International Women's Day--A 10 Year-Old Girl's Afghan Vision

At only 10 years-old, Alaina Podmorow of Kelowna, BC is proving that emerging generations of women are already becoming visionaries ahead of their time. After attending a lecture where journalist and human rights activist, Sally Armstrong, educated the audience about the blatant oppression of Afghan women and girls under Taliban rule, something all of a sudden clicked for the young girl.

Alaina couldn't believe that many Afghan girls had been denied an education under the strict religious laws. Even after the fall of the Taliban in Afganistan in 2001, many families still feared sending their daughters to school due to serious safety concerns. And since cultural norms dictated that girls be taught by female teachers, the shortage of this demographic within the work force stood as a further obstacle between Afghan girls and their rights to an education.

So from these new dark truths emerged Alaina's epiphany: "On the way home, I was telling my mom how moved I was and I decided I wanted to start my group, Little Women for Little Women in Afghanistan." And so her movement was born...

Shortly after, Alaina organized a club of the same name at her elementary school. She successfully recruited 18 members, all young girls from her fifth grade class. Meeting every lunch hour to discuss group activities, the girls decided that Little Women for Little Women (LW4LW) would organize a series of fundraising campaigns in order to raise enough money to pay for the wages of female teachers in Afghanistan. According to this reasoning, educated Afghan women would become encouraged to become teachers if they commanded a higher salary.

During LW4LW's first fundraiser, Alaina's group raised $750 by selling donuts and recycling. This initial achievement motivated Alaina to strive for bigger and better things. She set her sights on raising even more funds through a community potluck. And after it was all said and done, all of the hard work paid off--LW4LW received $1500 in donations.

From these humble beginnings emerged and unstoppable movement. Alaina's original vision inspired Canadian girls nationwide, spawning other LW4LW chapters throughout the country. While the group has collectively raised $30,000 to date, this number was about to grow exponentially.

The Canadian government had heard Alaina's story and invited the young activist to a International Women's Day gala in Ottawa on March 6, 2008. Since her enormous contributions to the community and abroad have resulted in the employment of dozens of female teachers within Afghanistan, the federal government agreed to match all of LW4LW's earnings dollar for dollar.

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In order to encourage other Canadian mothers and daughters to get involved with LW4LW, Alaina posted letters to Mum on the Women for Afghan Women website. I would like to leave you with one of her letters:


Dear Moms,

I would like you to take a moment and visualize a little girl in Afghanistan. In her heavy black dress, no shoes on her feet, she walks for 4 hours to get to school. She feels like she is being watched as she walks along the path. At any second somebody could attack her. She frantically looks behind her but she continues on because she has to get to school. She is not being forced to go - she would do anything to go. Now visualize her face. Now visualize your daughter is that girl. Isn’t that frightening? It is hard to imagine girls just like your daughters, are in danger. What’s the best thing you can do? Keep teaching. What’s the worst thing you can do? NOTHING!



I challenge all Moms to tell their daughters to make a difference. I would like to see little girls across this country go to meetings with their moms for women in Afghanistan. I have started Little Women for Little Women in Afghanistan in my chapter of CW4WA in Kelowna BC. My dream would be to see little girls do the same across Canada. If your daughters want to start their own chapter in your area please contact me at lw4lw@telus.net.


Sincerely, Alaina



CBC News--Video Featuring Alaina

Little Women for Little Women Official Site

Women for Afghan Women Official Site

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...The Other Beauty

Who's the fairest of all?

While we relentlessly convince North American women to be forever youthful with big breasts, teeny waists, white teeth, clear skin, fatless figures, waxed bodies, and designer jeans...

...many women of colour struggle with being too dark-skinned, squinty-eyed, kinky-haired, flat-faced, big-lipped, wide-nosed...

Judging by these impossible expectations, one can't really win!

In Filipino culture, a light-skinned ideal has been perpetuated by what I like to call, mestiza posturing. Mestiza/mestizo is a term borrowed from Spanish to mean one who has mixed indigenous and European blood, and even if individuals do not have this mixed descent, this look often governs mainstream perceptions of beauty. Just take a look at these major Filipina celebrities:

Vina Morales

K.C. Concepcion

Jennylyn Mercado

Taking this idea even further, mestiza posturing can also be seen as a bi-product of the Philippines' colonial/feudalistic legacy in which a system of white authority and brown inferiority was built upon the appropriated archipelago.

In "Emil's Big Chance Makes Me Feel Uneasy," Tricia Capistrano, reveals how much of her life has been dictated by this mestiza complex. She describes this underlying "white is right" consciousness:

I am a brown-skinned woman from the Philippines, where many people I know have a fascination with the lighter skinned--probably because our islands were invaded so many times by whites who tried to convince us that they were better and more beautiful than us. We were under Spain's rule for nearly 400 years, the United States' for almost 50. As a result, skin-whitening products fly off the pharmacy shelves.

With this notion of light-skinned superiority ingrained deeply into her teenage consciousness, Capistrano admits how she used to "hang out with the mestizas, because I wanted to be popular like them." And the quest for whiteness didn't stop there. While her grandmother cringed at the idea of her already dark skin becoming even darker at a friend's pool party, Capistrano's own mother encouraged her to start pinching the bridge of her nose everyday in hopes of "arching" its imperfectly flat surface.

After giving birth to her son, Emil, Capistrano was suddenly able to see the other side of the equation. Emil was a fair-skinned mestizo of Swedish/Dutch and Filipino descent which automatically made him a member of the most exclusive club. This became even more apparent during a family trip to the Philippines when Capistrano was continually bombarded by a slew of Filipina admirers ogling at her mestizo son. He's so cute! So fair-skinned!--they would exclaim.

Fearing the cost of Emil's future college education, Capistrano even considered moving back to the Philippines permanently, confident that her son could easily land a part doing baby commercials. When she was on the verge of booking an agent, Capistrano suddenly reconsidered her plans: "I realized that I was going to be part of the system that can sometimes make us dark-skinned people believe that we are inferior. I do not want Filipino children who look like me to feel bad about themselves....

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So even though I've focused the majority of this discussion on the Philippine perspective of beauty, I would like to turn your attention to another demographic--African American women. A friend of mine recently recommended this documentary featurette, A Girl Like Me, directed by a 17 year-old filmmaker, Kiri Davis. In her film, Davis insightfully explores perceptions of beauty through the eyes of African American girls. Like their Filipina counterparts, these young women reveal how they are often taught to perceive lighter-skin as more beautiful, while sometimes feeling pressured to surrender their traditional curls for the tamed relaxed look.

Without further ado, watch A Girl Like Me right here:

Related Resources

Borderlands/ La Frontera: A New Mestiza--Gloria Anzaldua

Emulated through Images: The Globalization of Misconstructed African American Beauty and Hip-Hop Culture--John Hendrick Clarke

Liminality and mestiza consciousness in Lynda Barry's One Hundred Demons --Melissa de Jesus

Metaphors of a Mestiza Consciousness --Erika Aigner-Varoz

Tagalog Movies and Identity :Portrayals of the Filipino Self --James F. Kenny

Oh! Yeah! I wanna riot!--Slam Dancing to Pinoy Punk Rock

Golly gee whiz, Filipino punk rock does exist!

In my very first post, I shared my experiences of frequenting my hometown's local punk/ska scene as seemingly the only Filipina at any of those shows. It was almost comical at times since I would often show up with my buddy, Andy, a big tall Black guy with a heart of gold, who was also an aficionado of Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Operation Ivy, and the like....Andy and I, along with the rest of our friends, would often arrive at these gigs amidst stares ranging from mere curiousity to sheer puzzlement, which seemed to imply:

Dude, are you in the right place? SNFU is playing tonight not Run DMC....

Okay, so no one ever came out and said that but like I said, their stares often said it all. And the thing was, I also happened to listen to Hip Hop, Trip Hop, Indie, and Classic Rock--Who the f*** cared? But once I got older and started checking out DJ buddies of mine spinning Breaks and Jungle beats at local clubs, I would be one Pinay in a sea of other Filipinos so I was always treated with a special kind of respect--the nod--like I was their long lost brethren.


So what did this all mean?


I wasn't sure. It was something that I was aware of, but couldn't quite put my finger on.


So years whizzed by and this subject fell right off my radar as university, relationships, and careers begin to take centre stage. That is, until recently....


After starting my blog and writing that first post, it seriously got me thinking. Are there actually Filipino punks and rude girls/ boys out there?


A night of unscholarly research via GOOGLE and an entire bag of Clodhoppers turned up the answer I was looking for: YES!


Issues of race, identity, politics, activism, and resistance becamse apparent in the voices of :

ESKAPO--a Filipino American hardcore band outta Vallejo, CA

KADENA--a Filipino American punk band from Brooklyn, NY

T.R.A--a Pinoy punk/ska band from Cainta, Rizal Phillipines

Delubyo--Filipino American hardcore band outta Vallejo, CA

Shuffle Union--Pinoy ska band from Quezon City, Metro Manila

Marcos Cronies--Pinoy Ska band from Angeles, Pampanga Philippines

Put3Ska--two-tone ska outta Manila

I.O.V., G.I. the Idiots, Betrayed and Dead Ends--Filipino hardcore godfathers circa 1980s

What I realize now is that I shouldn't have been surprised. Extreme poverty and the seemingly endless generations of political instability--most recently marked by the corruption of Marcos, Ramos, Estrada, and Arroya--naturally went hand-in-hand with the origins of punk rock ethos. Instead of Joe Strummer and Johnny Rotten expressing their disillusionment in regards to the British monarchy and blatant classism in the UK, Pinoy hardcore trailblazers, Urban Bandits, were screaming their angst about the political assasination of Sen. Ninoy Aquino, a man seen as a symbol of hope in succeeding the notorious Marcos. They were all voices of punk rock resistance, only separated by geography.


And in discovering this rich history of Pinoy punk rock, I couldn't help but feel a sense of personal validation. My identity had been legitimized in much the same way I had suddenly become relavant when I went from being the only Pinay kid in Elementary School, to becoming one of many Filipino Canadians in High School. I wasn't the only one....


As a very fitting end to this post, I'll leave you all with this great documentary made by a group of Filipino American students at the University of San Francisco entitled, Rock and Resistance: Filipino American Identity Beyond Bebot (**"Bebot" is a reference to a Black Eye Peas song of the same name, which translates into 'hot chick' in Tagalog**). The documentary spotlights the contributions made by Filipino American musicians outside of the realm of Hip Hop.

Rock and Resistance: Filipino American Identity Beyond Bebot (Pt. 1)

(Pt. 2)

An Unofficial History of Philippine Punk

Philippines--80s Hardcore

Razorcake zine--"Philippine Hardcore/ Punk Scene Report"

Storytelling Our Lives

"Home is where the heart is. My heart is at home." --from "Storytelling Our Lives" project

Last year, I had the pleasure of working on the Intercultural Centre of Victoria's "Storytelling Our Lives" project. It was a community-based program which sought to empower immigrant and refugee women, as well as women of colour, through a series of workshops appealing to a variety of modes of self-expression--theatre, music, dance, and like the name suggests, storytelling. Each of these workshops eventually culminated into a theatrical production of the same name put on by the Puente Theatre.

As you can imagine, participants came from all walks of life and represented various cultures. There were women from Ethiopia, Korea, the Philippines, China, Sweden, Chile, Bangladesh, Mexico, Iran, India, the UK, and of course Aboriginal women from Canada. Even though these women started off as strangers at the beginning of each workshop, they came out as sisters, mothers, and daughters by the end.

The essence of each event could be summed up in one word: powerful. Since I was piecing together a story about the project, I was originally going to sit on the sidelines and watch from afar. But I soon realized that was not an option as I got roped into every single activity--and absolutely loved it! Not only did you get to hear the diverse voices of women often silenced by racism, sexism, and language, cultural, or religious barriers, I had the privilege of listening to their individual songs, while learning to dance their dances.

Most notable of all the activities would have to be both the storytelling and voice workshops. As each woman was encouraged to share a special story from either her family or culture, this lovely First Nations women brought all of us to tears as she candidly took us all along on her spiritual journey. From her tortured childhood within the confines of the residential school system to her current work in building a cultural revitalization program for her band, this amazing women shared how she eventually found her own peace in her nation's special spiritual relationship with the land. It was truly moving.

During the voice workshop, an exuberant vocal coach led the group through a series of exercises that helped the women ease into the idea of singing their lungs out to a bunch of strangers. In the beginning, one would get the sense that most of the group was extremely uncomfortable with the prospect of singing...well...anything. Some participants even decided to sit-out during the first few activities. However, this all changed once the women realized how great they sounded together. Since the first language of most of the women was one other than English, the coach designed an activity to showcase their diversity. As the women were broken into various "language groups," each section was to sing "Home is where the heart is/My heart is at home" in their designated language. Working like dominoes, the first group would start, then subsequent sections would layer each of their songs until the group formed one harmonized voice. As I looked around the room, I realized that we were all sharing a very special moment with one another. And at that melodic climax, I couldn't help but think how strong and beautiful our voices sounded as they resonated together as one.

The Global Price of Sex

As you've probably figured out by now, I'm a major CBC junkie. So on Sunday night, I was tuned-into none other than my favourite channel when I stumbled upon this documentary, Sex Slaves. And yes, it was just as disturbing as it sounds...

Global sexual trafficking steals the lives of half a million women every year. Often these women come from the margins of society where poverty and everyday survival become the centre of their existence. They are either lured or kidnapped by a very sophisticated network of organized criminals in order to feed the profits of this thriving, multi-billion dollar industry. And as Sex Slaves so painfully illustrates, the business of buying and selling human lives is definitely booming in Eastern Europe.

This is when we get a glimpe into the life of Tania. At first glance, she exudes the energy and vitality of a beautiful young woman until you start to see the dark trauma in her eyes. As Tania shares her unimaginable story, you wonder how any human being could endure such pain and anguish.

Her story begins in Russia. After Chernobyl's nuclear catastrophe in 1986, Katia's family was eventually relocated to the Ukraine. Consequently, their intense radioactive exposure came at the price of numerous health problems as three of Tania's siblings were diagnosed with various cancers. Her younger brother's condition was so severe that he would soon die without the proper treatment. Adding even more insult to injury was that the high cost of medical care would prevent the family from seeking these much needed treatments due to their dismal income. Therefore, Tania took it upon herself to help her loved ones out if this futile situation.

This when the opportunity of a lifetime seemed to fall right into her lap. As a waitress at a local cafe, Tania had crossed paths with an older women who held promises of a better life. The woman claimed to have international connections within a legitimate nanny business in which Tania would be the ideal employee. This new career could earn her more than $1000 a month. While plenty of doubts had crossed her mind, Tania finally conceded that this could be her one big break to secure a better life for both her daughter and siblings. Little did she know that she would be entering an underground world of sex and slavery.

Tania was taken to Turkey where she was sold to one of the country's homegrown pimps. He had bought her for a cool $5000 from her supposed friend back in the Ukraine. This friend turned out to be a highly accomplished human trafficker with dozens of unsuspecting girls and women under her belt. Apparently, this businesswoman was sending her own daughter to law school by selling the souls of these young lives.

In Turkey, her latest Ukranian victim endured months of sexual torture. Tania was trapped behind closed doors in an Instanbul villa as she slaved for 24 hours a day as a prostitute. Not only was she regularly beaten and raped by both her pimp and paying johns, Tania never saw a single penny from any of her profits. In fact, her pimp was so cruel as to propose that she could actually pay for her freedom by working off her debt, or purchase price of $5000. This became Tania's only source of hope...

After an exceptionally cruel beating, one of Tania's johns had noticed multiple burn marks all over her body. When she had come clean about her pimp's regular abuse, this particular john decided to buy Tania her freedom. Soon after her return home, Tania's younger brother passed away.

Sadly, Tania's story only echos the horrific tales shared by thousands of women worldwide. While both Canada and the United States have introduced harsher anti-trafficking bills to further protect victims within each country, such legislation obviously does not extend to the international community. And as the human trafficking industry exists to barter innocent lives in exchange for cheap and cruel sex, thousands of others stand to make a killing from these transactions.

**This PBS site has clips from the documentary as well as interviews from each of the women featured in the film: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/slaves/

Still I Rise--Dr. Maya Angelou

This goes down as one of my favourite poems of all time, written by none other than the great Dr. Maya Angelou. As you may know, Ben Harper also did a rendition of her poem in his song, "I'll Rise," off the Welcome to the Cruel World album. Learn more about Dr. Angelou here...

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?'

Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops.

Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard'

Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame

I rise

Up from a past that's rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

The Flight of the Filipina Phoenix: The Rise of Pinay Feminism

FYI: Learn more about the history of Filipina feminism. Back in March, I wrote a paper on the emergence of Filipina women's movements both in the Philippines and North America. Check out this link:
http://bamboo.blitz.googlepages.com/home

Filipina: What's in a name?

The word, "Filipina," is associated with:
a) mail-order brides
b) sex tourism (ie. White guys seeking "Filipina treasure" overseas)
c) Asian porn industry
d) all of the above

Seriously, I think our name has been dragged through the mud enough. Don't you think? I can get into the political, economic, and cultural ramifications of the Philippines' long colonial history, but that's a whole other can of worms. Basically, as we all know, the above stereotypes are a result of systemic issues regarding power, sexism, and the globalization of popular culture. But as history reveals, a lot of this is old news. Equally problematic is the lack of authentic Filipina representation within popular (Western) culture and academia known to the general public. If you don't believe me, try naming five Filipina Canadian or American actresses, musicians, artists, academics, feminists, politicians, activists, etc., that even the average Joe would recognize. See, it's harder than you think, isn't it? Allow me to further elaborate:

When I was a teenager growing up in Canada, I was really into the local punk rock/ ska scene. Folks, I'm not talking about Simple Plan here either. I followed the hardcore acts of SNFU and DOA, while skankin' away at Planet Smashers's shows. Before I get carried away and start drifting off into nostalgic space, let me get to my point. Do you think there were any other Filipinas running around in those chaotic circle pits? Nope. Hell, there were hardly any people of colour at those shows for that matter. And it wasn't like I lived in small-town-hicksville either. This was like a major urban, Canadian city in which no other Filipinas or Asians enjoyed the likes of punk rock culture. At the time, I felt I had earned a level of street cred for being the lone Filipina enjoying this subculture, but there is something to be said about sharing such experiences with those from your own culture (especially if you happen to be a "visible minority"). I can tell you that if a group of Pinay punks threw together their own garage band consisting of angst-driven lyrics, "Chelsea" hair-dos, and terribly distorted power chords, such cultural visibilitiy may have strengthened my sense of identity during those years. But I guess hindsight is always 20/20, right?