Honoring 100 Years of the Filipino American Experience

This month, the Magazines & Newspapers Center highlights two titles--Filipinas and Maganda--two magazines that showcase the historical, cultural, social, and artistic achievements of Filipinos worldwide.

Filipinas – A nationally-circulating monthly magazine written for “Filipinos worldwide,” Filipinas covers Philippine history, culture, community issues, personalities, travel and business, food, and more. This magazine serves as “a venue where Filipino Americans can shed their collective invisibility in mainstream America and finally be recognized.” Each issue covers feature articles on people from the Filipino community, a calendar of events, reflections on Philippine history and culture, and more.

Maganda - An annual student-run publication based at the University of California, Berkeley, this journal features "a vital forum for the presentation of diverse experiences and opinions through all platforms for creativity–including art, prose, poetry, film, music, journalism and scholarly writing." Content includes a pastiche of personal narratives and essays, original poems, photographs, illustrations, paintings, and more.

Also, the Filipino American Center at the Main Library launches Singgalot (The Ties That Bind)--an exhibition and series of programs focusing on Philippine and Filipino American culture and history. This exhibit and its related programs runs from August 14 to October 24 in the Jewett Gallery located at the Main Library, Lower Level. A coinciding exhibit--Baha--showcases the stylized paintings of artist Brent Bataclan depicting a flood that struck Manila and other islands in the Philippines in September 2009. This exhibit, currently running until October 28, portrays the "heroism, resilience and compassion of the Filipino people during this seemingly insurmountable ordeal."

Learn about the thriving Filipino community through a series of diverse educational and literary programs featuring artists, educators, musical performers, poets, and scholars as Singgalot (The Ties That Bind) makes it way to the San Francisco Public Library over the next two months.