About Dr. Cortez’s presentation, “Filipinos first, Americans second: Our Story, Our Community & Our Legacy!”
From Dr. Cortez (to De La Salle University, Department of Filipino Studies):
Thank you so much for the opportunity. On Thursday, 8/26 (Wednesday, 8/25 in the U.S.) I will speak at De La Salle University in the Philippines – via livestream – with their Department of Filipino Studies. This is very special to me. My Grandfather was too a La Sallian!
My lecture is entitled “Filipinos first, Americans second: My Story, Our Community, and Our Legacy!” I will speak on the duality of being a FilAm: being Filipino in America and being American in the Philippines – and the cognitive and emotional dissonance that happens when attempting to reclaim our identity and heritage as Filipinos in the diaspora.
As FilAms we seek connections to our cultural identity through language, food, traditions, and community. We’re enriched by knowledge, activism, and service that advances FilAm wellbeing, protects our rights, and lifts our economic prosperity – but what happens when we visit our homeland? We’re viewed as Americans first, Filipinos second. And in America, we’re conjoined across and within other communities in a shared struggle for liberation, exploited for a profit and imported for our labor, and in America, we’re Filipino.
My piece, we’re Filipinos first, Americans second.
I will share about the hearts and minds of @lead_filipino and the larger San Jose/Santa Clara Valley FilAm community and the dope plans we have for our future.
