On a chilly Saturday evening, my brother and I drove from Davis to the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing to partake in a momentous celebration. The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies and the California Nurses Association (CNA) co-hosted the community celebration, on February 22nd, which commemorated the historic implementation of the first and only Filipino research center at a major research university in the United States. As I stepped into the venue, the atmosphere was warm. Friends and family were milling about the reception area, sharing laughs, introducing one another, eating hors d'oeuvres, and grabbing drinks from the bar. Younger children mustered their inner Picassos and beautified iconic Jollibee and halo-halo printouts with vibrant colors. Not one to miss an opportunity to indulge in Filipino food, I grabbed a few bites of lumpia and popcorn chicken while eyeing the buffet tables laden with chicken adobo, steamed vegetable, vegetable pancit, steamed Jasmine rice, and lechon. The scrumptious appetizers and the entrees were catered by Roline’s Uniquely Filipino, a UC Davis preferred caterer based in Vacaville. After everyone migrated from the reception hall to the event room and hunkered down to demolish their heaping plates, Dr. Robyn Rodriguez commenced to welcome attendees and give special acknowledgements to specific guests. Amongst the guests were the board of directors of the CNA, select community members from Binalonan, Pangasinan, and Vallejo mayor Bob Sampayan. One of the most striking moments for me was when Dr. Rodriguez emphasized the impact Carlos Bulosan’s iconic novel America is in the Heart had on her academic, political, and personal lives. She then proceeded to ask the audience who had heard of Carlos Bulosan and who had read his novel America is in the Heart. Unsurprisingly, there were only a handful who raised their hands, with the majority being college students. The fact that my hand was raised and my brother’s wasn’t is very telling. It represents the need for visibility of the Fil-Am community and the administration of ethnic studies in the K-12 system so that a high-school-aged American-born Filipino like my brother would know an important activist like Bulosan, so that an immigrant like myself would encounter the likes of Bulosan twelve years before taking an Asian American studies class in college, so that--to go up a generation--my mother who had immigrated from the Philippines in her mid-thirties would recognize Bulosan’s name. Sitting there, I couldn’t help but feel the immense intensity of the Center’s impact to the present and future generations of Fil-Am scholars and communities. And I feel honored to be part of the Center as an intern and to be amongst the company of a supportive and motivated community. For more on the celebration, check out this article written by Asian Journal.
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AuthorDiane Javier, English major, UCD’20 ArchivesCategories |