For the Filipino-American

Delivered by Bagwis to Ohio State University Filipino-American students, May 2009

Allow us to speak to you, not as immigrants to American citizens, but instead as Filipinos, speaking to their brothers and sisters.

1. We are the flower of our people
Within us is the future of the Filipino. With the blood of our heroes, both named and not, our freedom was bought. It is not a plastic freedom, it is not a catchphrase. It is not an excuse to exploit or become complacent. It is not the freedom of colonizers to plunder, or the warmongers to kill.
It is instead the freedom of the most beautiful, sublime kind. It is the one that broke our chains from four hundred years of conquest. It is the one that reminds us we are Filipino. And though we can be conquered, we will not be subjugated. Though we can be scattered we will not forget, that our home, las islas Filipinas, ang lupang hinirang, is with us in our blood.
We are the flower of our people, and the memories of Rizal, knowledgeable and intelligent, of Bonifacio, skilled and mighty, of Lapu-lapu, first to stand his ground, we will learn, and never, ever forget.

2. The world is our home
The Filipino is no longer defined by geography. We have stretched, sometimes by choice, often by necessity, to every corner of this planet. We are a people in motion. Poverty, exploitation and desperation drove our parents to wander. True, it is tragic. But it has also given us you. It has given our people branches in lands far from our roots. It has given us the opportunity, the privilege, of planting the seeds of change everywhere we go. We are reminded of the humble Carlos Bulosan, born halfway across the globe, but fought, with every fiber of his being, alongside the trampled in his new home. We are the living dream of dead men everywhere, he said, and so we are now. Our communities are our new homeland, and by serving those of us who are here, we serve those of us who are there.

3. Our future is now
Now is our chance. Speak to your brothers and sisters. Learn their language for it is your own. Learn their history, read their writings, for they are your own. Though we are separated, our struggles are parallel. The farmer who is landless in Ilocos is the discriminated student in Urbana. The immigrant who hides in fear in Los Angeles is the activist that has been shot in Manila. Never feel shame, or pride that you were born here instead of there, that is not the point. The point is that we are all the same, we just have to realize it.
Our future is now. We will build it, block by block. One learned Tagalog word, one snippet of our history, one life of principled service at a time.
Our future is now, and it is in our hands to make it a good one.