Category: Uncategorized
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Caregivers in the time of Corona
I created this infographic to make sense of the various articles that have been circulating about Filipino caregivers under the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the data I’ve included here is from a pilot study I conducted at SFSU from 2017-2019 on the impacts of caregiving on the physical and mental health outcomes of migrant workers.…
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Transnational Families and Multinational Migrations
In 2018, I had the great privilege attending and participating in a National University of Singapore, Asian Research Institute workshop on Multinational Migrations hosted by brilliant Anju Paul and Brenda Yeoh. Both of whom are scholars who I have read, cited and looked up to for a long time. At the workshop, I presented a…
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Filipino Caregivers and the Fight against COVID-19
In a report I co-wrote with Bulosan Center Executive Director, Robyn Rodriguez, and Policy Director, Katherine Nasol, we wrote that the conditions of Filipino caregivers is doubly precarious. The dual crisis of the unregulated caregiving industry and the lack of proper resources towards the fight against COVID-19 put Filipino migrants under great stress and risk.…
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Let the music play me off the stage
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about some awards I received from the Association for Asian American Studies. I couldn’t thank everyone I wanted to but here’s a list of folks who stood behind my nomination. And I want to thank you all here: Michael J. Viola, Associate Professor of Justice, Community, &…
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The Power (or PAR) of Migrant Workers
Ethel Tungohan and I wrote an article on PAR and building migrant worker power and it is out now in the link below and downloads are free until the end of April! Our article “Mula Sa Masa, Tungo Sa Masa, From the People, To the People: Building Migrant Worker Power through Participatory Action Research” would be…
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Filipino San Francisco
In Filipino, kapwa refers to a cultural value of a collective well-being or togetherness in which Filipinos construct their selfhood, families and communities. In my work with conducting research about Filipino American lives with Filipino American undergraduate students at San Francisco State University, kapwa has been a driving force in uncovering Filipino immigrant and Fil-Am…
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The Need for Caregivers Collective Resistance
The basis for organizing Filipino caregivers in the US is so astoundingly apparent. Stories about caregivers being overworked and underpaid are commonplace in Filipino communities. Many family members, community organizers, even popular films, understand that even if care homes are ways to get work, people gamble with the work being hard and the pay might…
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A Play Date and a Protest
As I watch my children play and laugh, I can’t help but think of the thousands of children suffering in detention at the US-Mexico border. In their days, do they have a chance to run and jump? Do they chuckle and laugh? Do they play? For the motivating logic of deterring unauthorized crossing of the…
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Worked Over
Caregivers work hard. They work hella hard. And fact is, the caregiving industry is unregulated. Care home owners, often Filipino, relegate caregivers, often Filipina, to exploitative conditions, and thus, endangering their patients. Not a new fact: Filipino Community Center and MIGRANTE, among many organizations, have been organizing around these issues for years. For me, its part…
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Power of Pinays
Last work trip of the semester took me back to Montreal to the Pinay Power II Conference. It was my honor to learn from contribute to the conversation about the power of Pinays. Here are some snaps of the amazing Pinay scholar-activists, kasamas and artists I was in conversation with. Circle of Filipinos talking about…