The Long March to Equity

In February 2009, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 which authorized the release of a one-time, lump-sum payment to eligible World War II Philippine veterans. The fight for veterans’ equity began 64 years ago and involved supporters in government, education, politics, organized labor, nonprofit organizations, the military, and community-based organizations. The workshop will discuss the hurdles of passing the Filipino veterans bill, who was involved and how coalitions consolidated power to push the legislation forward, and ways our generation can continue to work in the struggle for justice.

Speaker Bios:

Jian Iza Custodio Zapata serves as a staffer on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Veterans' Affairs and has recently returned from an official Congressional delegation visit to the Philippines, conducting oversight on the implementation of the Filipino Veterans Equity Fund. In addition to Capitol Hill, she has staffed a number of political campaigns, including Honda for Congress, Akaka in 2006, and at Obama for America headquarters in Chicago, IL. She is a D6 Alumni, having co-chaired the FIND Fall 2005 Dialogue at her alma mater of George Mason University, and is currently continuing her studies at George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management. In 2009, Jian was named by the Filipina Women's Network as one of the "100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the U.S." for her policy, political, and community work, and is the youngest recipient of this honor.

Ben de Guzman is the Co-Director for Programs at the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance, an emerging network of Asian American and Pacific Islander lesbian/ gay/ bisexual/ transgender community organizations around the country. Among his duties there include overseeing programs and initiatives for the organization, managing External Affairs relationships with national allies and partners, and directing policy and advocacy work. He is also the National Campaign Coordinator for the National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity (NAFVE). In this capacity, he oversees all phases of the recently successful legislative campaign for U.S. military recognition and financial support for Filipinos who fought under the United States during World War II. He also serves as the Policy Director for Kaya: Filipino Americans for Progress, a progressive political organization serving Filipino American communities.

Ill-Literacy Toggling between daydream and full-blown hallucination, iLL-Literacy is a music and performance collective that fuses elements of funk, hip-hop, spoken word, and interactive theatre for a sound and live experience that draws as much from the rich artistic and political history of its Oakland hometown as it does from the experimental and imaginative inclinations of its current Brooklyn base. In their recorded debut iB4the1 members Dahlak, N.i.C, and Drizzletron work everything from the ground up - from in-house production, to self-directed music videos, to the development of a new approach to musical interaction that intimately involves the listener throughout the inception, production, and promotion of the final product.

Although iB4the1 marks iLL-Literacy's first studio release, the group has been touring globally since 2006. With contributing efforts of live digital producer Ada Clock, this year's live production - directed by Kamilah Forbes (director of "Def Poetry Jam on Broadway" and Artistic Director of the Hip Hop Theater Festival) - assertively invites the audience not only to participate in the experience, but to shift the process and outcome of each show through an "open-sourced" exchange of sound and motion that the group has dubbed "digit.iLL.Funk."

The first chapter of iB4the1 released November 09, and subsequent chapters will unveil in the spring and fall of 2010.

Kaywan Shiraz is the Chief Operations officer of Kasama Media, a social media solutions provider for businesses and organizations from under-served communities in the United States. In 2008, he helped create the Filipino American online community, BakitWhy.com, and currently serves as its Business Development Coordinator. He also completed his graduate studies in Communication Management from the University of Southern California, specializing in Online Communities. Previously, he held multiple board positions at the University of California, Irvine including the Filipino engineering organization FUSION, the Cross Cultural Center Umbrella Council, and Kababayan. His interests including evaluating issues in Internet law, redefining operations management for online communities, and creating effective offline change through Web collaboration.

"The mission of UniPro is to promote cohesion within the Pilipino American community-its organizations, programs, and institutions-with the common purpose of achieving collective progress."

- Preamble, Pilipino American Unity for Progress Constitution

About Us: Comprised of Young Professionals and Students, Pilipino American Unity for Progress (UniPro) is a non-profit NGO that was established in 2009 to promote cohesion within the Pilipino American community organizations, programs and institutions with the overarching objective of the collective progress. UniPro holds bi-monthly Usapan discussion groups held in various venues in the tri-state area which focus on Pilipino American & Philippine culture, history, and current events. Currently UniPro is involved with (1) Filipino American History Month Implementation in NY and NJ, (2) Philippine Presidential Debates, (3) Portable Medicare to the Philippines, (4) the 2010 Census, and (5) initiatives for an international Pilipino and Pilipino American student leadership dialogue. For more information, please visit www.UniProNow.org

Laureen Laglagaron is a Policy Analyst at the Migration Policy Institute and Director of MPI's Internship Program. Her work focuses on initiatives ofthe National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, including languageaccess, state and local governance, and enforcement of federal immigration law at the state level. Prior to joining MPI, Ms. Laglagaron, an attorney, practiced immigration and family law in San Francisco as an Equal Justice Works Fellow at Asian Pacific Islander (API) Legal Outreach. As part of her Fellowship, Ms. Laglagaron designed and implemented a project to deliver free legal services to the Greater Bay AreaÕs low-income Filipino immigrant population. Ms. Laglagaron also trained community groups, law students, consular staff and pro bono attorneys on the basics of immigration law, citizenship, human trafficking and domestic violence. Ms. Laglagaron previously worked at the Urban Institute where she co-authored "Social Rights and Citizenship" (with MPI's Michael Fix), a Report of the Working Group on Social Rights and Citizenship for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Comparative Citizenship Project. Ms. Laglagaron received her JD from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law where she received a certificate from the Program in Public Interest Law and Policy. Ms. Laglagaron also holds a BA in Economics and Sociology/Anthropology from Swarthmore College. She is fluent in French and Tagalog and proficient in Cebuano.

Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE) is a mass-based women's organization serving New York City and its surrounding areas. We connect the Filipino diaspora to the women's struggle in the Philippines. We are women of Philippine descent, including those who are migrants, immigrants and US-born. We recognize Filipino women of mixed heritage and adoptees. FiRE is a LGBTIQ-(Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer/Questioning) friendly organization that is inclusive of transgender people of Philippine descent. For more information, please visit http://www.firenyc.org

We are a proud member organization of GABRIELA-USA, the first overseas chapter of GABRIELA Philippines, with babae in San Francisco, Pinay Sa Seattle in Seattle, WA, and SiGAw in Los Angeles, CA. Please see http://gabusa.org for more info.

FiRE is a member of BAYAN-USA, an alliance of progressive Filipino groups in the U.S. representing organizations of students, scholars, women, workers, and youth. To learn more about BAYAN, please visit http://bayanusa.org

Spunk Ichiban

(Punong Guro) Chief Instructor / Director / Founder - Filipino Fighting Arts Academy

Spunk ichiban is and always will be a Pilipino Community Philanthropist / Community Activist dedicated to the propagation and preservation of the Pilipino Martial Culture, Science, and Heritage. He has spoken and demonstrated on the unique subject of cultural history and the combat arts of the Philippines at over 50 different High Schools and Universities, Culture & Non-Profit Organizations throughout the East Coast. His unyielding personality coupled with the ingenuity of humor assists him in delivering the message of strength, struggle, and empowerment for all people. Spunk wants all of us to strive for the "Extraordinary" and not just settle.

Spunk Ichiban believes that all PilipinoÕs are "Mandirigma" (warriors) and have the ability to conquer any challenge that we as a people face: financially, socially, and personally. He has recently spoken at the University of Florida and Old Dominion University for FASA's Annual Asian Season Celebration.

He has developed the Filipino Fighting Arts Academy as a means to develop future leaders in the community by cultivating strength, courage, and resolve through martial arts, cultural research, historical research, community activism, and self-growth. In 2005 Spunk launched the Warrior Arts of the Philippines Museum Initiative that will encompass tribal traditions, combat history and historical figures of the Philippines.

P.S. SPUNK ICHIBAN: Google it!

P.S.S. Check out our Academy at www.warriorartsofva.com