Jaena Rae Cabrera, San Francisco Public Library
This Filipino American History Month, the San Francisco Public Library’s celebration honors the Filipino American community in the Bay Area’s resilience against the tragedies and travails of the COVID-19 pandemic with the theme darating ang liwanag, or “Hope will come.” Throughout October, the public is invited to learn more about the unique history and contributions of this community through interactive workshops, demonstrations, book readings and more.
Here are a few highlights from the month:
Presentation: Chef Reina Montenegro
Successful entrepreneur, Chef Reina Montenegro, shares her food journey, cooking adventure, provides a cooking demo and talks about her eBook, Plant Based Filipino Comfort Classics: A Recipe eBook Teaser.
Performance: A Celebration of Filipino American Poetry
Barbara Jane Reyes, author and poet, curates an evening of poetry celebrating the Filipino American experience. Featuring Jason Magabo Perez, Pamela K. Santos and Charles Vall.
Author: Hot Off the Press, Filipino and FilAm Literary Reading
The Hot Off the Press (HOTP) Literary Reading, a program which is part of the Filipino American International Book Festival. Hosted and Moderated by author Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, Hot Off the Press Literary Readings have been showcasing Filipino and FilAm authors and their new books since 2011.
This year’s HOTP Literary Reading includes nine Filipino and Filipino American authors: Gina Apostol, Jhoanna Lynn Cruz, George Gonzaga Deoso, Caroline Sy Hau, Mae Respicio, Randy Ribay, Brian Ascalon Roley, Ricco Siasoco and Lara Stapleton.
Tutorial: Diosa Blooms Shrimp Chips Bouquet
Diosa Blooms’ Krisha and Kaylene demonstrate how to create a beautiful floral bouquet inspired by a favorite snack. Diosa Blooms is a Filipinx-owned, family-owned flower and plant shop located in San Francisco’s Mission District.
Please join us for our last two programs of the month too!
Filipino American History Month Spotlight Artist
Lydia Ortiz has a multidisciplinary practice, including illustration, design, art director and photography. She is currently a children’s book art director and designer at Chronicle Books. She moonlights as an editorial illustrator during nights and weekends, and has had work featured in the New York Times, The Washington Post, Teen Vogue, California Academy of Sciences, WIRED and more.
For the SFPL campaign poster, Ortiz wove in symbolic elements from the Filipino flag, the sun and the three stars, as well as red, yellow, blue, and white colors. She also incorporated floral elements from back home (gumamela, sampaguita and rosal). Lastly, the brushwork on the letters was inspired by Filipino brushwork on alibata.
Join us in welcoming Lydia Ortiz for her Artist Spotlight program as part of Filipino American History Month on Thursday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m.
Presentation: Who Really Invented Halo-Halo?
Friday, 10/29/2021, 3:00 – 3:15
Take a stroll through the fascinatingly significant, though unacknowledged story of the beloved Filipino dessert, halo-halo. Learn how to make it in the comfort of your own kitchen. Juliane participated in the Youth Engaged in Library Leadership (YELL) 2021 Summer internship program as a member of the Social Justice & Art Cohort. The Social Justice & Art cohort focused on using art to creatively explore activism, social justice, and history.
This month of programming was organized by a cohort of Filipinx SFPL librarians, initially brought together by Jaena Rae Cabrera, manager of the Ocean View Branch. She felt like it would be a fun and unprecedented experience for the Filipinx librarians to work together on systemwide programming for FAHM.
We’ve since expanded the group to include other library staffers of Filipinx heritage and the hope is to continue planning Filipinx programming throughout the year. The Bay Area is home to one of the largest populations of people with Filipinx heritage, and library programming should reflect that.
Editing assistance by Keno Catabay.