Manny

Sitting there at a homey's pad in Historic Filipinotown in LA with a gang of barking Brown folks, BBQ and boxing, I reflected on how growing up Filipino American today is so different than back in the 90s. Granted that I grew up in the South (in a very red county) and there weren't as many Filipinos as there are in the West Coast, I think in general, young Fil Ams have so much more opportunities to demonstrate their pride. I mean, under one house there was a whole host of Filipino American community artists and activists. LA may be an anomaly in comparison to the entirety of the U.S. because of its large and historic Filipino American community, but these folks, especially the artists, have an unprecedented reach to inspire young folks nationally. And with outlets like Heavy Rotation, I suppose that reach inspires internationally.