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CECILIA'S DIARY 1962-1969 collects diary entries by award-winning author, Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, when she was a teenager. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The Global Experience
In a world where we are all interconnected by technology, itis so important to expand our experience of the world.I read these stories with such interest and became aware of a unique perspective on a different cultural experience.I am an adult and read these stores with fascination before reading them to my daughter.Three cheers for this book and an editor who brought these experiences, past and present, together.

A much needed anthology for adolescents as well as adults
These twenty nine stories give us a much needed look into the multi-faceted journey of Filipino youth coming of age in this society.These tales are full of humor, fear, sadness and love of family and their culture.Over the course of time in the development of this country we have heard from diverse immigrant groups about their struggles to find a sense of belonging here.It is time to hear the voice of the Filipino community. I thinkthis would be an ideal book for teachers to introduce to all their students.

Enlightening
I read this book to my grandson and realized the emotions stemming from difficult times and family matters are universal.There are so many diverse races in today's classrooms.This book helped him see beyond his own little corner of the world.I highly recommend it.

BOOKBIRD JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Children's Literature (IBBY)
Emerging and established award-winning writers are the authors of this fine collection of 29 stories about what it means to be young and Filipino in the Philippines and in the United States.Filipinos in America are now the second largest in the umbrella group of Asian Americans, yet there is a scarcity of books by and for Filipinos.This impressive array captures the complexities of both the Filipino culture and history and the realities of the lives of young adults no matter what their ethnic affiliation.Each story is assigned to one of five universal themes: family, angst, friendship, love, and home.(by Glenna Sloan)

REVIEW BY BOOKLIST 4/15/2003
In this fine short-story collection, 29 Filipino American writers explore the universal challenges of adolescence from the unique perspectives of teens in the Philippines or the U.S.Organized into 5 sections - Family, Angst, Friendship, Love, and Home - all the stories are about growing up and what the introduction calls "growing into Filipino-ness, growing with Filipinos, and growing in or growing away from the Philippines."The stories are introduced by the authors, who illustrate the teenage experience as they remember it or as they wish to explain it to the reader - whether the focus is the death of a grandparent, budding sexuality, or going to the mall.The cultural flavor aspect never overwhelms the stories, and readers will be drawn to the particulars as well as the universal concerns of family, friends, love, and leaving home.While the stories are fairly easy to read, teens might be intimidated by the dense book design and small type.Take the time to help them overcome this.The stories are delightful! ... Read more

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Seattle's International District: The Making of a Pan-Asian American Community traces the journey of early Asian immigrants to Seattle, describes their early settlements, and chronicles the evolution of the International District from its early times to the present. It covers the ebb and flow of the area, the struggles to preserve it, internal and external conflicts, and the important forces, government policies, events, and people who have shaped the District. It is a story about the movement of the Chinatowns, the heydays of the 1920s, Filipino immigrants and union organizing, the internment of Japanese Americans, the decline of the District and how it fought back, the changing social and political structure of the neighborhood, the areaís residential and commercial revitalization, and its emergence as a present-day pan-Asian American community. ... Read more

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Filipino Americans, like other American populations, are not an absolute group that evolved in a vacuum. This book documents how they emerged and grew within the larger context of political forces, the prevailing social order, rights and responsibilities of individuals, economic well being, and the American Dream. In doing so, Filipino Americans became active participants in the American democracy, a crucial step because the 21st century will be defined not so much by the color line but by a more basic human relationship: the sustained commitment and shared sacrifice by adults for the well being of future generations. ... Read more

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The first half of the twentieth century witnessed a wave of Filipino immigration to the United States, following in the footsteps of earlier Chinese and Japanese immigrants, the first and second “Asiatic invasions.” Perceived as alien because of their Asian ethnicity yet legally defined as American nationals granted more rights than other immigrants, Filipino American national identity was built upon the shifting sands of contradiction, ambiguity, and hostility.

Rick Baldoz explores the complex relationship between Filipinos and the U.S. by looking at the politics of immigration and race and citizenship on both sides of the Philippine-American divide: internationally through an examination of American imperial ascendancy and domestically through an exploration of the social formation of Filipino communities in the United States. He reveals how American practices of racial exclusion repeatedly collided with the imperatives of U.S. overseas expansion. A unique portrait of the Filipino American experience, The Third Asiatic Invasion links the Filipino to the experience of Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Chinese and Native Americans among others, revealing how the politics of exclusion played out over time against different population groups.

Weaving together an impressive range of materials--including newspapers, government reports, legal documents and archival sources—into a seamless narrative, Baldoz illustrates how the quixotic status of Filipinos played a significant role in transforming the politics of race, immigration and nationality in the United States.

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Looks at the history, experiences, and contributions of Filipinos who have emigrated to America, including those who have come as a result of the recent turmoil in their homeland. ... Read more

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Provides information on the history of the Philippines and on the customs, language, religion, and experiences of Filipino Americans. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A story of hardship and struggle
America is in the heart is an excellent book talking about a man's struggle to survive in his native islands and be accepted into the harsh society of America. This book truely shows the trials and hardships animmigrant goes through and I reccomend id to those who struggled as a childand struggled to be accepted into American society. This book makes usaware of the harsh realities of the way people were treated early thiscentury. Famaly tradegies and struggles. ... Read more

Product Description
In the year 2000, Filipino Americans will be the largest Asian American group. This volume is the first detailed historical study of the major post-1965 immigration of Filipinos to the United States. It provides comprehensive coverage of the recent Filipino American experience, from the pivotal Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, under which most Filipinos entered this country, to their values and customs, economic and political status, organizational affiliations, and contemporary issues and problems. Students and interested readers will be rewarded with a rich portrayal of individual immigrants and their stories. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A comprehensive look at the Filipino Community and Identity
A rich portrayal of Filipino Americans, this book is divided into three parts: Part 1 deals with a brief history of the Philippines from before 1898 until 1965 and the immigration of Filipinos to America. Part 11 examines the Filipino immigration after 1965; the U.S Immigration Laws, Filipino community in the U.S, Filipino identity - values, customs, practices, foods, their political and economic participation.Part 111 discusses the Filipino American in entering the twenty-first century; social issues concerning family and community, the future of Filipino immigration, the American dream and the Filipino American identity as the American identity. ... Read more

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The memoirs of Filipinos in Hollywood span more than 80 years, dating back to the early 1920s when the first wave of immigrants, who were mostly males, arrived and settled in Los Angeles. Despite the obstacles and hardships of discrimination, these early Filipino settlers had high hopes and dreams for the future. Many sought employment in Hollywood, only to be marginalized into service-related fields, becoming waiters, busboys, dishwashers, cooks, houseboys, janitors, and chauffeurs. They worked at popular restaurants, homes of the rich and famous, movie and television studios, clubs, and diners. For decades, Filipinos were the least recognized and least documented Asians in Hollywood. But many emerged from the shadows to become highly recognized talents, some occupying positions in the entertainment industry that makes Hollywood what it is today the world's capital of entertainment and glamour. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Whatever Happened to Thorough Research?
All thanks to Carina Monica Montoya and Arcadia Press for their commendable publication, FILIPINOS IN HOLLYWOOD, which I bought at first sight, mainly because of my interest in all Asian Americans in the media and entertainment. So it came as a bit of a surprise (read shock) when I didn't find a mention of either Lea Solanga (Tony Award-winner for "Miss Saigon," the voice of Princess Jasmine in Disney's animated "Aladdin," etc.; Linda Dangcil, singer/actress of considerable renown; Fritz Friedman, longtime Senior Vice President, Worldwide Publicity of Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment; or Sumi Haru, a veteran actress and broadcaster in Hollywood, a past acting president of the Screen Actors Guild, and, for decades, one of our leading activists in the entertainment industry on behalf of Asian Americans. In my opinion, this huge lapse of professional research casts a tremendous shadow of doubt on author Montoya's credibility as well as a flagrant disregard for the Filipino American community's overall contributions to American society. It would seem anyone writing about people in the entertainment industry would consult SAG and AFTRA in addition to their own limited social resources! A real pity, in my opinion: what could have been a much more definitive work is, instead, one that simply adds to the misperceptions and stereotypes which exist.

Kudos to Carina Montoya and
I believe this review states it best!

Taken from: [...]

It seems easy on first read to dismiss this book as a mere photo album until one realizes that Publisher Arcadia's Images of America series is intentional. Other past "albums" in the series of highlighting local history include Chinese in Milwaukee, New York's Chinatown, Filipinos in Stockton, etc. Author Montoya has compiled a memorable cache of rarely seen images. Whether the subjects posed for their pictures or were caught unaware by the camera, these images reflect what life must have been like among the Pinoys who eked out a living on the periphery of what became Tinseltown itself: Hollywood's back lot and backdrop with the commingling of make believe and what it took to make it believable. Who can argue against the undeniable resilience of the film industry from its waddling silent films era to the McCarthy red-baiting years when paranoia choked its growth and to the industry's current reign of headline-hugging celebrities?

The few and far between producers, actors, technicians and filmmakers known as being Filipino come towards the end of the book. What comprises the bulk of its pages are photographs of Pinoys tangentially connected with movies: those who served and waited, who "nurtured" the mainstays who ended their workday in watering holes made famous as landmarks in Hollywood. Pinoys earned their measure of success, laid back as they were, but they were pursued nonetheless for their talent in bar-tending. We learn that a Pinoy perfected the mixed cocktail drink! The book cover celebrates Pinoy Pride: that one shorty who passed the height standard for a film, while a horde of auditioning extras crane to see but could only imagine the beaming smile on this Pinoy's face.

Kudos to Carina Montoya and "Bottoms Up!" to Arcadia!

- RAG

Interesting and Insightful
The book uses beautiful photos and anecdotes to share the rich history of Filipino-Americans in Hollywood.Each photo told a story of a unique person, family or time.The photos and stories built on one another to create a compelling narrative.As someone with little background in Filipino-American history, I found the book to be an interesting and insightful read.

LOVED IT
I found this book very informative.I highly recommend this book to share with your children so that they may know how the Filipinos were treated in the past and to see how far we have come.I am glad someone is trying to preserve our history.

Lots of information
I have heard many comments on this book: from those that are featured in it or their family's history is in it, love it; from those that have no connection to the Filipino community find it very enlightening; and then there's the sour grapes people who would have like to be in it, don't like it.I personally think it is better than most Filipino books out there. ... Read more

Product Description
Filipinos have been a part of the history of the United States and San Diego for over 400 years. The Manila-Acapulco galleon trade ships included Filipinos on sailing expeditions to California, including the port of San Diego. After the Philippines became a territory of the United States in 1898, many Filipinos began immigrating to San Diego. The community grew rapidly, particularly in the 1920s and 1930s. After World War II, Filipino veterans returned with their war brides and the community began to build further. The Immigration Act of 1965 increased Filipino immigration into San Diego to include military personnel, especially those enlisted in the U.S. Navy, as well as professionals. Today Filipino Americans are the largest Asian American ethnic group in San Diego. ... Read more

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Contemporary American Immigrants provides an overview to the immigration history of three of the largest groups of Asian immigrants to the United States--Filipinos, Koreans, and Chinese. This timely volume addresses such questions as: how do these Asian immigrants adapt to our culture?; to what extent do they adjust and integrate? and are Asian immigrants a credit to American society? Using 1980 census data, the author reviews in detail the social and economic characteristics of these three immigrant groups. He also explores those characteristics for the most recent arrivals--those who came to the United States between 1980 and 1985--using data he collected in 1986 through interviews with 849 Filipino, Korean, and Chinese households. From his extensive research, Mangiafico concludes that the Asian immigrants surveyed and studied are enterprising, well-educated, and motivated individuals who greatly contribute to our society. He thus challenges the notions that immigrants in general are a burden to our society, and that they are changing our culture in ways which are not in the best interests of the United States. ... Read more

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An overview of the history and daily lives of people from the Philippines who immigrated to the United States. ... Read more

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What kind of indignities does a segment of the population suffer when it is made virtually invisible to the dominant culture? Is there a tradeoff between preservation of ethnic pride and power? What does it take for Filipino Americans to make their influence known in the United States of America while maintaining important aspects of their cultural heritage? This book boldly proclaims a politic of hope for Filipino Americans everywhere. Based upon careful critical ethnographic research, Dr. Munoz provides critical insights regarding power, education, lifestyle and equality in this modern age of information technology and sweeping global corporatism and economic shifts. Even astute observers of the U.S. culture will be surprised by the findings. And Filipino Americans will be proud and perhaps inspired to take their rightful place at the highesst levels of decision making. Starting now. ... Read more

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Tucked among the great pioneer destinations on the Oregon Trail is the fertile agricultural area of the Willamette Valley. Today the valley forms the cultural and political heart of Oregon and is home to three-quarters of the state's population. The beginning of the 20th century saw the entrance of Filipinos into the valley, arriving from vegetable farms in California and Washington, fish canneries in Alaska, and from the pineapple and sugar plantations in Hawaii. At the same time, the U.S. territorial government in the Philippines started sponsoring Filipino students, beginning in 1903, to study in the United States. Oregon's two biggest centers of education, today's University of Oregon in Eugene and Oregon State University in Corvallis, became home to Filipinos from the emerging independent Philippine nation. They were mostly male, the children of wealthy Filipinos who had connections. Most of them returned to the Philippines upon graduation; some stayed and created a new life in America. ... Read more

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Poetry. Asian American Studies. This deeply thoughtfulassemblage from Catalina Cariaga documents the search for culturalclues suggested by her title. She reveals her generational memory bothcircumstantially and directly, where in her childhood 'the sea iswoman,' the barong (traditional shirt) is an ironic symbol, and BillieHoliday, grunion, and the exact procedure for citizen's arrest--like apalimpsest--further define her point-of-view...This is a brave,innovative, and ultimately searing book"--Joyce Jenkins. "CatalinaCariaga is a pyrotechnic burst of light in the horizon of Americanpoetry. CULTURAL EVIDENCE is a worthy book of poems for all librariesand lovers of avant-garde literature"--Nick Carbo. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An amazing first monograph
In _Cultural Evidence_, Ms. Cariaga displays the full scope of her considerable poetic talents. The collection is compelling and earnest, and her artistry is breath-taking. She has given us the gift of her voice withthe publication of this first monograph, years in the making.

Influencedby the innovative work of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, the poems are alwaysrichly nuanced and layered with many meanings that newly reveal themselvesafter each rereading. However, one never gets the sense of 'knowing' a poemcompletely, even after numerous readings.

The three-part structure of thebook, along with the fascinating epigraphs from which she takes the titlesof her chapters, provides a sense of the delicate balance the worknegotiates on multiple levels: art, silence, language, politics, identity,power, and love.

The poet specifically deals with, among other things,her family's histories and her identity as a Filipino (American) and awoman.

great book
This is a great book. Note, however, it is authored by Catalina Cariaga ... Read more

Product Description
The year 2006 marked the centennial of Filipino migration to the United States, when 15 migrant workers called sakadas arrived in Hawaii to work on the islands' sugar plantations. Today the largest concentration of Filipinos outside of the Philippines exists in Southern California. In the 1920s, the first substantial wave of newcomers settled in downtown Los Angeles, eventually migrating to areas just northwest of downtown, a district now designated by the city as Historic Filipinotown. The majority of early Filipino settlers were males who found employment in service-oriented industries, including work as janitors, dishwashers, and houseboys. Filipino Americans now contribute to all aspects of life and culture and live in virtually every Los Angeles neighborhood and suburb, including Eagle Rock, Cerritos, Glendale, Carson, and West Covina. ... Read more

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Filipinos arrived in the Washington, D.C., area shortly after 1900 upon the annexation of the Philippines to the United States. These new settlers included students, soldiers, seamen, and laborers. Within four decades, they became permanent residents, military servicemen, government workers, and community leaders. Although numerous Filipinos now live in the area, little is known about the founders of the Filipino communities. Images of America: Filipinos in Washington, D.C. captures an ethnic history and documents historical events and political transitions that occurred here. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Washington, D.C. Filipino Community in Images of America
The Washington, D.C. Filipino community is unfamilar to me. But I found this new historical overview of the community prominently on display in the D.C. public library. and decided to read it.The book is part of the "Images of America" series of Arcadia Publishing.I am familiar with many books in this series of local histories and have learned a great deal about Washington, D.C., where I have lived for 35 years and about other people and places in the United States. Thus, I thought this book would give me a new point of view about the city where I live. I was able to get involved with the book more than I thought I might.

Published in 2009, "Filipinos in Washington, D.C.", by Rita Cacas and Juanita Lott, tells the story of the Phillipine community from about 1900 to the present day. Earlier studies of the Phillipine experience in the United States tend to focus on the West coast, and this book breaks some new ground.Besides telling the local story of an immigrant group, the book offers a summary of the American-Phillipines experience which I found valuable and important in approaching the text.

The United States and Spain fought over the Phillipines in 1898, and following that war, the United States also fought with Phillipines who wished to secure their independence. The Phillipines because a U.S. territory and its residents became U.S. Nationals. In 1916, Congress passed a law committing the United States to the independence of the Phillipines.However, independence did not occur until after WW II, in large part as a result of that conflict. Japan invaded the Phillipines during WW II, resulting in General Douglas MacCarthur's famous pledge, "I shall return", which he did.

Phillipine immigration to the United States began in earnest in about 1900, which is where this book begins as it relates to Washington, D.C. Many people came in connection with military service or as part of the relationships between the local Phillipine government and the United States government.The earlier immigrants tended to be mostly men. Ultimately many early immigrants, called "pioneers" in this book became settled, secured jobs, and raised families. This book focuses on several of these early pioneers and their descendants. In the organization of this book, the year 1964 is considered a watershed.In that year the Capital Beltway, the overcrowded freeway which surrounds the city and suburbs was completed. The completion of the Beltway is taken as something of a coming of age for the community as it branched out in the metropolitan area and became established and accepted.

Thus, this book is a combination of a broad story and a specific community history.It shows the development of the Phillipine community through the continued stories of several families. The book tells its story in six short chapters of photographs and annotations which are more detailed than in most Images of America volumes.It begins with photos and stories of the earliest immigrants. I was interested in seeing how closely-knit and socially active this community was even in the early years up to, say, 1940. The book shows the kinds of jobs the Filipinos took in their early years, which centered upon the military or government, and in service occupations. The immigrants, unfortunately faced various forms of discrimination over much of their history.As the population expanded, the Filipinos established early communities which the book documents. A chapter describes the climactic year of 1964 and the expansion of the community subsequent to that time. At about that time, barriers of discrimination against the community, which had included restrictions in employment, housing opportunities, and even marriage in some cases had fallen or were about to fall.As the community expanded, younger members became more conscious of their heritage and wished to preserve and expand it.Among the results were a 1994 exhibition "A Visit with My Elders", an expansion of Phillipine-related programs at the University of Maryland and other schools, and increased activism.The contemporary Filipino community, judgming from this book, is active and retains close ties among its members. The final chapter of the book includes photographs and discussions of Filipino people of achievement in the Washington, D.C. area and its environs.There is a bibliography for readers interested in further exploration of the subject.

This book is in part a family story. The primary intended audience was probably the Filipino community whose history is celebrated here. But I enjoyed reading the book and learning something the story of a community that I hadn't earlier thought or known much about. The book will interest readers interested in the American immigrant experience and readers interested in learning about the diversity of Washington, D.C. and the United States.

Robin Friedman

Look back at where you came from to get to where you are going ...
I love having a pictorial book like this in my Filipino coffee table book collection. Every page has black and white and sepia toned retro photos ending with photos of a few Filipinos in current time. Growing up in the DC MD VA metro area in the late 60s allowed my siblings and myself to be among Filipino US navy-nurse families. The famous Philippines hero, Jose Rizal, simply stated , "Look back at where you came from to get to where you are going." This book is a must-have for Filipino-Americans home library collection.

Cacas and Tamayo-Lott used photos / descriptions of DC MD Filipino residents from the 1900s up to the early 1960s. Perhaps part 2 of the Filipinos in DC series can include Filipinos in Washington DC between 1960 - 2000s. ... Read more

Product Description
Examines the project of Filipino self-determination in the context of capitalist globalization. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Review of San Juan"s TOWARD SELF-DETERMINATIONby Mike Viola
Racism and Cultural Studies: Critiques of Multiculturalist Ideology and the Politics of Difference (New Americanists)Toward Filipino Self-Determination: Beyond Transnational Globalization.
By E. San Juan Jr. (Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 2009.184 pp.

by Michael Viola
University of California, Los Angeles
E-mail:

In his latest book, Toward Filipino Self-Determination: Beyond Transnational Globalization, Epifanio San Juan Jr. uncovers the concealed operations of power and the historic inequalities of political economic systems that have impacted Filipinos in an age of globalized crisis and contradiction.While the definition of globalization is often debated, for the majority of people in the Philippines the process of globalization can be more accurately described as "gobble-ization." Similar to the mass destruction caused in the Philippines at the wake of Hurricane Ondoy, the mechanisms of corporate globalization have enabled an international ruling class to pillage the resources of the islands, leaving behind an entire population submerged in the swollen overflows of structural adjustment, debt, and privatization.The rule of the high water is the doctrine of neoliberalism where every layer of the nation's social fabric is a site of looting, as the market has become the organizing logic of an entire social sphere.E. San Juan's book is an important contribution to the fields of globalization, race, and postcolonial studies as he foregrounds the domains of transformative possibility within culture and social life for Filipinos in a global diaspora, a population that has historically been greatly impacted by the tides of capitalist production.

This book, a compilation of essays written after 9/11 serves as a sequel to his influential writings, in particular, From Exile to Diaspora (1998) and After Postcolonialism (2000).Much like these earlier works, E. San Juan's methodology is a method of dissent that captures the complex social relations and constant motion of the Philippine Diaspora.With such a method, tension is present throughout his analysis engaging more commonly accepted theoretical frames promoted by postcolonial, postmodern, and post-Marxist scholars.He explains,

"We are not transmigrants or transnationals, to be sure, despite the theories of academic pundits and exoticizing media.We are Filipinos uprooted and dispersed from hearth and communal habitat.We will find our true home if there is a radical systemic change in the metropole and, more crucially, a popular-democratic transformation in the Philippines" (xvi).

E. San Juan argues that the struggle to end oppression for Filipinos, women, and people of color both within the United States as well as throughout the Diaspora is not simply a discursive or semiotic liberation but a global social relation. For those familiar with San Juan'searlier works there is recognizable overlap in the astute critiques that he makes; however, for a reader not exposed to the conditions and history of the Philippines or to social theory, E. San Juan's reiterations are valuable as he rigorously intervenes in complex arguments.

The chapters "Imperial Terror in the Homeland" and "In the Belly of the Beast" are important historical supplements for youth involved in organizing thepopular Philippine Culture Nights (PCN); scholars of Ethnic and Asian American Studies; as well as community organizers interested in furthering political projects that counter the heightened injustices of racism and patriarchy.Throughout these chaptersSan Juan shows how seemingly disconnected events are linked throughsystemic exploitation and an international division of labor necessitated by the current global economic order.Such writings serve as a constant reminder that ecological disasters, racist anti-immigrant sentiments, and the escalating violence against women are dialectically related to the motions of capitalist development.

San Juan's chapter"Subaltern Silence" is especially illuminating for university students as they witness the privatization of their public education, the exorbitant increases in tuition fees, and the reduction of courses offered in the humanities and languages.Even though Filipinos have become one the largest Asian American groups in the United States, Filipino language instruction in the academy is sparse.San Juan argues that the struggle over language in our schools is a struggle over Filipino identity - an identity that must be rooted in the ideas of liberation, democracy, and justice for Filipinos throughout the world.He states, "literacy must be based on the reality of the subaltern life if it is to be effective in any strategy of real empowerment, in the decolonization of schooling for a start" (50).However, the struggle for Filipino languages cannot be confined solely within institutions of higher learning.San Juan argues that the struggle for Filipino languages "cannot be achieved except as part of the collective democratic struggles of other people of color and the vast majority of working citizens oppressed by a class-divided, racialized, and gendered order" (51).

It is this social order that Carlos Bulosan confronted in literature and labor organizing at the beginning of the 20th century.The influential writings of Carlos Bulosan are widely available due in large part to the research of E. San Juan.In keeping with this work, San Juan builds upon Bulosan's analysis in an assessment of the irrational conditions that continue to plague Filipinos in America in our present moment.In the chapter titled, "Revisiting Carlos Bulosan"San Juan requests that the reader not examine Bulosan's writing as a sacred or finished text. Rather, he invites us to resume the unfinished project of Bulosan and the countless "others" who have worked to understand the challenges that confront racialized and subjugated peoples of America in order to prepare for a more humane and just tomorrow.E. San Juan's examination of Bulosan's life and legacy is a dialectical endeavor.The author highlights Bulosan's life experiences that undoubtedly have influenced many. And yet,the author reminds us that individuals do not impose such an influence alone but by generations building on the labor of those who have come before.

The last chapter, "Tracking the Exile's Flight: Mapping a Rendezvous"San Juan reproduces a speech he delivered to alumni of the Philippine Studies Program, a program that enabled university students from around the United States to gain college credit for their summer studies in the Philippines. San Juan maintains that through critical travel experiences or "exposure trips" one can gain a critical standpoint of neoliberal globalization not provided by corporate media or by mainstream academic textbooks.The author argues that these personal experiences can provide critical points of analysis, especially when widened and applied to the conditions that entire groups of people (Filipinos) are situated.Throughout this chapter,San Juan's use of historical materialism provides the reader with an important lens to examine the social contradictions of the Philippine Diaspora.

A common theme throughout Toward Filipino Self-Determination is that Filipinos have passed on a rich legacy dedicated to the projects of democracy, liberation, and self-determination.A new generation of culture workers, scholars, activists, and radical feminists is emerging with their own adapted strategies to bring forth a new society from the vestiges of the old. Throughout his book E. San Juan reminds us that we are all located within arenas of battle, "between humanity and barbarism, between oppressed third world peoples fighting for survival and the rule of a dehumanized global capital" (166).He is astute in his analysis that in this historic struggle new ideas, imaginations, and strategies are needed that enables us to transform the world in which we live.This transformation requires understanding and such understanding can be furnished with theory. ... Read more