As BakitWhy.com was just getting itself established as an online hub for the Pilipino-American community, a funny thing happened along the way - Pilipinos actually started to break into the mainstream American media as focal points, not just as stereotypical, token acts. From the very beginning, BakitWhy.com made it an emphasis to expose and share the contributions of Pil-Ams in the mainstream media to the rest of the world, but never could one have imagined how ripe the timing was for such a venture.

It's not as if BakitWhy.com was previously tipped-off on the oncoming tidal wave of exposure and influence that the Pil-Am/Asian-Am community would suddenly experience - things just kind of happened to perfectly work themselves out that way, and the timing of these events just happened to perfectly coincide with exactly the type of movement BakitWhy was trying to push.

As we all know, YouTube was a big catalyst in putting unknown Pil-Am/Asian-Am artists and entertainers on the map, giving this largely underrepresented minority group a personal voice with which to break-down stereotypes and expose the true talent and influence they held as a community. But it wasn't until Randy Jackson's America's Best Dance Crew came onto the scene in 2008 that Pil-Am/Asian-Ams finally got their moment at center stage.

While the Pilipino dance community in America has always been quite prominent and 'poppin' for the most part, its recognition was always quite marginal and insular - with only other Pil-Ams and Asian-Ams recognizing the immense amount of skill and talent being honed by these still very underrepresented minority groups. Well, for better or worse (because some will definitely say that ABDC was a bad thing for the 'underground' dance community as a whole), MTV's America's Best Dance Crew came along and changed the entire American public's perception of Pilipino-Americans and Asian-Americans alike - from nerds and ninjas to leading pioneers in...dance?! Yes, you heard that right. And while Pilipinos always knew that we had mad swagger on the dance floor and on the magic mic (because we're super mayabang when it comes to singing and dancing), much of the rest of the nation didn't, as many were still properly trying to differentiate one ethnicity from the other in regards to all of the new Asian faces that suddenly began flooding their screens on Randy Jackson's exciting new show.

BakitWhy.com, in turn, wasted no time in making sure it got in on all the exciting action that was happening for the Pilipino community at the time. After connecting to a dancer on America's Best Dance Crew season 2, and then to a Warner Bros publicist (who lead us through seasons 2-5), we found ourselves in the green room of one of the hottest shows in mainstream America waiting to interview a majority of the Pilipino-American dancers who were just as excited as we were to be a part of this entire process of 'jumping into the mainstream'.

Personally speaking, as someone who's had the privilege of going to several backstage press coverages of America's Best Dance Crew in Season 3, it was very humbling and rewarding to be able to witness and talk with crews who I had previously known and/or heard about. Seeing them now, on a stage where everyone, not just the Pil-Ams/Asian-Ams in their smaller community, could properly and rightfully see all the talent they had to offer. I wasn't just proud to be Pilipino-American or proud to just be talking with other Pilipino-Americans who were making strides in their own respective American Dreams - I was proud to be talking to them on a mainstream, American show where their accomplishments were trickling down to entire communities and inspiring new generations of Pilipino-Americans to dream ever bigger than they ever had before.

Bomb.com spokeswoman, Rina Dakanay, who was at the majority of the backstage press coverages of ABDC, had this to share about her experiences:

It was a very exciting time for both the dance crews and for us as BakitWhy.com. As they were being catapulted onto the mainstream, we were right there with them along for the ride! We are indebted to all these dance crews for their continuous support of BakitWhy.com, and congratulate them on all that they've accomplished and gained. The overall feedback we receive from viewers throughout the nation is remarkable. It truly has been an awesome experience to be a part of something that has inspired a whole new generation of Pilipino Americans to follow their dreams.

Random favorite memory: Manny Pacquiao making a guest appearance!

So there you have it: a small snapshot of a very important last 2 years in the Pil-Am/Asian-Am community that truly set-off an endless amount of possibilities for so many parties involved. Combined with the rising trend of Pil-Ams/Asian-Ams commandeering a large portion of the YouTube viewing public and the homegrown Pilipino talent being discovered by prominent U.S. entertainment figures (such as Charice Pempengco and Arnel Pineda), and all of a sudden, there was no shortage of amazing Pilipino-American talent that one could feature on any given day.

Clearly, there was no better time than this for BakitWhy.com to jump right into the thick of things!

And jump we did. And dance. And sing.

Related Links:

• Milestone Series, Part 1: BakitWhy.com's First Steps
• Milestone Series, Part 2: A Team Gathers
• Milestone Series, Part 3: Boots on the Ground
• Milestone Series, Part 5: The 2.0 Transformation
• Milestone Series, Part 6: Hello Team!
• Milestone Series, Part 7: The BakitUp++ One-Year Anniversary
• Milestone Series, Part 8: 3 Regional Conferences, 2 Weeks, 1 Common Identity
• Milestone Series, Part 9: BakitWhy 3.0, A New Hope