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On October 18, 1587, men from Manila set foot on what is now known as Morro Bay, California. They were crewmen on a ship that was a part of the Manila Galleon trade, a route between the two Spanish colonies of Mexico and the Philippines. This journey officially made them the first Asians known to ever step foot on what is now American soil. Filipinos have been present in this land even before modern day America has existed, but the circumstances of this presence has evolved over the centuries. The Philippines’ long history as a Spanish colony ensured that Filipinos would always be present, albeit in small numbers, as crew men for Spanish ships on the outskirts of American trade posts. At some point, some of these Filipino sailors even deserted to create their own small community, Saint Malo, in the Louisiana bayou. Here, experienced with tropical storms and harsh coastal conditions, Filipino sailors (called Manilamen by the surrounding peoples) found a new freedom away from Spanish officials in a quiet fishing village that existed from the early 1800s until 1915, when its last remnants were destroyed by a hurricane. The bulk of Filipino American history, however, occurred after 1902. Spain and America had just finished fighting their own war; Spain, exhausted an already ongoing revolutionary effort by Filipinos, ceded their territory to America. After a period of brutal fighting between Filipinos and Americans, it ended with a decisive Filipino defeat in 1902. With that, the Philippines America’s largest colony. From then on, the role of Filipinos in the U.S. would constantly be in flux, governed by the ever-changing identity politics of early 20th century America. As colonial subjects, they were technically American nationals who were unrestricted from migrating to America like many other Asians; many Filipinos received lessons from American schoolteachers, and still today Filipinos have an unusually high fluency of English as a remnant of this colonial past. However, this did not preclude them from experiencing racism, both systemic and personal, from local American populations. In the 1920s and 1930s, Filipino populations in America rose from a few hundred to 45,000. Almost all men, they immigrated in order to fill demand for cheap farm labor in California or Hawaii during the Great Depression. Americans were not quite sure how to parse their identities; were they Latino, as a former long-time Spanish colony? Were they “Malays” or “Orientals”, racial categories that at the time referred to the general areas of Indonesia andChina? How did anti-miscegenation laws, which forbade intermarriage between races, apply to them? Having been educated as American nationals, Filipino men saw themselves as having the same rights as any other American, wearing flashy, fashionable clothes and dancing with white women in local dance halls. This drew the ire of white men, who decried what they saw as the theft of their women and their jobs by arrogant immigrants. Mounting tensions led to the 1930 Watsonville Riots, in which white men wandered in mobs, attacked and beat Filipino men for these perceived slights. Such tensions led the American government to speed up the independence process for the Philippines and restrict Filipino immigration to the United States. In 1946, the Philippines was officially no longer an American colony; however, this did not stop many Filipino veterans from successfully applying for American citizenship and settling in the U.S. with Filipina brides. Filipino women and children encouraged the creation of local clubs, associations, andneighborhoods. The family structure, always the lifeblood of community in the Philippines, was now present in America. Filipino communities took on a new vibrancy and unification, and many Filipino American districts blossomed throughout the U.S., concentrated on the west coast. After the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act ended all national quotas, the number of Filipinos in the U.S. skyrocketed to the now 4.2 million living here today. Filipino Americans today come from all walks of life and many different origins. Some have had family living here for generations, where others have immigrated themselves in the past few years. Because of American influence on Filipino history which has given Filipinos a unique ability to assimilate, Filipinos are sometimes thought of as a “silent minority”; they have not been as represented in popular American media and culture as much as groups such as Chinese, Japanese or Indian Americans, despite their large numbers. However, this has not stopped Filipinos from forming lively communities and connecting with one another, even oceans away from home. Although Filipino American history has been fraught with racialized violence from the U.S. government and populations, it has also been one of resilience, adaptability, and interconnection. Filipino Americans have always been at the forefront of important movements, such as Larry Itliong, who worked with Cesar Chavez to fight for Filipino and Mexican farm workers’ rights in the 1960s. Or Fe del Mundo, the first woman to be admitted to Harvard Medical School. The history of Filipino Americans also expose how weak the racial divisions we form in the U.S. truly are; they have historically not been able to be categorized and still today exist in a sort of flux between various identities. In a world of globalization, as racial, ethnic, and national identities reach a new point of fluidity, the history of Filipino Americans perhaps has a valuable lesson to teach us all about the importance of human connection above all superficial division. Sources  July 4, 1946: The Philippines gained independence from the United States: The National WWIIMuseum: New Orleans. The National WWII Museum | New Orleans. (n.d.). Retrieved October22, 2022, fromhttps://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/july-4-1946-philippines-independence Manilamen the Filipino settlement: Lesson Plan curriculum: The Asian American EducationProject. Manilamen The Filipino Settlement | lesson plan curriculum | The Asian AmericanEducation Project. (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2022, fromhttps://asianamericanedu.org/manilamen-first-asian-american-settlement.html U.S. Department of State. (n.d.). U.S. Department of State. Retrieved October 22, 2022, fromhttps://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/war Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, August 15). Watsonville riots. Wikipedia. Retrieved October 22,2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watsonville_riots Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, October 1). Larry Itliong. Wikipedia. Retrieved October 22, 2022,from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Itliong Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, October 18). History of Filipino Americans. Wikipedia. RetrievedOctober 22, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Filipino_Americans Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, October 21). Philippine Revolution. Wikipedia. Retrieved October22, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Revolution Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, October 8). Filipino Americans. Wikipedia. Retrieved October 22,2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipino_Americans About The Author: Maia Mongado is a senior at Brown University majoring in Computer Science. She has also taken coursework in English, French, and Filipino studies. …

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The year 1968 saw the birth of a monumental moment when renowned scholar and activist Yuji Ichioka coined the term “Asian American” as part of his co-creation of the Asian American Political Alliance, an organization which has since left a powerful mark on collegiate Asian American activism. This phrase marked the beginning of a new identity for Asian immigrants and citizens, adopting a title that would shed the dated names of “Oriental” or “Asiatic” and would stand for more than just groups segregated by ethnicity; it would represent the unification of a people connected in culture and in spirit. Great strides have been made in the past century with progress towards solidarity and equality for the Asian-American and Pacific-Islander community (AAPI for short). On a macro scale, the Asian American Movement spurred the surfacing of more liberal, racially-conscious ideas amidst an era that saw social uprising in labor, civil rights, and war. Specifically, the war in Vietnam generated massive backlash as many in the AAPI community marched and spoke out against imperialism. Before, communities of Asian immigrants were scattered and did not have the power to make significant advancements as a result; however, the potential for change was realized when specific individuals took charge in initiating and sustaining activism in their communities. The aforementioned Yuji Ichioka worked with Emma Gee, Asian activist and writer, to start the Asian American Political Alliance, whose early members had prior activist experience but had never worked together before to achieve their shared goals together. Their efforts, among many others, have persisted to this day in the hands of organizations such as The Asian American Foundation; their campaign titled See Us Unite invites AAPI members to have their voices heard and bridge the gap between a community passionate about their culture and the outside world that has yet to fully understand what it truly means to be Asian American. It is this rift in understanding that causes the many injustices that Asian Americans face every day; whether it be bullying and harassment or hate crimes and large–scale racial bias, it is unacceptable for the AAPI community or any minority group to experience these wrongs in a modern age where acceptance and unity is more important than ever before. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which prohibited Chinese immigration, the killing of Vincent Chin a century later where his murderers were given a paltry $3000 fine and no prison time, and the more recent occurrences of Asian hate during the COVID-19 pandemic display the extent to which heinous grievances continue throughout history and will remain unless awareness and change is brought about. The Alliance for Asian American Justice, for example, is one coalition whose primary goal is to counter anti-Asian hate in the courts; Asian Americans Advancing Justice likewise pushes for equity in civil rights no matter a person’s background. Despite the aggregation of anti-Asian hate, especially in the wake of the pandemic, the sentiment of unity thrives now more than ever. Making a difference doesn’t mean you have to organize a rally or march in protest; it can mean having your voice heard, educating others about your culture, and voting to protect your rights. The precedent is there; it’s up to us to do something about it. Sources: https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Yuji_Ichioka/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_American_activism https://www.allianceaajustice.org/ https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/ https://www.asianjusticemovement.org/ https://www.taaf.org/projects/seeusunite About The Author: Daniel is an ABC (American Born Chinese) and lives in Western New York. He currently attends Brown University concentrating in Computer Science and interns for CSEBRI. *This article also appears in the Article Section of AAC Journal, Issue 3.