Share Your Thoughts on "Lola's Story"

It's Filipino American History Month at the Magazines and Newspapers Center, and to embrace the theme we are conducting a read-along discussion that you can do anytime, anywhere this month.  

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Read the article “Lola’s Story” by Alex Tizon about a Filipino-American family’s slave and respond to the piece on a digital discussion board or leave a comment here on the blog. Visit the Magazines and Newspapers Center on the 5th floor of the Main Library to pick up print-outs of the article and author's bio. 

Alex Tizon’s piece in the June, 2017 issue of the Atlantic begins: “She lived with my family for 56 years. She raised me and my siblings, and cooked and cleaned from dawn to dark —always without pay. I was 11, a typical American kid, before I realized she was my family’s slave.” In the following 13 pages, Tizon explores how his grandfather “gave” this woman named Lola to his mother for her 18th birthday, how Lola eventually immigrated to the U.S. with his family and his own process of coming to terms with her caste as a slave within the family. In addition, Tizon masterfully teases out the nuances of the complex emotional bonds each family member formed with Lola and how those bonds affected each family member’s relationship with others in the family.  

Read the article in Flipster, a platform that offers access to hundreds of digital magazines, and share your answers to these questions on our digital discussion board or leave a comment here on the blog. 

1. Does your family’s legacy include any difficult truths similar to the secret held by the author’s family? What effect did it have on your family?  
2. There’s a Filipino value called “Utang na loob,” which translates to “debt of the heart.” Where do you see Lola enacting that value? Do you see other characters enacting it towards Lola?  
3. How does the value of “Utang na loob,” translated as “debt of the heart,” apply to non-Filipino families? Describe how you have seen a similar value enacted in other cultures.  
4. What other examples of modern-day slavery can you think of that would be relevant to the consideration of this piece? 

Resources  

“Lola’s Story” by Alex Tizon, The Atlantic, June 2017  

Alex Tizon – Author Profile & Obituary – The Atlantic, June 2017 

Share Your Thoughts – Digital Discussion Board  

Display in the Periodicals Reading Room with physical copies of the article "Lola's Story" by Alex Tizon. Visit the 5th floor of the Main Library to check it out!