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Bay Area Youth Activists See Political Disparities Between Generations

Outside of a Seafood City Supermarket in Milpitas, a crowd of young Filipino-Americans gathered last weekend to commemorate the 36th anniversary of the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) revolution, a march conducted to end the dictatorship of then-President Ferdinand Marcos. The commemoration last Sunday was organized by the South Bay chapter of Malaya Movement, a national grassroots organization focused on fighting for human rights and democracy in the Philippines.

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Especially after the controversial rule of former President Rodrigo Duterte, which was under scrutiny by the United Nations Human Rights Council for alleged extrajudicial killings, some Filipinos are concerned that Marcos Jr. will continue to limit democracy just as they say Duterte did.
Especially after the controversial rule of former President Rodrigo Duterte, which was under scrutiny by the United Nations Human Rights Council for alleged extrajudicial killings, some Filipinos are concerned that Marcos Jr. will continue to limit democracy just as they say Duterte did.

By Mark Allen Cu
Bay City News

Outside of a Seafood City Supermarket in Milpitas, a crowd of young Filipino-Americans gathered last weekend to commemorate the 36th anniversary of the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) revolution, a march conducted to end the dictatorship of then-President Ferdinand Marcos.

The commemoration last Sunday was organized by the South Bay chapter of Malaya Movement, a national grassroots organization focused on fighting for human rights and democracy in the Philippines.

Justher Gutierrez, a local coordinator for Malaya South Bay, enjoyed marching around the plaza in Milpitas and sharing concerns about the potential return of another Marcos dictatorship through the election last year of Marcos’ son, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., commonly known as Bongbong Marcos.

Especially after the controversial rule of former President Rodrigo Duterte, which was under scrutiny by the United Nations Human Rights Council for alleged extrajudicial killings, some Filipinos are concerned that Marcos Jr. will continue to limit democracy just as they say Duterte did.

“We were there to recognize the painful history that was caused by the Marcoses,” said Gutierrez.

However, not every Filipino-American present at the commemoration was there to support Malaya’s mission.

“There was this family that stopped and they were like, ‘What are you doing? You don’t even know who Marcos is or lived during his time,'” said Gutierrez.

Gutierrez handled the situation by handing a flyer to them arguing that the Marcos regime has manipulated the media and online discourse to make a name for himself. The family left angry and unconvinced.

“We have reached a point where there’s two different realities,” said Gutierrez about the differing political sentiment amongst Filipino-Americans.

In her experience, generational lines have separated the more politically active and human rights-oriented youth and older Filipino-Americans she says are less supportive of activism that is critical of the Filipino government.

The Filipino-American community in the Bay Area continues to have robust activism and political engagement. However, anti-imperial and decolonial activists like Gutierrez continue to see the generational difference in political sentiment as an obstacle in organizing members of the Filipino diaspora to discuss the Philippines’ most pressing issues.

Bay Area activist groups have condemned Duterte’s presidency, accusing it of human rights violations such as the “war on drugs,” which the advocacy non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch says allowed for thousands of extrajudicial killings by law enforcement.

Many of these groups are demanding more freedom of speech for those critical of the government, with most censorship being the result of the Philippines’ Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

Most recently, Filipino-American activist groups such as Anakbayan Daly City have criticized the recent expansion of the U.S. military presence in the Philippines.

Despite many of these activist organizations being led by Filipino-American youth, Kayla Soriano, a member of Anakbayan Daly City, struggles with getting Filipino students on college campuses to organize and act.

“I think that it’s always been an ongoing challenge to find out how we can relate to Fil-Ams who are not particularly interested in these issues,” said Soriano, using the shorthand for Filipino-Americans.

However, in Soriano’s experience, educating Filipino-American college students about these political issues has prompted more of them to act.

“We’ve gotten them to engage with typhoon relief and even got some of them to come to our protests,” said Soriano.

Still, Soriano finds it difficult to reach across the generational gap, saying there is a higher concentration of “diehard” Marcos and Duterte supporters amongst older Filipinos that makes it difficult to educate them about the issues of their respective regimes.

Activist groups are not the only organizations witnessing this political disparity within the Filipino-American community. The nonprofit L.E.A.D Filipino was created to promote civic engagement, health equity and education amongst the Filipino community in the Bay Area.

Angelica Cortez, founder and executive director of L.E.A.D. Filipino, says having conversations about social justice is embraced in her organization, even if they may agitate some members of the community.

Cortez recounted times where community members have disagreed on and argued about topics such as colorism and Duterte’s policies on drug-related crime. When witnessing this disparity, she tries to encourage critical thinking and mutual understanding.

“As a nonprofit, we are not allowed to be political. However, we always encourage our community members to be critical and to value equality and justice,” Cortez said.

Through L.E.A.D. Filipino, Cortez organizes workshops and seminars to educate Bay Area Filipinos about the importance of civic literacy and engagement.

When talking about the youth activists within her organization, Cortez emphasized the privileges and protections afforded by American citizenship.

“You can go to a march and then go get boba with your friends after. It’s not the same in the Philippines,” Cortez said.

 

 

Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.  All rights reserved.  Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

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MarkAllenCu0555a03/05/23

 

CONTACT: Anakbayan Daly City anakbayan.dalycity@gmail.com

Angelica Cortez angelica@leadfilipino.org

Justher Gutierrez justher.g@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: Image(s) related to this story can be obtained from the following Bay City News Service web link(s): https://www.baycitynews.com/images/BCN-20230304-FILIPINOACTIVISM-01.jpg

Member organizations of Bayan USA and Anakbayan USA mobilized to the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco, on February 6, 2023. (Glenn Mercado via Bay City News)

 

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Activism

20 Years Later, Breast Cancer Emergency Fund a Testament to Faith Fancher’s Enduring Legacy

When a woman is undergoing treatment for breast cancer, chemotherapy and radiation often make her too weak to work. If she is working a low-paying job or unemployed, the mounting bills can become overwhelming. For 20 years, the Women’s Cancer Resource Center (WCRC) has provided a lifeline. The Berkeley-based non-profit organization administers the Faith Fancher Breast Cancer Emergency Fund, which gives cash grants of up to $595 to low-income women in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties who are battling breast cancer.

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Faith Fancher, a KTVU reporter, died of breast cancer in 2003.
Faith Fancher, a KTVU reporter, died of breast cancer in 2003

By Tammerlin Drummond

When a woman is undergoing treatment for breast cancer, chemotherapy and radiation often make her too weak to work. If she is working a low-paying job or unemployed, the mounting bills can become overwhelming.

For 20 years, the Women’s Cancer Resource Center (WCRC) has provided a lifeline. The Berkeley-based non-profit organization administers the Faith Fancher Breast Cancer Emergency Fund, which gives cash grants of up to $595 to low-income women in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties who are battling breast cancer.

Grant recipients have used the money to help pay for food, utilities, rent, car insurance, medical co-pays and other necessities. One woman who was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer said she used her $595 grant to buy an oxygen concentrator.

“You could say the air I breathe is because of your generosity,” she said. “I am so incredibly grateful to you and am feeling better every day.

The fund is named in honor of Faith Fancher, a popular television reporter at KTVU who died in 2003 after a valiant battle against breast disease, the web site says. Fancher saw her own cancer as an opportunity to use her public profile to raise awareness and educate others about the importance of early detection.

Fancher founded an organization called Friends of Faith that was dedicated to raising funds for low-income women with breast cancer.

It was 20 years ago this March that Fancher first approached the Women’s Cancer Resource Center about setting up an emergency grant program for women going through breast cancer treatment.

One of the earliest recipients was a 50-year-old homeless woman who used her $595 grant to pay for moving costs into housing she could afford.

“Faith understood the financial burden that low-income individuals faced when diagnosed with breast cancer,” said Dolores Moorehead, who oversees the fund at the WCRC. “This was the first fund dedicated to financial support being offered in the East Bay.”

Over the past two decades, the Faith Fancher Breast Cancer Emergency Fund has given out $992,000 in one-time cash grants. There have been 2,500 beneficiaries, including women and some men with breast cancer.

Ricki Stevenson, a founding member of Friends of Faith, reflected on Fancher’s legacy and the enduring impact of the emergency fund that she created.

“It says that Faith continues to be a presence and it wasn’t just about her,” Stevenson said. “It was so all of the other sisters who come behind us they now have help even though they don’t have the same resources.”

Rosie Allen, another founding member of Friends of Faith, said Fancher left a lasting impact. “Twenty years later Faith is no longer with us, but the breast cancer emergency fund lives on and the need is even greater than ever.”

The Friends of Faith used to host an annual 5K walk/run at Lake Merritt to honor Fancher after she died. It raised funds for the emergency fund and other Bay Area non-profits that provide services to breast cancer survivors.

After Friends of Faith disbanded in 2017, the To Celebrate Life Foundation, former Friends of Faith board members and community members have continued to support the breast cancer emergency fund.

Shyanne Reese used her grant to help pay her rent while she was going through breast cancer treatment.

“I often reflect on how I wish I could share with Faith the impact her life and friends made on me in a non-judgement environment, relieving the financial stress of simply paying the rent so that I could focus on healing,” Reese said.

“With your support, we are able to continue this fund and support our community members when they need us most, said WCRC Executive Director Amy Alanes.

To donate to the Faith Fancher Breast Cancer Emergency fund, visit https://tinyurl.com/FaithFancher.

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of March 29 – April 4, 2023

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 29 – April 4, 2023

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The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 29 - April 4, 2023

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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How the Crack Cocaine Epidemic Led to Mass Sex Exploitation of Black People PART 3: The Case Against SB357: Black, Vulnerable and Trafficked

Although California Senate Bill 357 was intended to alleviate arrests of willing sex workers under anti-loitering laws, it opened up a Pandora’s box loophole that hinders the ability of law enforcement to halt human trafficking, especially of young Black and Brown girls. This segment continues to explore the history that led to this latest form of exploitation in Oakland.

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Sable tied up.
Sable tied up.

By Tanya Dennis and Vanessa Russell

Although California Senate Bill 357 was intended to alleviate arrests of willing sex workers under anti-loitering laws, it opened up a Pandora’s box loophole that hinders the ability of law enforcement to halt human trafficking, especially of young Black and Brown girls. This segment continues to explore the history that led to this latest form of exploitation in Oakland.

It was 1980: The beginning of the end for the Black family and Black community as we knew it.

Crack cocaine was introduced to the United States that year and it rendered unparalleled devastation on Black folks. Crack is a solid smokable form of cocaine made by boiling baking soda, cocaine, and water into a rock that crackles when smoked.

The tremendous high — especially when first smoked — and the low cost brought temporary relief to the repeatedly and relentlessly traumatized members of the Black community.

What was unknown at the time was how highly addictive this form of cocaine would be and how harmful the ensuing impact on the Black family when the addicted Black mother was no longer a haven of safety for her children.

The form made it easy to mass produce and distribute, opening the market to anyone and everyone, including many Black men who viewed selling crack as their way out of poverty.

These two factors — addicted Black women and drug-dealing Black men — would lead to the street exploitation for sex as we know it today.

Encouraged to try it free initially, most poor, Black women in the 1980s used crack cocaine in a social setting with friends. When the free samples disappeared the drug dealer offered to supply the women crack in exchange for allowing him to sell their bodies to sex buyers.

The increase in the supply of women willing to exchange sex for crack — a.k.a. the “sex for crack barter system” — caused the price of sex to decrease and at the same time increased the demand for sex because more buyers could afford it.

The desperation of the women to get their hit of crack made them willing to endure any form of abuse and treatment from buyers during sex, including unprotected and violent sex.

It also pushed desperate Black women onto the street to pursue sex buyers, flagging down cars and willing to have sex anywhere actively and desperately. Street prostitution grew and buyers were able to buy oral sex for as little as $5.
This sex-for-crack barter system resulted in a dramatic increase in sexually transmitted diseases including HIV and AIDS, both of which are disproportionately represented among Black people.
It also resulted in unplanned pregnancies by unknown fathers, which then resulted in children born addicted to crack who were immediately placed in the foster care system where they were often abused and/or neglected.

For his part, the Black man who engaged in the mass production and distribution of crack was often killed by gun violence while fighting over drug territory or incarcerated for long periods of time as use and sales and distribution of crack carried longer sentences than powdered cocaine.

Crack unleashed an entire chain of new trauma upon the Black family which then all but collapsed under this latest social attack that had started with chattel slavery, followed by Jim Crow, redlining, school segregation, food deserts, et. al.

Exploitation was and is at the root of the crack cocaine epidemic. It is the latest weapon used to prey upon Black people since the beginning of our time in the United States.

The sex industry and legislation like SB357 have only increased harm to Black people who have been historically oppressed with racist laws and epidemics including crack. More must be done to restore the Black community.

Tanya Dennis serves on the Board of Oakland Frontline Healers (OFH) and series co-author Vanessa Russell of “Love Never Fails Us” and member of OFH.

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