SNS LA celebrates FAHM

SNS LA sat down with two of our team members Lance Garcia and Matt Tagayun as well as a member of our SNS community, DJ Mary Jane, to discuss the importance of Filipino American History Month and what it means to them.

Lance Garcia :

I am a Filipino American. Growing up everyone would ask, “Why is your last name Garcia even though you're Asian?” I would proudly respond, “Because I am Filipino!” June 12th is an annual national holiday commemorating the declaration of the Philippine independence from Spain, which answers the question of why most Filipinos have Spanish last names.

I never really thought about the in depth perspective of how race really does define your future. For instance, peers would assume just because I am Filipino that I would be in the medical field due to that is what most Filipinos choose to endeavor for their future, but I chose an alternative route. I chose to follow my interests in fashion / streetwear culture. Being a Filipino born in Los Angeles has taught me that through all the struggles that life may throw at you, continue to strive for greatness and persevere all your goals to becoming successful, while making a positive impact on the world. We grind in silence and let our work speak for itself!

Some Filipino influencers that inspire me to be different everyday would be Manny Pacquiao, Bruno Mars, & Rhuigi. Shout out to all my small locally owned Filipino brands, such as; @underscoreartdepartment , @gods.nr , and my very own brand, @yourthreat.us. Thank you to @tonysaiko for shooting these shots of me. Lastly, thank you to SNS for giving me the opportunity to speak about how being Filipino has impacted me in my everyday life.

My name is Lance Justin Velayo Garcia and I am proud to say that I am Filipino!

DJ Mary Jane :

My name is Mary Jane and I am a Filipino DJ and creative in Los Angeles. My story begins in the Philippines, my birthplace. I came to America in my elementary school years. And like most immigrants, my family came out here for the opportunities for a better future. Coming from the islands, not knowing English or a lot of American pop culture, made my transition living here that much harder. Not to mention the cultural differences, mannerisms and parental expectations in school and in career choices. Adaptability is probably one of the most important things I learned growing up as a teen. I never really knew where I fit in, so adapting was something I needed to keep in mind. I went to many different schools as a kid. From predominantly white Catholic schools to an ethnically and socially diverse public school. Attending catholic school was probably the most difficult of all. I grew up in Filipino town/Koreatown area, where most families were minorities and we lived paycheck to paycheck. My parents wanted the best education for me and my siblings so they spent most of their money on paying catholic school tuition. I already knew the struggle of what my parents went through at a young age and that being in these types of schools, I was going to be an outlier. First of being a minority and trying to fit in with the cool kids, who were for the most part white, I knew I was at a disadvantage. I also felt separated from the minority kids (especially fellow Filipinos) because they simply were born here and I wasn’t. My food was different, my language was different, I had an accent that I quickly tried hard to get rid of, and I was always the new kid that wasn’t from here. I spent my time reading magazines, watching a lot of TV/cartoons in order to fit in and identify with what was going on. I still felt different though and that’s definitely carried on to my current life. As a child, I was more embarrassed/ashamed of being Filipino. Instead of being proud of where I came from, I never fully embraced being a Filipina because I was too preoccupied with “trying to fit in.”

I’m happy to say that being ashamed of where I came from are words that would never come out of my mouth ever again. Finishing high school and college, I started to realize that differences weren’t bad. I was lucky enough to encounter people that came from all walks of life, whether it be ethnically, racially, socially, etc. Through relationships and conversations, it opened my eyes to see how beautiful my culture really is. Sharing my stories of where I came from also gave me a sense of self empowerment because people and even some of my friends didn’t even know I was born from a different country. (Basically, I was so good at adapting to social norms as a child, I never gave off the impression I wasn’t from here.) Not only am I from the Philippines but I also didn’t grow up in Metro Manila, the city/modern part of the Philippines where most Filipinos that live in America are from. I was born in the Visayas on an island called Cebu. My home language, Bisaya or Cebuano, is completely different from Tagalog. Even our cuisine is different because we fish so much, the food I grew up eating was fresh seafood. My family and I had a small farm, the beach was our backyard and that meant all the docks and ports were there for fishermen (which my grandfather was.) My grandmother was the seamstress of her village and made everyone's dresses, my brother and I had pet chickens and made kites out of bamboo. I was a provincial living kid that lived by the beach and spent most of my time on a banka (boat.) Even talking about right now, I think to myself, “damn, I can’t believe I didn’t flaunt this information as a child” lol. People travel to island countries to vacation and experience this type of life/culture and I actually grew up with it.

I think that being able to be open and share my culture has empowered me to really do anything I set my mind to. Following social norms for so long made me want to step out of the box I was putting myself in and that goes for family too. I think I can say that most Filipino parents have a set career path they want their kids to be in *ahem* the medical field. And of course my family wanted me to be a nurse. As you can see I clearly am not a nurse lol and it took a lot of convincing and rebelling for my parents to understand that music is my path. To my parents, since I was a first generation immigrant, I had to follow a certain stable path in order to succeed and create a foundation in America. A career in music is something that American born citizens had the luxury of having and because I’m an immigrant minority female the odds would be stacked against me and “that’s not what Filipino women do.” I guess that’s something that didn’t discourage me because even though I thought I was completely different from the people around me growing up, I realized that what made me different was merely geography, culture and my ethnic background. The only odds against me were allowing these differences to have a negative connotation rather than a positive one. To be proud about anything takes a lot of passion, courage, and confidence. And I started building pride by simply being proud of what made me, me. Discovering my sense of Filipino pride allowed me to gain more clarity, put myself out there for opportunities and build strong friendships. Filipino pride, I feel, is a young but strong movement amongst our generation. Now more than ever, I see so many Filipinos succeed in all types of industries. But not only that, they are more vocal about it as well. And to a young Filipina, that inspires so much in me to push the limits and test new avenues.

Right before the pandemic hit, I traveled back home after almost 10 years of not visiting and stayed for about a month. Being back at my house where I grew up, it was so surreal to see that things were still the same but so different at the same time. There are cars and motorcycles everywhere for one thing lol. But the church my mom, brother and I used to walk to on Sundays was still there, thriving. The first thing I did was cry because of how much I missed my cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandma. I totally regressed into being the little girl that played with her cousins everyday. Even my room was still there. It’s so crazy to think I adapted so much here in America, I almost forgot where I came from. I am one of the oldest out of my many cousins, and to see them as teenagers and not in diapers was kind of a trip. They talked about how much they looked up to me and siblings. And to be honest, I thought that I had fully unlocked my sense of pride but that conversation alone made me realize that there’s so much more things I need to be proud of and share with everyone. There’s so many things I would love to share with you all but I’ll save that for another day. Maybe I’ll make a vlog about it when I go back in the next year or so when things start to open up again. I felt like that trip served as a higher purpose in my life. Reflecting about this trip now, especially during Filipino American History Month, inspires a new sense of pride in me. As we all know, the Philippines experienced a great deal of colonization through Spanish rule. On my trip back home, I was able to visit one of my ancestor’s shrine in Mactan, an island across from Cebu. Mactan is where my father’s family is from and my second home. My ancestor’s name was Lapu-Lapu, one of the fiercest datu warriors in the Philippines. If you look up the Battle of Mactan, you’ll see him and another datu warrior started one of the first rebellions against Spanish rule while the rest of the Philippines was in submission. In short, he and his rebellion ended up killing Ferdinand Magellan and his army. As a kid, I knew about this story but never fully understood what this meant. But going back to that shrine and looking at the statue as an adult, I finally got a full understanding of what this battle actually meant to our people and to me. I’m so happy to be able to share this little piece of history with you all especially during FAHM. Forever I’ll carry my Filipino pride on my chest and I hope to do so with my fellow kababayans (compatriots) and kaibigans (friends).

Matt Tagayun :

What Filipino American History Month means to me is to enjoy life but not take things for granted.

Also with that, I personally feel the pride of the Filipino people past and present. I'll never forget the struggles and tribulations they have been through and somehow still continue to smile, strive and persevere through it all.

Much love and respect to all my kababayans worldwide! Ingat ka!