as a first-generation student. 

Now, Josee is a postgraduate, young professional living and working in digital marketing. In this episode of the BOSFilipinos Podcast, she shares her experience as a first-generation student, young professional, and Filipino-American. 

Listen to the full conversation below, or subscribe to our show on Apple Podcast, Google Play, Stitcher, and Spotify.

Transcript 

[MUSIC]

Kaitlin Milliken: Hello, and welcome to the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken, and this show is obviously made by BOSFilipinos. 

In each episode of our podcast, we highlight a different aspect of Filipino life in the Greater Boston area. So today we’ll be profiling a member of that community: Josee Matela. Josee is a woman of many talents. She’s a Community and Special Projects Manager at FinTech Sandbox and a digital marketing specialist for Surround Insurance. And on top of that, she’s the founder of her own marketing consulting business Matelamade LLC. 

She and I actually met in college, when we overlapped during our time at Boston University. We worked at the university’s television station. Josee wrapped up her time at BU in May of 2020 as a first-generation college graduate. She created the First Gen Graduated project, which documents her stories and those of other first-generation students who missed out on their 2020 graduation ceremonies. 

During our conversation Josee and I discussed her professional life, her experience as a first-gen student at BU, and her relationship with culture.

Thanks so much, Josee for being here today.

Josee Matela: So glad to be here. Thanks for having me, Katie.

Kaitlin Milliken: So you've been in Boston for five years. Can you talk a little bit about what brought you to the area? And what that transition to being in Massachusetts was like?

Josee Matela: Absolutely. So when I was a little kid — we're gonna start with one of those stories — I would tell my family that I spoke eight different languages, including English, Filipino Spanish, and one of them was actually Boston. Now, I will say that I was neither fluent in any of the languages except for English. But when I would talk to my family, I said, “Oh, I know how to speak Boston.” And that meant I could park the car in Harvard Yard, imagine a three-year-old Filipino girl saying that my love for Boston started out when I was really young. So my aunt, who I'm very close with, she went to BU for her undergrad and went to Tufts for her grad school. 

And Boston was this mystical land of her adventures and her heart and her younger years that I fell in love with. And while she was up here, she ended up meeting my uncle who lived in Watertown. And they would always tell me stories about their times up in Boston, and my uncle's family's still here. And so it was just always this affinity for the city knowing that I had such a family history there. And that was kind of really cool for me. 

And then I also would always say that I would go to Boston University when I was younger, and I didn't know college nor higher education. And I could barely read at a fifth grade level. But I thought that being the five-year-old with my dreams, and my hopes, I would walk around in my BU sweatshirt, and tell everyone I was going there. And I'm sure they were very believing of what I would be doing. But hey, I made it happen. So yeah, I mean, I've always wanted to be in Boston, I grew up loving the Boston sports teams, genuinely. I just thought of it as this next step, this new place where I could pursue the things I was passionate about, move away from home, but also find a place that was somewhat familiar, because of all the times I'd been there and heard stories about it. 

So I went to be for my undergrad, I finished my degrees in journalism and international relations. And in the meantime, with the pandemic going on, I thought, “What better place to get my footing start out in Boston?” I think I'm ready for the next step to see where it'll lead me. But I know that Boston will always be that home for me.

Kaitlin Milliken: I want to talk a little bit about the First Gen Graduates project that you sort of launched and your experience as a first-gen college student. Can you talk a little bit about what that project is and what inspired you to do that?

Josee Matela: Absolutely. So I am a first-generation American, my mother's from the Philippines. So is my father, but I was raised by a single mother and the village that helped raise me as we all know, Filipinos, you always take care of your kind which is really cool. I'm grateful for the extended family, but actually they turned into a big melting pot. I say I grew up with five moms, two dads. 

And so I was really cautious and worried when I was applying for colleges as a high school student. Because I was low-income, I was first-gen, I was not sure about where I wanted to go. And I knew that I really needed a good financial aid package, because we all know college is really expensive. And after a few months, and some programs, thankfully, I was like, “You know, this is something I want to do.” 

And when I got to college, it was scary. It was daunting, it was an environment that I wasn't used to. But I felt primed for because you know, when you are so excited to be somewhere, and just grateful to be there in the first place that I think that helps to propel you and kind of erase some of the fear that you have. I did have a lot of imposter syndrome, I did feel like there were points where I didn't fit in with my peers, whether that be from an income level, whether that be from an experience level, like everyone was talking about their summers and Europe and I'd never left the country. 

I wanted to start First Gen Grads because it was an opportunity to really celebrate the first-gens who are graduating college in 2020. It's a pandemic, a lot of people aren't having graduation ceremonies, that ceremonial walk across the stage that us, our families, our communities were really looking forward to kind of left for the wayside — all for really good reasons. So you know, it's not an anger that it had to happen but more of a disappointment in some ways. You wish that you would have that chance to walk across the stage to have your family come see you. 

Kaitlin Milliken: Right, there's a little bit of grieving over that loss of the experience. I understand that I feel like a lot of people understand that in different ways this year, but college students who were set to graduate and high school students were set to graduate especially.

Josee Matela: Even though there is a pandemic, that doesn't diminish the work that they've done throughout their whole careers, their lives, the things their parents sacrificed, the things that they had to make. So I started a little project just to highlight some of the stories. And as a journalism grad, thankfully, I had done a lot of writing before. So it was just writing little vignettes of a few different people. And it was a really enlightening experience. And I think that it was something I really cherished and was amazing getting to hear these stories. I genuinely wish I had the bandwidth to continue it more. But I also know that it was a really tough summer. 

And I had to take a step back, kind of just be very grateful for the opportunity to see what I had done and, you know, hope that what I did put out there was something that could inspire other fresh ends entering college, high school students, or even people who are in college now trying to see what's possible down the line.

Kaitlin Milliken: Yeah, definitely. That's really great. A good way to celebrate things when celebration feels like it's in short order, but it's more important than ever. So you are a marketing professional. And I know, recently you started a new job, a first post grad job. During that job search period you founded Matela Made. Can you talk about what that is and why you launched your own hustle?

Josee Matela: I mean, if you're a millennial, if you're Gen Z, I'm the older version of Gen Z, it seems like we are in #hustlemode. The typical salary jobs that people had grown accustomed to in older generations, the “I could pay for college with my summer job situation” is not our cup of tea, nor is it reality now. So I think we're finding a new evolution of the worker of passion. And for me, I think that's the biggest thing. It's realizing that a lot of people are out here pursuing their passions, whether that be you work a nine-to-five, and then you have a side hustle. Whether it be “Oh my gosh, my side hustle is picking up, I can turn it into my full time job.” 

And for me, I kind of wanted to be in the mindset that I couldn't wait for opportunities to happen. I kind of had to make it happen myself. And so for me, I wanted to start this small business as a way to one, fulfill that quote unquote, “American Dream” and start doing the things that I wanted to do that I was passionate about that I knew, thankfully, could help me put food on the table, pay my rent. And it's definitely a learning experience coming from a background that's not specifically marketing. But thankfully, I've had some PR, marketing experience through different internships. And I want to really trust myself to go ahead and start a small business and start onboarding clients and creating really cool things because it's what I think I've been training to do and what I feel really passionate about.

Kaitlin Milliken: So you mentioned earlier that sort of your Filipino family, being a Filipino American shaped your decisions in college or just experience as a first-generation college student. How has being Filipino shaped the next step of your young life as a person who's no longer in school or like a young professional living in Boston?

Josee Matela: My mom left her home country, her little city of Alangalang Leyte, to come to the US to pursue her dreams, and so did my aunt. Wherever your next step lies, there's always this opportunity to just reach for it and go for it, even if it's absolutely scary and as daunting as moving halfway across the world. 

And another thing with that, is something that my Nina told me, which is “they can take away your money, they can take away your goods, your home, your assets, however it is, but the one thing they can't take away from you is your education.” And that was a really big motivator throughout high school throughout college, especially because I grew up in a low income household where there wasn't much to go around. So for me, this was a really crazy opportunity to be in Boston, and to be running with the big guys and doing my own thing and learning every day. And in my experience, and from what I know and see in my family and my Filipino community that I was raised in. There is this sense of hard working. There's a sense of grit. There is this sense of, we don't take anything for granted. We are so lucky for every day that passes, and we are here to run at it with open arms and just to tackle it as we need to. And there is not a sense of pride in terms of boastfulness, rather, it's this “we know what our family has gone through what our ancestors have done, all the sacrifices that have happened.” And we let that sort of lead our mindset, not to take anything for granted, not to assume that anything is something that you just automatically deserve, but rather something that you are pushing for and finding joy and hope and wisdom through and.

Kaitlin Milliken: Like community and connection. 

Josee Matela: Every generation there is a new form of evolution, there's a new form of who each generation is, and you can tell them with, like your lolos and lolas, and you can tell it what your ates and you can tell it with your aunties and how everyone seems to change as people start to experience new things as people start to be raised in different societies, if you will. And the biggest thing for me was also finding the ways that made me unique from or our generation unique from our parents generations or the generations before that, where even though there may be a difference in some values, or some sort of traditions that have been passed on, there's the same overlying theme of, paving your own way. Of finding community and finding joy in even the smallest things and really taking our Filipino heritage, our Filipino character and applying it where we want.

Kaitlin Milliken: Great and I think that's a perfect note to end on. Thank you so much Josee for your time.

Josee Matela: Thanks for having me sending all of my love to the kapamilya.

[Music]
Kaitlin Milliken: This has been the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken. Music for our show was made by Matt Garamella. Special thanks to Josee for joining us. You can follow Josee on instagram at @matelamadellc. That’s Matela with one L. If you liked this episode of our show, you can subscribe to the BOSFilipinos Podcast on your streaming platform of choice. You can also follow us on Instagram, @bosfilipinos, to stay connected. If you have ideas of what we should cover, you can let us know at bosfilipinos.com. Thanks for listening and see you soon.

Marc Anthony Lujares on Running a Small Business, and How to Look Your Best

By Kaitlin Milliken 

In 2020, getting a haircut feels like a luxury. Filipino-American small business owner Marc Anthony Lujares can help. This year, Marc launched a business where he gives mobile haircuts and style consultations in the Greater Boston Area. 

Marc is a personal image concierge, giving haircuts and style consultations to help men look their best. In this episode of the BOSFilipinos Podcast, Marc shares how he pivoted into the fashion game and tips for developing your own personal style. He also discusses his experience growing up as a Filipino-American in Greater Boston. 

Listen to the full conversation below, or subscribe to our show on Apple Podcast, Google Play, Stitcher, and Spotify. 

---

Transcript 

[MUSIC]

Kaitlin Milliken: Hello, and welcome to the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken, and this show is obviously made by BOSFilipinos. 

In each episode of our podcast, we highlight a different aspect of Filipino life in the Greater Boston area. So today we’ll be profiling a member of that community: Marc Anthony Lujares. Marc is a personal image concierge that focuses on men’s fashion. He also runs a mobile barber operation that can help you or the guy in your life look put together for the holidays — and everyday. 

During our conversation Marc and I discussed how he pivoted into the fashion game and tips for developing your own personal style. We also talked about his experience growing up as a Filipino-American in Greater Boston. 

Thanks so much, Marc for being here. 

Marc Anthony Lujares: Oh, happy to be here. Thank you for having me.

Kaitlin Milliken: Absolutely. When we connected through Instagram, I saw that your profile says that you are a personal image concierge. I've never heard that term before. But I'd love it if you could explain what that means for our audience. 

Marc Anthony Lujares: When I think of the word like concierge, there's a couple of words that come to mind. Above and beyond customer service, sort of like being like, someone's right hand person or running errands for someone. So for me, when I came up with that term, personal image concierge, it really pertains to a guy's personal image in themselves and whatever that I can do to help elevate their image, in turn elevating their confidence in themselves and how they're perceived to the world.

Kaitlin Milliken: Let's talk a little bit about how you've launched your business. You told me earlier that you started at the beginning of the pandemic, why were you inspired to create your business? And what was the process of starting it like?

Marc Anthony Lujares: There's a lot of uncertainty in the beginning of the pandemic. So for me, I'd always want to start my own business. And my thing is always wanting to help people. Since people are afraid to go out there, be in public places, even though there are these guidelines and restrictions — my thing was to help guys look their best. Despite the pandemic as long as we're operating in a safe way. But to help guys improve their image. I found that it's been pretty helpful for a lot of guys and families in general with younger kids. They're going to start school and they want to look their best. And I figured it would be a helpful service for many families, and for guys in general.

Kaitlin Milliken: Right now your services are mobile, and you have a van and you're driving out and you're giving haircuts and doing your consultations that way. Was the original vision to be mobile, or did you pivot to go mobile?

Marc Anthony Lujares: My original thought was to be able to bring the service to them. It's like a nice treat for yourself, if someone was to come to you, as opposed to you go there. In reality, to go get a haircut for most guys, it almost like drains two to three hours, sometimes. You get there. Sometimes you're waiting. And then you could be waiting up to an hour, and then you get the actual haircut, and then you go home. And a lot of times that can be so time consuming. So my thought was to just go to each client, if they are looking to get a service like a haircut.

Kaitlin Milliken: Great. And of course, I'm sure that you're a pro at all of the safety measures that have to happen, but what are you doing? And how do you keep both yourself and your clients safe when you're doing these consultations?

Marc Anthony Lujares: So initially, what people do is they contact me letting me know that they're interested in getting a service. And for me safety is really important. Like I'll ask them, have you traveled outside of the state in the last two weeks? Have you felt any symptoms that's related or correlated with COVID-19? When I go to your home, I just ask that you are wearing a mask and before I even enter the home I'll do a non-contact temperature to see if you are anywhere near triple digit temperature. So once that's settled, and they agree with that, I enter the home or a lot of times it's like in their outdoor space, if it's like a really nice day. I'll wear a mask and divisor and gloves as well, to make sure that they feel safe when I'm performing the service.

Kaitlin Milliken: So do you have any stories from working with any of your clients that you would like to share?

Marc Anthony Lujares: When I go to people's homes, you’re entering an intimate space. This is their life. You meet family members. Kids are awesome. They call me “the haircut man” when I come in. It's kind of funny. Yeah, one of the things that happened to me that really stuck out to me was when this little boy after I had given him a haircut. He waved goodbye to me like, “Bye, haircut man,” and I was really touched by that. I felt kind of like a superhero at that point when he said haircut man. 

Kaitlin Milliken: I want to ask a question. There might be folks who, you know, we're all in our homes. We've been staring at ourselves in the mirror. Maybe we want to come out of quarantine looking extra fresh and stylish. Do you have any tips for audience members, or the guys who are out there listening about what you can do to keep a stylish personal image?

Marc Anthony Lujares: To keep it simple, honestly, like when you're wearing clothing, proportions are really important. Like, if you have broad shoulders, sometimes it's good to be able to accentuate that. Obviously, playing with proportion is important. And if you want to show some of your personality, a lot of times people will show their personality through their favorite article of clothing that kind of gives them their signature look. Honestly if you feel confident, and wearing a cardigan all the time, that's like your look, and people will resonate with that. Kind of like Mr. Rogers like, to me, that guy is one of the flyest guys I have ever seen in a neighborhood. But yeah, proportion is key. And being able to show your personality through your clothing, really sell it, because when you're happy in how you look the rest of the world sees that too. They see it in your face, and it should all draw attention to your face. And that comes with the hairstyle too. 

Kaitlin Milliken: I know that our folks are listening, but we're on zoom, I can see that you've got like a blazer and like, I don't know what you call the handkerchief that comes out of the blazer pocket?

Marc Anthony Lujares:  Oh, the pocket square. 

Kaitlin Milliken: Yes, yes. What influenced your personal style?

Marc Anthony Lujares: I actually grew up in the South Shore. So there weren't that many Filipinos, where I grew up. I was probably one of the only like, colored/Asian person in a lot of my classes. As a kid, you stand out, but you kind of have to be mindful of how you are when you interact with other people. So style has always been something that has, in a way, spoken for me as far as like, “Oh, that guy has a general sense of style.” I felt like when I wore something that I felt comfortable and confident and a lot of people will start to talk to me and get to know me a little bit more. 

And a lot of the time to, like music has inspired me as well. I remember, actually, in high school, just because of the way that I dressed someone had thought that I would become like a music producer or something. That was when like, Kanye West first came on the scene and he started wearing pink polos. I kind of followed suit in that same era and started wearing pink with confidence. And people were like, “I like that.”

Kaitlin Milliken: We always love the bold choices, like the bold choices make it work.

Marc Anthony Lujares: Absolutely. When you go bold, people notice. And when you get that recognition for going bold, people, they give you props.

Kaitlin Milliken: Have you been a part of the like, fashion hair scene here for your entire career? Or did you pivot into it from something else?

Marc Anthony Lujares: I pivoted into it, because I'm even throughout school, I've always been just kind of reading up on blogs and following certain figures who style I appreciate a lot. Being first generation Filipino, going into that field isn't something that's like really… It's perceived to your parents is like, it's not going to pay a lot of money or you know, whatever. So for me, I kind of slowly got into it. 

Initially, when I was in school, I started health science courses. So I the route was to be a physical therapist. But, for me, it was just like, “Oh, let me just do something that will make my parents happy. But I'm okay with.” The fashion part had always been a part of me that I'd always done all the time, and I didn't really realize it until much later on.

Fashion has always been like my guide to do the things that I love to do, until I eventually fall into something that's like, perfect for me. So I had always been cutting hair throughout high school, which I didn't even realize that until I was much older that I had always been cutting hair. Whenever I give someone a haircut, I make them feel really good about themselves. And they look to me as being the professional and giving them the advice that's suitable for each person. And that will really highlight the best qualities of themselves.

Kaitlin Milliken:  And I know that you mentioned a few times how being Filipino and growing up in Boston as a Filipino person has influenced your sense of style, your relationship with your work. Are there other ways that you connect to your Filipino identity that you want to talk about on the show?

Marc Anthony Lujares: The Filipino community in Boston. It's quite small, and it's spread out as well. So I would say, even though it's a small community, I always have contact with my friends who are Filipino. It's almost like a daily interaction. So some of the things that we go through, we share common things. Especially food, we always have food, what restaurants are out there. My sister is a chef at Myers and Chang in the South End, so food is a constant conversation that still connects to my identity.

Kaitlin Milliken: We are at our final question of the interview. There might be folks who want to get a haircut, book an appointment with you. What's the way to do that?

Marc Anthony Lujares: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, right now, it's pretty much like word of mouth or if you send me a personal message on Instagram. It's talcum and tonic, talcum_and_tonic. You can send me a message, or you can send me a text or call me. It's 617-942-1343.

Kaitlin Milliken: Let's all hope that folks get in touch with you and get really fashionable around the holidays. And thank you so much mark for joining us today.

Marc Anthony Lujares: Oh, no problem is a pleasure to be on the podcast.

[Outro] 

Kaitlin Milliken: This has been the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken. Music for our show was made by Matt Garamella. Special thanks to Marc for joining us. You can follow Marc on instagram at talcum-underscore-and-underscore-tonic. You can DM him to book an appointment or call 617-942-1343 to set up at time. If you liked this episode of our show, you can subscribe to the BOSFilipinos Podcast on your streaming platform of choice. You can also follow us on Instagram, @bosfilipinos, to stay connected. Holiday season is officially upon us! So stay safe and let us know how you’ll be celebrating this year. And if you have ideas of what we should cover, you can let us know at bosfilipinos.com. Thanks for listening and see you soon. 

Katherine Choi on Speech-Language Pathology

by Kaitlin Milliken

When it comes to her job, Katherine Choi says she feels most fulfilled when she helps her students communicate their wants and needs. That could be asking for a snack, or their iPad, or sharing their feelings with a loved-one. 

Katherine is a speech-language pathologist, who aids people with speech or swallowing disorders.  After getting her undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Katherine continued to pursue the field in a Master’s program at Worcester State University. Today, Katherine is a practicing clinician at a school for special needs students.

In this episode of the BOSFilipinos Podcast, Katherine shares the different ways she works with her students. She also discusses remote teaching in 2020, the factors that led her down this career path, and her life outside the classroom. 

Listen to the full conversation below, or subscribe to our show on Apple Podcast, Google Play, Stitcher, and Spotify. 

Transcript 

[MUSIC]

Kaitlin Milliken: Hello, and welcome to the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken, and this show is obviously made by BOSFilipinos. 

In each episode of our podcast, we highlight a different aspect of Filipino life in the Greater Boston area. So today we’ll be profiling a member of that community: Katherine Choi. Katherine is a speech-language pathologist who lives in Malden. 

If you’re like me maybe you don’t know much about speech-language pathology. Or anything. At all. Well it’s time for a quick definition. Speech-language pathology deals with a wide range of speech and swallowing disorders that affect people. According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association that includes speech disorders, like stuttering, language disorders, like trouble sharing thoughts or ideas, or swallowing disorders caused by an injury — just to name a few. 

Thank you so much, Catherine, for being on our show. 

Katherine Choi: Of course, thanks for having me.

Kaitlin Milliken: Yeah, so I don't actually know very much about speech-language pathology. And I'm sure that some of our listeners, this may be a totally new field to them as well. Can you explain what that is for people who may not have heard the term until now?

Katherine Choi: Yeah, of course. So you're not the only one. And it actually even people that think they know what speech-pathology is don't necessarily know all the time, because it's such a wide field, which is kind of what attracted me to it. So it's about preventing, assessing, diagnosing, and treating, and all that goes into speech disorders, language disorders, social communication disorders, cognitive communication disorders, and swallowing disorders for children and adults. So it's really kind of all over the place. But it makes it interesting. And you can kind of, typically you'll find one avenue and you'll perfect those skills, but you're not really closed off to anything else. If down the line, your degree will still allow you to go into different areas of the field.

Kaitlin Milliken: Yeah. And since it is such a large field, is there a particular part of that field that you specialized in or are most passionate about?

Katherine Choi: Yeah, so before I got into my master's program, I was actually a speech assistant, at a school for students with autism. So that really, I was there for over six years. And I think that's really my expertise as of now. And that's similar to the field, the school that I'm in right now is also similar. I'm working with a similar population. So a lot of working on helping these students with severe special needs, learn to communicate, and really build up their language and vocabulary. And even within that, I really want to specialize in AAC, which is Augmentative Alternative Communication. So really helping my students who don't have natural speech, use iPads or designated devices to help them communicate their wants and needs.

Kaitlin Milliken: So you mentioned that you're currently working in a school and you were working in a school before that. Just on an average day, what type of things are you doing with the students you work with?

Katherine Choi: So it really depends on the student and my ages right now are between like second grade and fifth grade. And even within that, there's a lot of variation. So with one student, maybe I'm working on requesting, so I'm giving them a couple choices, and I'm having them say, “I want iPad,” or “I want Cheese-It,” so there's that end, and then there's other students I'm working on pronouns. So maybe I'll show them a picture or a video and ask them, “Alright, like, Who is it? What are they doing?” And we'll kind of work on building up their vocabulary, their grammar and their utterances. So maybe right now they can say, “Run,” and we want them to say, “The boy is running or he is running.”

Kaitlin Milliken: So when it comes to the students that you're working with, I know that there was probably a period of time where you were doing this work and it was remote. Are you still remote? Or are you going in? And does that change the way that you do your work?

Katherine Choi: So right now, I am doing a hybrid model. My school is doing a hybrid model. So I spend Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday mornings in-person, and then all the afternoons and Wednesday all day, I will be remote. And that's funny that you asked that because it's kind of something that's a little bit stressful, especially as a beginning clinician, because I'm not just making materials for my in-person sessions, the same students I'm seeing remotely. And it's a whole other set of activities and materials that I'm kind of having to curate and put together. So it's, it's definitely a little bit different.

Kaitlin Milliken: And when you're doing that type of work, especially when you're at home, is it one to one on Zoom? Or is it like more of a one to many type of situation where everyone's in gallery mode? What's that like?

Katherine Choi: Because of the population that I'm working with, most of my sessions are one to one in person and remote. All of my remote sessions are one to one. But actually, because a lot of my students need that extra support, it's my student and their parent or guardian with them really helping facilitate this session.

Kaitlin Milliken: I also want to just ask about what made you choose this field. So when did you decide that becoming a clinician and doing this type of work was for you?

Katherine Choi:  I kind of fell into it. It kind of began back when I was entering undergrad undecided and not really knowing where I wanted to be. Growing up, I kind of wanted to be a teacher. I'm the oldest of five. So I feel like I was always that caretaker kind of role. And so that brought me towards speech pathology. And then when I was looking for what I wanted to do, I kind of thought back. Actually, both of my brothers needed speech therapy for speech delays. My sister has a stutter, and she had speech therapy. And actually, my grandfather had a stroke, and he had speech therapy after that. So even within my family, you can really see the range of the different areas that a speech therapist can really help with.

Kaitlin Milliken: Going about your job, what do you find particularly fulfilling about speech-language pathology, and the things that you work on?

Katherine Choi: Throughout my years working at my previous school, I think the biggest thing is when the parents come back to you, and they are so excited about the progress that your students are making, or you're working on this one goal for so long, and then you see this breakthrough, and really just helping my students communicate and get across their wants and needs. Because it's so essential. And I feel like a lot of people take it for granted.

Kaitlin Milliken: I always like to ask about stories, since I think in a lot of ways that helps make the understanding very concrete for people who may not have exposure to this world. Are there any moments that stick out to you in your clinical work with any of your students that you remember and reflect on when you think about the importance of what you're doing?

Katherine Choi: So there actually is one that I remember running home and telling my then boyfriend now husband that. So I had a student, and we had been working on conversation. So just kind of like, back and forth. “Hi, how are you?” “I'm good,” because it's a really hard thing to teach. Especially when I'm trying to prompt. If I'm trying to tell you to tell me to say hi, It can get a little confusing. 

And I was working with a student and we were trying to just play and be a little creative. He was kind of in a downtime situation. And I knocked on the door that he was hiding behind and I said, “Hi.” And he just independently said, “Hi.” And I was like “Oh my god.” And I said, “How are you?” He said, “Good, how are you?” And it was just that moment of happiness that all of this time that I had spent, and we had worked together on these goals and to see it come in such a natural situation, I think I still think about that to this day. And just, it works. 

Kaitlin Milliken: I didn't ask but I feel like it definitely should have, is there a particular age range that you're working with? 

Katherine Choi: So I actually work at a school that's specifically for children, with students with these kinds of special needs. So the whole school gets speech therapy. But so there's actually three of us. So one speech therapist has the younger ages, one has the older ages, and I have the middle. So it's really second grade to fifth grade. But at my previous school, I worked with students from four to 21. So a wide range.

Kaitlin Milliken: What are some of the differences when you're working with a student who might be in that younger elementary school timeframe versus teenagers, early adults?

Katherine Choi: So I think the younger ages, typically, you're just trying to help them develop their basic communication and their basic language skills, but also, because of the nature of the disability, the age doesn't necessarily coincide with their functioning level. So, a lot of it is individualizing it for the student, but to what you're saying is the older kids, you might want to focus more on functional skills as far as having a job. 

So at my previous school, we did a lot with prepping our students to go out into the community and work at a local grocery store or the mini-put down the street. And so if I was the speech pathologist for that case, I would be helping them to work on the vocab that's gonna apply to that. So the put-put, or the shovel that you're going to use to dig the rocks next to the put-put, and stuff like that.

Kaitlin Milliken: I'm going to pivot a little bit. I always ask folks about their lives outside of work just as we try and do a more holistic profile. So when you're not doing clinical work, what can be found doing in those other parts of your life?

Katherine Choi: I love hiking and being outside, especially in the current times when maybe other activities are not as accessible. And just spending time with family and friends and going to the drive-in or just hanging out grilling, I when the Patriots were having people in their stands, my husband and I would go to a lot of Patriots games and do the tailgating or stuff like that.

Kaitlin Milliken: Very nice. And obviously, you're Filipino American living in Massachusetts, sort of like the requirements to be on the show, I guess. We always ask people about their cultural experiences and their cultural identity. Can you talk a little bit about how you connect to your culture?

Katherine Choi: So my mom came over from the Philippines in the 80s. And she came over it at the time, I think a lot of Filipino nurses were coming over together to work. And she worked at a hospital called Jewish Memorial Hospital in Boston, and they actually had dorms specifically for the nurses to stay in. And I feel like that really helped my mom to make a lot of friends and really have a great support system. She's friends with a lot of those nurses still today. 

And so I feel like that kind of led to as I was growing up, we would go to a lot of the Filipino parties and get all that great Filipino food and line dancing and all of that. So I feel like I'm really blessed in that way that we were able to grow up that way. Since my mom's a nurse, she's involved with a lot of the PNAANE. So Philippine Nurses Association of New England. She's actually up for President Elect. But so I feel like that has also led to... They would have events and my family would attend those events. So I feel like it's been a great way to really keep all of that culture right at our fingertips.

My family helps put together the Santa Niño festival at my church every year. So we help. We bring in the Filipino choir, and there's lots of Filipino food and Filipino dancers. And on a more personal note, I really try my best to really support any Filipino businesses that I can. If you saw my Instagram, you see that I'm following all of these Filipino groups. And I think it's really important to support the culture that we want to be around for everyone. 

And I try to go back to the Philippines as much as I can too. I was there actually, right before all this craziness happened. So I saw my grandparents.

Kaitlin Milliken: Where is your family in the Philippines from? Where do you go when you visit?

Katherine Choi: So my mom grew up in Manila. But my family right now is in Marikina. So, Metro Manila.

Kaitlin Milliken: I think it's really interesting. I know a lot of folks who are Filipino, my family included, grow up in this healthcare setting. My grandma's a nurse, all of her sisters are either nurses or work in the hospital doing something adjacent to nursing. Do you think that that health care, more health leaning element influenced your decision to go into clinical work at all?

Katherine Choi: I think it definitely did. I thought about being a nurse way back when but I couldn't do the blood or the needles. But I think the fact that speech pathology does have that avenue to go into being a swallowing specialist and working with rehab facilities and stuff like that. I think it really helped push me in that direction.

Kaitlin Milliken: What's something that you wish everyone knew about the work that you do in speech-language pathology, that they may not know, like, something you want to stick in their minds after this podcast is over?

Katherine Choi: So as far as someone that wants to be in this field, when you're applying to grad schools, it can be really discouraging. I actually, when I was in my undergrad program, someone told me, my advisor told me that this isn’t the field for me, and that I should quit. So really, if someone is looking to get into this field, and they really want to help people don't get discouraged, and take the time to be a speech assistant, or whatever you need to if this is really where you want to help people, I think that you should just keep going and keep trying. 

In general, especially in the political climate, there's a lot of talk about Joe Biden and his stutter. And I think that that is really important for people to know that he does have a stutter, and that he is doing amazing things, and that he should really be supported and people with stutters should really be supported, because it's not an easy thing. 

Kaitlin Milliken: So when you were mentioning your advisor and them discouraging you from going in and getting your master's in this field, what were their reasons behind that?

Katherine Choi: So a lot of the graduate programs have really high GPA requirements. So I think the average across the field is probably a 3.8. And in undergrad, I wasn't as studious as maybe I should have been, and instead of guiding me towards the speech assistant route, or just kind of kind of helped me in other ways, they were just very not nice and...

Kaitlin Milliken: And a 3.8 is like a super high GPA. That's like very difficult to achieve.

Katherine Choi: And so that's kind of why I wanted to say, to make sure that people don't get discouraged because I'm here and I didn't have that 3.8. And I feel like this is where I was meant to be. 

Kaitlin Milliken:  I really thought it was interesting that you mentioned stuttering as well. I think that something that isn't necessarily understood unless someone researched it. You know, you might think that it's like... I'm trying to think about how to explain what I thought it was before learning about what it actually was...

Katherine Choi: Like many disorders, it's not the same for every person. So there are people that stutter, and they repeat the same syllable multiple times. But then even that same person, if they are familiar with a word that they know, they typically stutter on, a sound they typically stutter on, then maybe they're stopping and trying to think about what other word can I use to replace that word and trying to figure out if they learn different strategies about how to kind of take a breath and try to relax because a lot of the strategies that we teach people during stuttering therapy is relaxing and making sure that you are using your strategies, taking your breath. And a lot of people yeah, they just think that it's repeating a syllable a couple of times, and there's a lot more to it. And I encourage people to do the research and to make sure that they're informed about that before they make judgments. 

Kaitlin Milliken: Thank you so much Katherine for taking the time to join us today.

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Kaitlin Milliken: This has been the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken. Music for our show was made by Matt Garamella. Special thanks to Katherine for joining us and sharing her work. If you liked this episode of our show, you can subscribe to the BOSFilipinos Podcast on your streaming platform of choice. You can also follow us on Instagram, @bosfilipinos, to stay connected. Holiday season is officially upon us! So stay safe and let us know how you’ll be celebrating this year. And if you have ideas of what we should cover, you can let us know at bosfilipinos.com. Thanks for listening and see you soon.