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Catching Up With Emmy-Nominated Costume Designer & Owner of gather here, Virginia B. Johnson

Show Description (Podcast Intro):

Today’s guest is Virginia B. Johnson. Virginia is a costume designer and the owner of gather here in Inman Square, which is in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In the interview, we dive into her journey from a naval base in the Philippines to Greater Boston, her career in costume design, and the origins of her shop, gather here. We also talk about the importance of community to Virginia and her work, and her recent Emmy nomination. I’m so stoked for you all to tune in today. Enjoy! 

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Episode Transcript

Trish Fontanilla: All right. So welcome to the podcast, Virginia.

Virginia Johson: I'm so excited to be here. Trish, thank you so much for having me.

Trish: I'm going to have to share a picture. Virginia's one of my icon dressers in Boston. I don't know if you're on lists, but we should start nominating you for lists. If someone's like, What is the one word you would use to describe your clothing?, I would say joy. Inner child Trish and the 40-something Trish are both, “Oh, look at this bundle of joy that's walking towards me right now.“ So I love this. And then, of course, oh, you're in your shop. So there's all these drawings and quotes and being in the shop, too. This is what Virginia is. Or I don't know if there's some collaboration…

Virginia: I would say that that's definitely what Virginia wants to be, and is struggling always with trying not to get down in the dumps. So there's definitely an element of dopamine dressing. Getting up and being, “What is the boldest print and what is the most colorful thing? What things would someone else think clash?”. And then put those things together, because they bring me joy, and I just think we dress for the attitude we want to have. And same with the space gather here is also a reflection of, this is who we are. This is how we feel, even on a bad day.

Trish: Yeah, as I'm looking at my disco ball candle on my desk right now, all my colors are out, and I know some people don't love that. There's millennial gray out there, but that's also not my space.

But yeah, thank you so much for joining us today. We did interview you in 2018 for the blog, which is technically seven years ago, but I think the pandemic adds in an extra 40 to 50 years on all of us, at least mentally, maybe physically. So I'm really excited to catch up with you. But for folks that aren't familiar with you or haven't read our blog in the past. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Virginia: Yeah, I am a Filipina American who moved to Greater Boston twenty-two years ago, and I am a professional costume designer for film and television and occasionally for stage, and I also happen to own a small business, gather here. We're located in Inman Square in Cambridge, and we're a fabric, fiber, all kinds of fiber-related making space and supplies. And it was just a pipe dream back in 2010, and now will be celebrating 15 years in existence come February of next year of 2026 so super excited about that. I just try to balance my time doing costume design, and then being present and available to the shop. But as a small business owner, I'm also in charge of all of the admin stuff that is behind the scenes that no one cares about. But if it doesn't happen, the store doesn't run. So I have the really unglamorous parts of that job still.

Trish: First of all, I love that you highlighted that because, as a business owner myself, you know, there is this romanticism of, oh, you own your own thing. It must be so amazing. And it's like, yeah, to do the percentage of things that we love to do, I have to send out invoices on time, and I have to pay for the software and the hardware and all the supplies that I need to make the thing happen, and if I miss those payments, or if there's a price thing and I don't negotiate it, then things get hairy. And I talk about taxes and health insurance and all this other kind of fun stuff. Yeah, I love that. Like you're doing this costuming stuff, you own the business, but you're like, by the way, here's this other job in addition to the work that you do, because the work that you do for some people is for individual contributors, that is one job. So I love that you mentioned that.

So let's, let's flip it back and talk about where you grew up. How did you come to Boston?

Virginia: So I celebrated 51 years on this planet this past May, and I'm just like, really, and like you said earlier, with the pandemic, I swear to God, I feel like it's been even longer, like solid additional decade.

But I was born in Subic Bay on the naval base in Luzon, and my dad is from the States. My mom is from the Philippines. She's one of 13 children, and like very complicated Filipino colonial story, my grandfather is actually Chinese. He had immigrated to the Philippines. My grandmother and my grandfather met while they were in one of the prison camps during Japanese occupation, and they were liberated by the US. So even though some of my uncles were very anti-American presence in the Philippines in the 70s, my grandmother was very pro-America, was very pro-American military, because in her mind, her life would not have been what it was without that liberation. So we have a really complicated history, which many people do.

My dad being an American naval chief petty officer, my grandmother was like, this is the best, you could not have made a better match. Whereas some of my uncles were like, No way, don't do it. But my mom has always been a very strong matriarch, as was my grandmother, and she was headstrong, and just was going to do her own thing.

So we lived there, and I went to Catholic daycare, and then preschool and kindergarten, because it was a space where English was spoken primarily, and then Tagalog was spoken at home.

And we moved to the States, and when my dad was stationed in Long Beach, California. He made a point of asking to be located there, and they made that decision because they really wanted, by this point, it's me and my sister, us to have more opportunities to not be in a school system where we're being told to only wear dresses, skirts. What does it mean to be feminine? And despite my mom also thinking being pretty was super important, and that is also very complicated, being a pageant girl, all of that just so much to unpack. But they did make the decision to move to Long Beach so and one of the reasons they picked Long Beach is there is a huge Filipino community in that area because of the number of Filipinos that came over post-Vietnam war were married servicemen, service women.

Trish: I don't think I knew all that stuff about your past. I think it's really interesting to hear now, there's a very complicated feeling about the American presence. People forget the colonialism part about the Philippines.

Virginia: Yes, I know. I think it's important to note that there were a lot of people there, even in the 50s and 60s, that weren't Americans yet.

So I spent most of my developmental years, elementary school and junior high, in that area. I actually went to this really cool school in San Pedro called Dodson, and I loved my time at Dodson. It was this magnet school. We got to study all kinds of cool stuff. Also, the teacher strike happened while I was in school, and so I think that was my first real understanding of workers’ rights and the complication of, what are our parents supposed to do with us? Because education is not just about learning, it's also a form of child care. And from a working middle-class place, you know, mom's a nurse, nobody can just call out. They're not in a position. Everybody's just like, What are we supposed to do with these people, and, do we cross the picket line? I just remember being 13 years old, 14 years old, and like, Oh, we're having real conversations. Thinking, this is wild. And I was definitely pro-teacher. In the end, I was like, I stand with my teachers. I know lots of people hate junior high, but I loved junior high. It was really great exploratory time, and it was like a revolutionary public school.

But also during that time, there was definitely a surge in violence in that LA area, and my parents were very concerned about us, and they opted to relocate everyone once it like became clear that my grandfather, on my dad's side, was diagnosed with Parkinson's, and so they picked us all up, and we moved to rural Iowa. I was 16 years old, it was probably one of the most, like, and I had moved like internationally. I had gone from everybody looks like me to most people look like me, and we all speak English, and so I totally lose my ability to speak Tagalog. And then to rural Iowa, where I had gone from a school that had 1000s of students to a school that had literally 400 students in total. Everyone knows everyone. They all grew up together. Their parents knew everyone, and we were really outsiders, and that at the time was incredibly painful, but I do think in the long run helped me develop a voice.

I really needed to learn to articulate who I was as a person, what it meant to have my identity if I wanted to share that identity and talk about my family and stand up for myself, and that was really important. I think it helped me later on as an adult, because I had a very strong sense of self. I didn't want to be part of a clique or the crowd. I couldn't be, I was just so different. I ate different food. I looked different. Nobody knew me. That wasn't an option, so I had to develop a voice, and I spent two years of high school there.

And then in the end, really wanted to be close to home, so I decided to go to college in Des Moines, Iowa, at Drake. One of the reasons that was a great option was that they had tons of financial aid. It was three and a half hours away from home, so I felt like I was far enough away, and again, I felt like I could explore who I wanted to be as fully as possible. And Des Moines was definitely bigger than the small town in eastern Iowa, which had one stoplight. I'm not joking. Small. I grew up in Southern California, and then came to someplace that had a stoplight, and that was so wild. So Des Moines, I was like, there's a lot of stoplights. I felt like a step up to where I wanted to be.

All of that to say, I knew I didn't want to stay there forever. And like many people that go to school at Drake, I ended up going to Chicago and then slowly working my way east, and I ended up in Boston when I finally decided I didn't want to piece together my whole year through these small theater gigs, where I was living out of my car, you'd maybe get a room in some patron’s house, or you'd stay in a cabin or something like that. And I was like, I really would like a little more stability. So I took a job at Tufts University, and that's how I ended up here. After all of that. I didn't even talk about how I was actually a bio pre-med major and ended up in costume.

Trish: I think a lot of Filipinos, you either become a nurse or a doctor, or you have some story growing up in New Jersey. I'm pretty sure I applied to the nursing program at Rutgers, even though I cannot even look at blood and not feel queasy. We all have a story of, oh, we tried it and it just didn't work out.

But so I'd love to dive into the costume design piece of it, you laid some of that groundwork. To me, it sounds like the origins of a costume person is growing up in a place where you have to choose to define yourself, and that's either I'm going to go with everybody else and what everybody else is doing, or I'm really going to go for it. And that decision-making of being thoughtful about what you're going to wear and how you're going to act, I feel like that's the origin story of a costume designer.

But for folks that aren’t in the biz, generally, if someone's like, oh, costume sounder, sounds cool. What does that mean? And then talk a little bit about how you got into that.

Virgina: So you really did sum that up. It's the intention and intentional choices of what you wear and when you choose to wear something, and so my job as a costume designer is really about taking the story, which is something that I'm attracted to. I love storytelling. I've always loved stories, so diving deep into the story, figuring out where we are, what time and place things are happening, and then who are the people in the story, and how do they dress, and how do they transform? And how does the story transform how they dress?

Because sometimes people think that costume designing is fashion, and it's not at all, because I am not creating the seasonal look. I am like doing mini fashion shows for every single person in the story, and sometimes the person in the story never changes their clothes because of the action or their socioeconomic class. And then I love digging into how the action affects how your clothes transform, and it's what I love about doing action films, because you think about what happens to you when you jump through a window, roll on the street, and a car blows up in the parking lot. What has happened to your clothes that if you've survived and you have now caught a train, does everyone on the train look at you, and can they tell what happened to you? Or they just think you had a really rough day. What's the evidence of what that action was? And I have always loved figuring that stuff out.

I actually became interested in costume design because, like I was saying about going to Drake, I had a really great financial aid package, and part of the financial aid package was a work-study job. And my work-study position was in the costume shop. And it was because I knew how to sew and embroider and all these things I learned at like six years old from my grandmother in the Philippines, textiles are incredibly important. We have our own rich textile history of transforming pineapple and coconut into cloth, and then a rich history of embroidery and handcraft, as well as crochet. And so I learned the art of embroidery and crochet from that side of my family, it was really important to staying connected with my family and my grandmother, who loved embellishment and traditional dress. I took traditional dancing classes because of her influence, and we helped make my costumes for that, which is just so intrinsic to who I am, and every stitch holds so much meaning.

Whereas, with my other grandmother she was a daughter of a farmer, and they had survived the Great Depression in the States. So for her, it was all about mending and knitting and making what you want to wear because you can't afford to buy it. So I learned this whole history of her wanting to dress a certain way and having to do it herself. And I love that about Nita. I still have her sewing machine, and by the time I was going to prom, she had invested so much time and care and teaching me to sew that I was like, I can do that. I can make something I want to wear that is reflective of all the parts of me. And no one else will have anything like this. And that was also something that Nita and Christina taught me, was that the act of making it yourself means that it is 100% yours. It is all about your labor and the labor of your family, because everything I make is in tribute and in service of continuing their story.

So it wasn't that big of a leap for me to then go work in a costume shop, learn more about theater. Those jobs were not things we thought about as kids. You know, it would be great if we went to community theater, dinner theater, the high school play. It's not like my parents had a lot of time for other things. And in the Midwest, it's not like we went to Broadway. We didn't, we didn't go to those places. And even in Southern California, what we were doing was typically very specific to the community that we were in, and not necessarily about going and seeing a show. We would go seek traditional dance and things like that. That was what was really important to us, was being in community.

And I think that's also what drew me to costume design, especially for theater. It is community in a collaborative art form. You dive in intensely, and it's always a trust exercise. Are we speaking the same language? Are we seeing the same thing? And when all is said and done, you see it on stage, and that is either proof that you were all in sync with one another, or it shows maybe where the weakness was in your communication, or how everyone was seeing things, and because it's a living work of art, you can continue to grow and make those changes and tweak them. It is absolutely one of the things I love so much about it. It is like the sewing circle. It's like all of these spaces where people rely on one another, it's not solo.

Trish: Thank you so much for walking through the costume design piece.

So you were just nominated for an Emmy, which I think is your first?

Virginia: It's my first ever, my first ever.

Trish: Amazing, congratulations!

Virginia: I'm still in shock. To be nominated by the Television Academy for outstanding period costumes is mind-blowing, because I do get a lot of people who ask me about just how I guess erratic my resume is.

I have done specials for PBS. I have done projects for Happy Madison, which is the Adam Sandler production house, where it's all slapstick and puke jokes. And then I've done super serious things, and then heavy action, and the new Salem's Lot set in the 70s, which is considered a softer period. It's not corsets and things like that, but it's still period, and it's horror. And then I just out of left field, did this show set in 1857, which is incredibly violent, but going back to these, the decisions we make when we get dressed in the morning, every single person that people see on the screen in this six part mini series was a labor of deep consideration.

My research period is nothing compared to people who specialize, who are PhDs in textile history or a certain period. I do my deep dive for a couple of months, I try to pull in as many resources as possible to get to what are the essential parts of dress for this snapshot in time. You know, we don't have iPhones in 1857 so there are daguerreotypes, there are paintings, there are journals, there's these other ways of learning, but we should consider this too. We prioritize in our history the people who are empowered to record that history. And one of the things that's important about this series, and one of the reasons I was drawn to it and why I gave so much of myself to it, is that we also depict various bands of Indigenous peoples who were on the continent from the beginning, and they are literally fighting for survival and fighting for the land that they believe that they are the caretakers of, and they're constantly being displaced and lied to and murdered.

And that dress is not in the history books. That dress is not like the tome of 1850s America, even some of the photographers from the later 1800s they were like, Oh, this is cool. And it may not have been all of the same tribe or the same region, they just were like, that looks good. This makes a really interesting photo. This is how we want to paint the people.

And so we turned to elders. I was so lucky. I reached out to a wonderful consultant, Julie O'Keefe, who had worked with my friend Jacqueline West on Killers of the Flower Moon, and she was able to find elders from the various Native communities to talk to us, because a lot of that is oral history. So they are telling us what they know and showing us how they make the things that we need to make to accurately depict this moment in time. And that was so incredible and also central to telling this in a way that felt authentic, and honored the actual people that were affected by, you know, American expansionism.

So I would like to think that the Television Academy and my peers who decided to nominate the show, that one of the reasons it stuck out to them was that we did put in that time and effort and created things that had not been seen before, and we did it in a way that was caring and very real. So I'll find out September 6th, what everybody…

Trish: Amazing…

Virginia: I am up against like some heavy hitters, but it is, like I said, it's an honor, and I worked with a lot of incredible artists and craftspeople, and just everybody put in so many hours and so much labor to make it possible for it to look the way it did. So it's just, it's pretty cool. I feel pretty cool.

Trish: Love the Filipino humbleness that is coming out. One, will you be in attendance? And two, will you make what you're going to wear on the red carpet?

Virginia: Oh, my God, Trish. I'm so stressed out about what I'm gonna wear, because there's a part of me that, like we started out with, I'm a dopamine dresser. I want a lot of pattern and color, and just to feel like I'm taking up space, because there are so many ways we are made invisible as women of color, children of immigrants, as artists, as creatives, as people who care about other people. I'm also on the East Coast. I'm not an LA person. There are all these things that I don't want to necessarily blend in. I also don't want to make a worst-dressed list. And my show was so dirty and grimy and real that I also want to be very real, but I also want to reflect who I am. So I'm torn.

Part of me is thinking, I'm going to make a set. As you know, I love a set. I love something that is clearly meant to go together. I also love embroidery, and I love big embroidered dresses. So I've been Googling, can I get some Filipino cloth and make myself an over the dress, some pineapple cloth to do an over- I don't know. I do want to honor who I am…

Trish: Barong-style…Yeah, I love the idea of embroidered tapestry. And you can weave so many parts of yourself, your biracial self, your immigrant self, all the many facets of you. But we'll be watching on September 6, everyone go into social media and message all the people interviewing and be like, have you seen Virginia Johnson yet? Just hype you up, because Filipinos love when there's someone in the community. We do love to show up and support.

But to shift, love to talk a little bit about your home base at gather here. So you mentioned what y'all do at the beginning, but how did you decide to open up? And in the location that you decided to open it up in.

Virginia: So when I talk about creating and collaboration, that has always been at the heart of what I want to do with whatever I'm doing, I want to be in community.

And I don't know if you also follow the work of Carl Lorenz Cervantes, a professor, a researcher, and he is always talking about kapwa, which is fellow humans and kindred and community, and how that is definitely part of the Filipino identity of our communities, and that we have been struggling with individualism and capitalism because of being colonized. Because at our heart, we want to be in community, and we want to be supporting one another, And oh, you need this. Let me give it to you. We can make a bigger table. We can grow more food. I will watch your child. Truly, this we are a village, and we will care for one another. And these ideas are constantly struggling with one another, and for me gather here takes that whole, I'm a business, but I also really want to be in community, and tries, sometimes successfully, sometimes I struggle with it, to blend those needs. I wanted to make sure that we were true to ourselves and true to this idea of sustainability, quality tools that don't need to be replaced, which is kind of very anti-capitalist, because we need people to buy things, right? That's how the system works. And so I can pay the rent, but at the same time, I don't want things to end up in the landfill. I want people to take time and put thought into what they invest in, and trust that what they're investing in will last them a very long time, that they are tools that they will be able to pass on.

And that, you know, you will have a place to go that will help you use those tools, that will support you in the use of those tools. And so gather here is that place, and then, because we're here in Greater Boston and space is at a premium, it's like a privilege to have a sewing or craft room in your home that doesn't displace where you cook or sleep or eat. So for us, creating studio spaces where you don't have to clean off your dining table, you can just come and rent an hour in the studio, and you can do your cutting. You can rent the sewing machine. You can steam all your curtains. We have powerful steamers. We have the equipment that you don't need in your home or don't have space for in your home, so that you can actually make things.

And then on top of that, we invest in a team of people that also want to help you. So in our studio, we always have a studio monitor. They're there to help make sure the machine is working correctly. Help you switch out to a zipper foot, wind a new bobbin. We are providing scissors and rotary cutters, and rulers, so that you aren't hauling around stuff or trying to find that stuff in your closet, because it's there. You know it's there, you know it's going to work. And that is kind of at the heart of gather here.

We've always had studio space, and then we've always had workshops, because this knowledge should not be kept to ourselves or only in higher education spaces or relegated to old books in libraries. People want to make things. People want to sew. They want to mend. They want other ways to express themselves and create that isn't at a desk, isn't at a computer or on your phone, that isn't related to work, isn't related to productivity in that way that everything we do seems to be monetized. And I constantly remind people, just because we're good at something and we enjoy making something, doesn't mean it has to become the job. You know, we can just love doing the thing and being with others and do that thing and not suddenly feel like I make bags now all the time. You know, you don't have to.

Trish: You do get that feeling, as someone that did take a sewing class at gather here, after I sewed my first bag, I was like, is this a business? Am I really good at this? Because you do feel this immense sense of pride after you make something. And as someone that generally works at a computer all day but has a creativity streak, it was just lovely to sit and work on something, and I could kind of be on my phone. But also, you can't because you're on the sewing machine, and you're putting stuff together. But to just have this like singular creative focus for however long it took to put together that bag was really amazing. You know, we talk a lot about the absence of third spaces in today's world, and it's such a again, vibrant, beautiful, welcoming space to be in.

To tie, you know, if anyone has listened to anything you've said today, it is no surprise that you would have this community-driven We Care Wednesdays at the store. So we'd love to hear more about that if people aren't familiar with it.

Virginia: So like many people after the 2016 election, I was like, what more can I do? I just don't know how to use this energy in a way that's productive. I just want to help. I have access to community that are also eager to help, but just want to know more. And have that energy go towards something.

And January of 2017, we started hearing about all the different funds that would be cut under a new administration. And we're experiencing that right now as well. where we hear about, my favorite PBS station has had all its funding cut, you know, and I wanted to take this struggle I have with capitalism, and put it to good use, and I put it out there on Facebook of all places, and some of my former students from my time at Tufts, who also were struggling with what they could do in the workplace, or as artists, one of them was like, instead of just me to donate to a cause, why don't you think about this in a more targeted way so that it's not just you, that is giving your money. Let's find a way for you to rally people behind the cause, and also shine a light on a program, you think is essential to living in a sustainable, vibrant community. And I was like, oh, that's great. How do I do that? Oh, I write a blog for my business. I have a robust newsletter that people write back to. Let me figure this out. And by the end of January, we had launched this We Care Wednesday.

Wednesday is probably the day we would be closed if we were not open seven days a week. But we also do kids’ programming on Wednesday afternoon and Wednesday evening. So okay, well, for us it's kind of the start of the week because weekends are our peak. And then we're recovering, getting in product Wednesday is the restart kind of thing.

So we love alliteration, so We Care Wednesday, all sounded good together, and we started with Food For Free. And food is the nutrients and all of that are human, right? I will die on that hill. And I think at the time, there had been this announcement that funding was being cut from food assistance programs all over the country. And I decided that we'll start here. If you want to fight me, that people shouldn't have access to food. I felt really comfortable being like, then I don't know what's wrong with you. You shouldn't shop here. This is not controversial in my mind. So we started there.

And so every Wednesday, we donate five percent of our sales. Regardless, it could be you signed up for a class, PDF printing, whatever, to that month's recipient. We do a blog post about it. We share it in the newsletter. It's the header on Wednesdays.

And over the course of these years since the launch in 2017, we have donated almost $95,000 dollars.

We're doing twelve programs a year. And obviously November, December are peak. People are already out there doing their holiday shopping, and we definitely think about what are some nonprofits or mutual aid organizations that aren't getting as much attention as others, and we choose those because we know the donation is going to be a little heftier. But every May I do fund-a-thon for the National Abortion Fund, and that's always May. We’re always doing that in May because I'm doing fund-a-thon. It's something that I really care about. And then June, we always do pride organization. And it also just highlights for people, who are coming to the store or learning about us for the first time, or continue to support us, that we are very thoughtful and committed to highlighting a variety of organizations that could do really important work.

Trish: So full disclosure, I did not know that your first organization was Food For Free, and I'm on the board of Food for Free.

So what's next for you, Virginia the costume designer, and then what's happening at gather here?

Virginia: So I just started the prep period for season three of Dead City, which is a Walking Dead spin-off. It's shooting in and around greater Boston, Massachusetts. Lowell. I'm really excited. I've never done zombies before. And yeah, it takes place in-

Trish: Not a common thing you hear in jobs.

Virginia: Yeah. I, as I said, like to keep it eclectic, and just to find ways to ground it in reality.

And then for gather here in August, there will be two community events that we're actually hosting in Vellucci Plaza, which is in Inman Square. It's the park with the big stag sculpture in it, where Hampshire and Cambridge Street converge. And we're doing this community dye bath event, so we will have a variety of dyes. So you can do everything from tie-dyeing to over-dyeing, and just give your clothing or some fabric a new life. You'll have to wring it out and put it in a bag, and take it home with you. But we are doing this, craft in the evening August 13th and August 20th. And we are doing this in conjunction with Cambridge Plays. We received some funding to help support doing this community dye bath.

And then also we've done this collaboration with the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square, where we're doing picks and crafts. So we show a movie, you bring your crafting, the lights are at half so that you can still see your work. We did Rocky Horror Picture Show in June, we did Marie Antoinette in July, and we are doing Prêt-à-Porter, the Altman film, in August. And we sold out our first two. I really hope there's great attendance because if this goes well, we'll continue doing it into the fall and winter. It's just really fun to make and be with other people and experience a film in a movie theater. Crafting can be as solitary but as also as communal as you want it to be, and I literally cried at the end of Marie Antoinette one, because I love that movie so much. But two, because I was there with one hundred and sixty other people, and I was just knitting and enjoying a movie and walking out with everyone. It was just such a joy. So please, please, please come to the movies with us. And, you don't have to make things. There are people who didn't even know it was happening, and they're like, what is up? But, it's just a really fun way to be with others. And, it's matinee pricing, so it's thirteen bucks. It's so reasonable. And the Brattle Theatre is a foundation, and they can use your support.

Trish: Amazing. So I'd like to end with, if you could give a shout out to a fellow Filipino creator, artist, chef, someone out there that needs a light shone on them. Who would you give a shout out to?

Virginia: Well, I'm going to shout out a Union Square neighbor, Jen Palacio, who owns Tiny Turns Paperie. Jen has created something incredibly special, has expanded, has really brought the art of the letter and community building to the Bow Market area, and is essential to doing other large-scale gatherings in that area. I'm just happy to call her a friend and to get to see her occasionally. And just so proud of what she's built.

Trish: I think I have a parol Christmas ornament that I got at one of the fairs at gather here that she was tabling at, so she's really awesome. I'm so excited that she opened a storefront. And please, please, please support small business.

But thank you again, Virginia, so much for taking time to share your story, and all the amazing things that you're working on. We'll be rooting for you on September 6th. And just thank you for being an awesome part of our community.

Virginia: Thank you Trish. Thanks for being my friend and for always rooting for me. It's so special, and it's so important to feel seen in part of the Boston Filipino community.

Closing

Trish: This has been The BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Trish Fontanilla. Thank you to Virginia for taking time to chat with us today. Let’s all cross our fingers for an Emmy win! 

To learn more about Virginia or gather here, we’ll include the website and some socials in the show notes. If you’re looking for a full written transcript of the episode, check out BOSFIlpinos.com. 

And if you like our show, you can subscribe on your podcast platform of choice so you don’t miss an episode. You can also follow us on Instagram, we’re @bosfilipinos,. And if you have ideas of what we should cover, are looking to sponsor an episode, or nominate a fellow Filipino in greater Boston, you can let us know at info@bosfilipinos.com or DM us on Instagram. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you soon.

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Ellie Tiglao & Lani Asunciòn on Transmuting Imperialism's Impact: A Culinary & Visual Exchange

Show Description:

Trish Fontanilla, BOSFilipinos co-founder and host of the podcast, welcomes cultural practitioner Ellie Tiglao and artist Lani Asunciòn to discuss their new project. Their upcoming event, "Transmuting Imperialism: A Visual and Culinary Exchange," features Filipino communal dining, projection mapping, and multi-disciplinary performance exploring cultural identity and resistance. 

Stay in touch: 

Episode Transcript:

Trish Fontanilla

[Intro music plays] Hello and welcome to The BOSFilipinos Podcast. My name is Trish Fontanilla, and I'm one of the BOSFilipinos co-founders, and your new podcast host. As some folks know, the show has been on hiatus. Our previous host, Katie [Milliken], did everything from interviewing to editing to distributing the podcast. So it took us a minute or two to get together the resources to get back in the game. I'm excited to bring the podcast back to your ears again, and I'm even more excited to have cultural practitioner Ellie Tiglao and artist Lani Asunciòn as our first guests back. They'll be talking about their new project, and fair warning, we will be talking about food. A lot. So maybe grab a snack before you start. Enjoy.

Trish Fontanilla

So Ellie and Lani, welcome to the podcast. And so I did a brief intro of the two of you at the beginning, but I would love to hear more about yourselves, and we'll start with Ellie.

Ellie Tiglao

Thanks, Trish, glad to be here having this conversation. I'm Ellie. I consider myself a cultural practitioner. For a lot of folks, that means that I do food, but for a long time I've been really interested in food and art, especially as not just as storytellers, but story keepers. Outside of that, I spend a lot of time doing more cooperative consulting with a worker co op called CoEverything, which is my new gig. Post Tanám we can talk a little bit more about that later.

Trish Fontanilla

Awesome. And I wanted to comment, we were talking about this before we started recording how people thought me and Ellie were the same person, because back in the day, BOSFilipinos started with food pop ups, and they just met two Filipino women and thought, oh, this is the same, and I'm like Ellie, and I look a little bit, our eye prescriptions is different, our height is different. We're just different human beings. It's like a right now, it feels like the Spiderman pointing at each other meme, because there are some people that thought we were the same person, and potentially some people that still think we're the same person. So I just wanted to prove two different people, and Ellie's working on some incredible things. But now we're going to Lani tell us a little bit more about yourself.

Lani Asunciòn

Hi, I'm Lani Asunciòn I go by they/she. I'm an artist, an educator. I'm currently the curator at Pao Arts Center, doing public art and temporary performance works, part of the Un-Monument project with the city and supported by the Mellon Foundation. And I teach at Mass Art, teaching public art, and I am a founding member of Digital Soup, the local queer multimedia collective.

Trish Fontanilla

Amazing. So I was trying to figure out when the first time I saw your artwork was one my memory is not always the most amazing, but I think the most delightful interaction I had, was I was walking on the [Rose Kennedy] Greenway and just taking pictures. And I always try to look up the artist afterwards, and I looked you up, and I was like, she's Filipino. Why wasn't it on the fog horn? Why didn't I get a phone call from my mom, from the telephone chain that we've got a Filipino on the Greenway? So that's, is that going to, if folks haven't seen it, you have some artwork on the Greenway, and that's going to the Fall, I believe.

Lani Asunciòn

It'll be there until November.

Trish Fontanilla

Amazing. So if you haven't already, please go to the Greenway and know that the Filipinos out there got some representation in the city, which is awesome. So the reason why we brought you on is you both are collaborating on a new project, and so I would love to hear a little bit more about the project and then how the two of you found each other and started collaborating.

Ellie Tiglao

We were actually just reminiscing a little bit, and I had thought I've been here for over 15 years, and I've known Lani for a majority of that time, actually more time than not, I will say. And we came to know of each other when EMW [East Meets West] bookstore was still around for folks who don't know. It was an arts, tech and community space centered on serving AAPI community, but was really welcoming of all sorts of BIPOC cultures and voices, and it's no longer running. But I was a Programs Director there, and it was a super important and storied space for people making art in the Boston area. And I just came to know of Lani's work then, but I would love to hear, I don't know, make a little space for Lani to talk about what...

Lani Asunciòn

Yeah, I mean, that place is endeared to my heart, and I volunteered at the art gallery there with Stephanie and Kai. So, and they're mutual friends, and Kai also was in the opening performance at Greenway. So there's all these connections.

Trish Fontanilla

Yeah, I used to go there [EMW], and I did not interact with either of you, which is banana pants to me, so look at us. Yeah.

Lani Asunciòn

Then we transitioned, right? Well, your pop ups...

Ellie Tiglao

Right, well, I feel like we really had our chance to collaborate together when the restaurant became possible. Because Tanám was always meant to be a small space, obviously, but one that could handle multiple mediums. So it was built with collaborations like what Lani and I had been talking about in mind, and so Lani, I'll say, has like a big presence here, especially around projection art. And all of that led to a conversation to a narrative about pineapples. What else would you say about that time, Lani?

Lani Asunciòn

Well, we're talking about pineapples. And I was like a series called Pineapple Girl series that I was doing after I finished graduate school. I like to continue that work. And then I started learning a bit about the Dole family history, the historical Dole House in Jamaica Plain. So then Ellie was talking about wanting to bring in artists to activate the space through an immersive interactive you know, the meal speaks through story, like food through storytelling and storytelling through performative embodiment. I was like, I'm down. That sounds great. And there was also a zine that accompanied it. And throughout the meal, both of us spoke to the folks that were joining us, and it was this really immersive, interactive experience in space.

Trish Fontanilla

So can we go back to the pineapple? To go on our first tangent, how did you connect about pineapples?

Ellie Tiglao

Well, generally speaking, whenever conversations about how the space might be activated come into play, there's never a set agenda. What is coming to mind right now? And Lani had just been working on Pineapple Girl. And I think the themes that were being explored were also really interesting to me. And it was actually the only menu at Tanám that was very ingredient focused. So every course had pineapple involved, and Lani brought all sorts of ways of engaging with people, and from creating a zine to bringing physical objects into the space for people to touch and interact with. Obviously conversation was happening dialog, but also projection art. So there was a lot of richness in that space for people to explore the sort of things that were happening in Pineapple Girl.

Lani Asunciòn

That series started in New England, so it was a project that went between Hawaii, so part of the videos were shot in Hawaii and also in New England. It's three seasons, so one of the seasons is missing, so it has this discussion about being in the diaspora and dealing with time, space and everything in between. And technically the zine, if you, anybody wants to read it, it's at the SFMA [School for the Museum of Fine Arts] library. They do have it in their collection.

Ellie Tiglao

I just want to say that I've also got a couple copies. So if you want one, Trish, and happy to share one.

Trish Fontanilla

Look at me. Getting stuff. To go back to go back to the origin story. So the two of you started collaborating inside of the Tanám space, and then what was the impetus for you to launch it on its own?

Lani Asunciòn

The way I remember it, I was checking in with Ellie. I was like, How are things going, you know, after Tanám and what are you doing? What are your hopes? Where are you looking towards now and then we're talking about project grants and funding.

Ellie Tiglao

Yeah, you know,I haven't said anything to the outside world. This is the really the first time. So hey, hey world, thanks Trish, and thank you, Lani, for for making that conversation possible. But it really mattered to me what was happening at Tanám, the sort of storytelling that we were doing, and the space that we were making, and I also knew that, you know, never say never, but where I was sitting, I just felt like I couldn't do it as a business again. But did I love it enough to try and get some art money for it like I knew that we were, we would be working on something amazing. It's just not making a business. So we just started talking about, kind of what it might mean to work together. And also, you know how, I think from the beginning, just thinking about how we bring in others into our work has been a big part of our collaboration, but the for those out there listening, the name of the project is Transmuting Imperialism's Impact: a visual and culinary exchange. So it's a big, long title. That's what we got grant money for. But for this coming event that we'll tell you more about, we wanted to focus that storytelling on solidarity. So pagkakaisa and solidaridad were two words that we wanted to bring together to just show also who's in the room.

Lani Asunciòn

It was nice to check in, and then it was really fun and awesome to dream the project together, grant writing is one thing, but dreaming the project and the work to propose and to actualize into the world. So that's something that I was really excited to do, and I'm excited not to literally do it with you, and then others will enjoy it and be present. So I just think it's been really wonderful to think about what is solidarity within the Filipino diaspora, and within Puerto Rican diaspora, and we have so many folks joining us, it feels very generative to think about the community that we're not just a part of, but we're building together. So that's exciting.

Trish Fontanilla

That's awesome. I mean, not everyone's telling their stories around food or connecting the way that Filipinos do, or even immigrants, and it just the way that we keep ourselves alive and keep our joy and hope alive. And it's so cool to see projects like this, especially right now, where we might think to not speak up or not tell our stories. Right now, it's especially important to share our humanity and share our stories, and so I'm really excited to hear more about this project. Diving into the next event that's coming up this month. There's a lot happening at this event. So it's food for all the senses, from mind to stomach to eyes. Let's talk about this event and where it's going to be. Ellie, if you want to talk about the food piece, speaking about solidarity of including other cultures in the food that will be served that evening.

Trish Fontanilla

Okay, we are introduced to the folks there [the venue, Cloud & Spirits] through anAsian professional network in town. Actually, one of the people who's going to be cooking with us is Aldrin Agas from Kuya's Cooking, and he is the one who really made the connection around saying, like, yes, this is a perfect space for what you're doing. So it all came through our relationships, and we're excited for that space, also as an event. Space is uniquely set up with a commercial kitchen that's going to make it really possible for us to make an elaborate meal. We have expectations of welcoming people into the space. There'll be multiple places that they can see art, including a memorial. There'll also be opportunities for people to both participate in the art, experience it, receive it, and also have food together at a communal table. So the food is going to be served in some traditional style called kamayan, that just means to eat with your hands. And so folks should expect that they will fully be engaged with their senses while they're eating, including touch. That tells you a lot when you're able to use your hands to eat. And maybe also, kind of difference here that was very present at Tanám was communal aspect of it, so you're not usually eating with strangers and negotiating who's going to take that last bit of duck. So that's definitely something to expect. And while we are definitely heavily focused on Filipino flavors and art making, we have lots of collaborators who are coming from elsewhere, and the idea to bring their culinary traditions in really comes from this wanting to honor who the people are, who are with us, who are gathering to tell the stories. None of us are part of monolithic culture. So really, how that's all come out is just been in relationship the storytelling that happens when you gather people together, and especially with this group of having time to spend together and think out loud about what matters to me, how does this fit into how I think about food in my culture. That's all been really important learnings that is going to show up in the food.

Trish Fontanilla

Awesome.

Ellie Tiglao

So this menu is definitely going to be pretty eclectic. As far as even Filipino food goes, I'm really interested in making sure the flavors are there and also making sure that there are Mainstays that people can recognize and anchor to. Of course, there's going to be pork belly at that table. Of course there will be vinegar with onions and garlic to dip it into. But we'll also be making adobo duck confit. As far as going into other people's cultures, you know, Lani was talking a little bit about suman, one thing that we are thinking of bringing into that space is a black rice suman that's made in the same way that arroz con leche is made in Puerto Rico, that's got coconut and warming spices and ginger in it, for example. And we love the fried things, right? Lumpiang shanghai is going to be there. But there's also a Lebanese type of fried spring roll that's made with phyllo. We're going to do a variation on it's called rakakat, which is, it's basically a cheese lumpia with parsley and other seasonings in it. So look to expect mostly Filipino food with inflections from Puerto Rican cultures, Lebanese cultures and Black American.

Trish Fontanilla

Amazing. Oh, boy, you just said cheese. And this is too much. Too much for me. Yeah.

Ellie Tiglao

Get ready. Hope you come hungry. Well, actually get ready to interact and then eat.

Lani Asunciòn

So the art and multimedia protection and immersive space will be performances by local artists and some folks even coming in remotely from the West Coast. So folks will be eating and enjoying the wonderful food that will be all tied to the different stories and performances. And there will be Kali, which is Filipino martial arts. We'll also have biko performance, so somebody will become that and embody that in the space. There's also DJs and VJs. So there'll be visual folks live mixing also while the DJ is mixing music. There's also a memorial to someone within our kapwa who we want to remember, and we want to have spaces of remembrance so that will be activated with digital media and other offerings. There will be also a takeaway zine that will talk about the project, and folks can learn more about each of the performances and the work

Trish Fontanilla

Amazing. And is this a one time thing? Is there going to be something similar? Or do people really just need to get at this one because it's going to be the only version of this curated food and art piece.

Ellie Tiglao

I don't necessarily think that this is going to be the last time, but we're definitely investing a lot in July 19th, and we'd love it if folks are thinking, Oh, should I do this? We want to see you there, because there's going to be a lot here. And by also by folks coming out, they will be, in some way, part of the co creation of it, because it'll really let us know what folks are here for. And we would love to have your support and any kind of support, being present, be it financial, whatever that looks like for you, will help this work continue and thrive.

Trish Fontanilla

Yeah, I always tell people, if you don't have capital, capital, social capital, is always great. So sharing with five people you know whether they're Filipino or not, I love bringing non-Filipinos to Filipino events because they're like, I don't even know what this culture is or because there isn't a lot of stuff within the city. I feel like, if you lived in California, they're like, Oh, I've had adobo before. So everybody, please, we would love to see you there, but feel free to share with your networks, email, social, etc. Do you have another event planned out as of yet, or do you have a timeline as for when the next thing's happening. What you what can people expect for the future of the organization?

Ellie Tiglao

We are looking at trying to have something in the next couple months. A lot of it is still being shaped, but we already have a title for the next one, I'll say.

Trish Fontanilla

Oh, okay. And how can people get involved? Are you looking for specific volunteers or partners or sponsors?

Ellie Tiglao

I think Lani had spoken a little bit to it. Presence can look like all sorts of ways, from attending to engaging with us. Part of it is also that this is the arts, and it's something that survives through people's not just attention, but spending a little money to make sure that the sort of thing can continue beyond that, obviously we are so interested in still continuing to imagine this work as not just Filipino, but potentially more diasporic. So we've been happily continuing to meet with people and think about how their work might weave into what we're doing. And so if folks like to cook, I will say, definitely reach out. There's all sorts of ways for people who know their way around the kitchen to get involved and be part of something that is a little bit more beyond a prep list and a little bit more hands on with how things are going to look and feel and taste.

Lani Asunciòn

And I'd also like to add, if folks are interested in offering support, if they have a space that they wanted to offer, that they'd love to activate a project like this in let us know. We would love to be supported in that way, and to like, learn more about what that looks like. And also, if you're interested in performing or doing any kind of performance work, especially if you're Filipino and just want to try something experimental and something different, it's been such a pleasure to curate the folks coming in now. But if folks wanted to approach and share ideas with us, I think that would be great,

Trish Fontanilla

Amazing. All right, so I've got a couple kind of lightning round questions. My favorite question to ask is, what are your top three favorite Filipino dishes? There's some nodding, there's some thoughts going through people's brains.

Ellie Tiglao

It's really funny because as as I've gotten further into my work doing food, even though I'm not doing the restaurant anymore, it's still very ingrained in me to actually orient towards. It's memory and meaning, personal meaning. And so yes, kare kare is delicious. Most people claim that as the best, and I'll take it. Yes, kare kare is good, but for me, laing, which is to taro leaves and coconut milk, often kind of spicy, usually with pork. It's so simple. It's what I ate every night when I was doing food research in the Philippines. And so I love to make it and it's just not often present for people here to eat. People don't think about eating leaves that are generally poisonous for you, it eventually becomes food. I'll also briefly say tinola, because that's such a good entryway, so comforting. And I don't think I've had any friend ever come over and eat it and say I did not enjoy that.

Trish Fontanilla

It's got grandma vibes. It's got some Lola vibes.

Trish Fontanilla

I think that's what I want. I want to be auntie. I want to be grandma. I will bring the dishes to church meeting, and then the last one is sinigang. So when I think about what is native sinigang, feels like, Oh, that was definitely our dish, you know. And every region has their different way of souring. So I love it. I will take it with tamarind. I will also take it with fish heads and fish collars. Yeah, all of that just simple stuff.

Trish Fontanilla

Simple but delicious and also complicated. If you're not familiar with Filipino dishes, I always liken them to Italian dishes in that you cannot make spaghetti for one generally, unless you're really measuring out those noodles, it is very hard to make Filipino food for one person or one serving and not have leftovers for the rest of the family. So I feel like Filipinos always make food, not just for dinner, but for a baon [generally leftover food for work/school snacks], for food the next day for you to take it to whatever tita which is auntie, lola / grandma, whoever could make that event. You then have a couple other servings to take. All right, Lani...

Lani Asunciòn

Yeah, it's really simple. My very favorite, I was gonna say, is lumpia, just because everybody makes a little. As a child, I would be that kid, small enough so I could just reach my hand over the tray when nobody's looking, I could just eat them. People are like, where is all the lumpia? And I'm playing already. As a kid that was my favorite, and I just ate so much of it.

Trish Fontanilla

So those are, if people aren't familiar, they're basically like, egg rolls. And you can have different fillings. I have, like, PTSD from lumpia, just because I always had to be cutting in the corner. And I can feel it in my arm, the cutting of the carrots.

Lani Asunciòn

They're so fine.

Trish Fontanilla

Even as a kid, you have to help. You have to do something. And I was in the corner, deveining shrimp. Another reason why I'm like cooking, yeah, so it could be veggie, could be meat, could be seafood, could be, um, there's another version where you can put bananas and brown sugar. Turon is my, one of my faves. And you can freeze it and eat it later. So I always...

Lani Asunciòn

If have some air fryer...

Trish Fontanilla

Yeah, if you want to be if you want to be healthy, but Filipinos aren't always the healthiest...what are a couple other your faves?

Lani Asunciòn

I really love dinuguan. It's my favorite because I like liver. So it's just like I like that richness. At first, when I was younger, I didn't like it because we call it blood meat, and chocolate meat was also another name for it.

Trish Fontanilla

I was gonna say blood meat. It was never... it was always chocolate.

Lani Asunciòn

Yeah, that's all you meant to say. But they told me it was chocolate. And I was like, it smells funny. Another one was like it's blood. And I was like...

Trish Fontanilla

It's so much, y'all, if you are listening, it is so much better. I remember eating as a kid and hated it, and now as an adult, I always look for it. Yes, it is another one of those things, simple but complicated. It's a pain in the butt to make. A friend of mine, she became friends with the butcher because she was like, here's what I need for my Filipino food that I can't find at the supermarket. But yeah, that's one of my faves, too.

Lani Asunciòn

Yeah, I always like to get it at Pinoy Kabayan [sadly, dear reader they just closed, but a new Filipino spot will be opening in its place],they have it here in downtown. They usually have it frozen, even if it's not fresh. And the owner, he makes the best. It's just like the right balance with the vinegar. And then the last one is suman. I just love sticky sweet. And you can put caramel or no caramel, and you can put coconut milk on it and put little, don't know, flowers would can really get fancy, they just eat it. And that smell of the banana leaf to me that I don't know, it's just kind of home, because in Hawaii, we also use taro, but it's like lau, lau. So it has that banana leaf smell.

Trish Fontanilla

I love making things in banana leaves. And it's hard to find them fresh in a lot of places. But my pro tip for people is there's always frozen. If you look in some freezers in Chinatown or other places. I make cassava cake with banana leaves, which is also...maybe this was a bad idea to end with.

Lani Asunciòn

Now we're hungry.

Trish Fontanilla

Sorry to everybody listening. And so I my last question is, if you could give a shout out to fellow Filipino creators, chefs, community member,s someone doing something awesome in Greater Boston or Massachusetts, one person. Who would it be? I say one person, because I think once we start saying people, then we start getting into this Oscar speech, and I'm gonna have to play music for us. But is there someone recently or someone that's always been helpful? Who would you give a shout out to?

Ellie Tiglao

I'm gonna give a shout out because she's she's doing the thing making sure Filipino food has its place in Massachusetts. Kristine Marie Bautista, she recently opened a place called Bits and Bites Bakery in Saugus, and met her when she started running a Filipino festival in Malden, a few years ago. So she continues to make sure that y'all get your fix.

Trish Fontanilla

She's really great. If anyone's ever been to a Boston Asian American Film Festival, she's usually there and she's serving different Filipino desserts and dishes. Total supportive community member, and the Malden Filipino Festival, which was really big, pre-pandemic, and she asked me to be a siopao [steamed meat buns]. So it sounds more delightful than it actually is, because after you've had six or seven, oh, wait, this was my dream, and then maybe we shouldn't have all of our dreams.

Lani Asunciòn

At once.

Trish Fontanilla

Yeah, at once. Lani, how about you?

Lani Asunciòn

I've been hearing a lot about Ashley Lujares and Mango Tao, so shout out.

Trish Fontanilla

She just did a pop up that I went to at Nine Winters, which shout out to them. It's a new Korean American bakery in West Cambridge. So got to give a shout out to all the women owned businesses as out there. But yeah, she's doing the pop up thing too. It's really great. All these, I was gonna say young folks, as if I'm your elder, all the millennials, soon to be titas out there. But it's really cool to see, especially post pandemic, seeing people out and about and doing these pop ups again, and seeing how popular they are. People wanting to try something new and be included in this community, which is really awesome. So to close out, how can people connect with you individually? So Lani, I know you have a website, but what are, what are the best ways for people to reach out if they want to chat with you?

Lani Asunciòn

Yeah, you can reach out on my website. I have a contact page, and usually it goes my email, Instagram, messaging, LinkedIn. I have that, too.

Ellie Tiglao

Yeah. Personally, I'm not on social so much these days, but if you send me a message that way, that's still going to reach me. Definitely recommend an email. I can definitely share that after this. But if anyone has questions about the project at all, we have a shared email address, which I'll make sure Trish has and can share out with folks listening.

Trish Fontanilla

Well, thank you both so much for taking time to talk about Filipino food. I am sorry to everybody, we don't have access easily to all these foods that we're talking about. But hey, reach out to your Filipinos titas out there in the universe, and I'm sure some of them will invite you to their kitchen to have some food. But I really appreciate from the two of you and hearing about your event. And everybody go follow them on social or reach out to them and go to this next event and all the other things coming up this year. So thank you.

Ellie Tiglao

Thanks, Trish.

Lani Asunciòn

Thank you, Trish, so much.

Trish Fontanilla

[Outro music] This has been The BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Trish. Fontanilla, special thanks to Lani and Ellie for taking time to chat with us today to learn more about them, we'll include their email and socials in the show notes. If you're looking for a written transcript of the podcast that'll be available on bosfilipinos.com. And if you like our show, you can subscribe to The BOSFilipinos podcast on your streaming platform of choice. You can also follow us on Instagram. We're @BosFilipinos. And if you have any ideas of what we should cover, are looking to sponsor an episode, or nominate a fellow Filipino in Greater Boston, you can let us know at info@bosfilipinos.com, or DM us on Instagram. Thanks for listening and see you soon.

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Kaitlin Milliken Kaitlin Milliken

Katie Says Goodbye

When I started this show in 2020, I opened with a letter about my Filipino experience. Our inaugural episode focused on my experience as a Filipino American. It seems fitting that my final episode as your host closes with my Boston experience.

While usually I interview a member of our community or relay insights from a panel, this episode centers on a personal essay. I switch back and forth between my story — moving to the city eight years ago, developing a community of friends and joining BOSFililpinos — and sound recorded in my kitchen. You’ll hear my boyfriend and best friend banter in the background. I’m glad to have captured the moment forever.

Before you listen to my swan song, I have many people to thank. Trish Fontanilla has supported me through the process of making this show. Hyacinth Empinado has been a close friend who I have shared my cultural experiences with. My friends and family, in Boston and beyond, mean the world to me.

Last but not least, I want to thank all of our guests. Thank you for trusting me with your stories and insights. You made me love Boston even more.

If you want to continue this show, I highly recommend it! It has been such a beautiful experience. Email info@bosfilipinos.com for more.

Until next time,

Kaitlin Milliken

Transcript

[MUSIC]

Kaitlin Milliken: Hello, and welcome to the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken, and this show is obviously made by BOSFilipinos.

Today will be a little different. Instead of an interview or a panel, I’ll be sharing a personal essay because this is my final episode as the host of this show.

I volunteered to start a BOSFilipinos podcast in the fall of 2019. Since then, I’ve made 23 episodes and interviewed nearly two dozen Filipinos and Filipino Americans in Greater Boston. We’ve talked about big issues, like the Junk Terror Law in the Philippines and solidarity with Boston’s Black community. We’ve featured books, art and music deeply influenced by people’s Filipino experiences.

We’ve discussed personal stories of immigrants, Boston transplants and Bay State Natives. We’ve shared hobbies and passions. For many of our guests, Massachusetts is their permanent home. For others, they have already moved away to start new chapters. Today, it’s my turn to say goodbye. Thanks for listening.

[MUSIC ENDS]

Kaitlin Milliken: I’m recording this in March of 2022. In the audio, I’m in my kitchen, a cozy galley in my Brighton apartment. I’ve already laid out the ingredients for dinner. I’m making pancit and rolling lumpia tonight. I’ve tasked my boyfriend Nathan with being both my sous chef and audio engineer.

[CHOPPING SOUNDS]

Kaitlin Milliken: Are you enjoying your job?

Nathan Flohr: You’re hearing the sound of carrots.

Kaitlin Milliken: Do you have onion sensitivity?

Nathan Flohr: Like do I cry?

Kaitlin Milliken: Yeah.

Nathan Flohr: Sometimes.

Kaitlin Milliken: This might be hard for you.

Kaitlin Milliken: I picked up everything at Super 88 before Nathan’s flight touched down in Eastie. Well except for an onion which I forgot to pick up that he grabbed for me.

Nathan Flohr: I have onions now. I have two onions.

Kaitlin Milliken: Thank you.

Nathan Flohr: Can you tell us about what we’re having today?

Kaitlin Milliken: We’re having pancit. And we’re also having lumpia. And Michele made adobo, so that’s exciting.

Nathan Flohr: Tell me about pancit.

Kaitlin Milliken: It’s noodles with stuff.

Nathan Flohr: What kind of stuff?

Kaitlin Milliken: Carrots, cabbage snow peas, pork and shrimp in this particular instance.

Kaitlin Milliken: I know the aisles like the back of my hand. I’m the type of person who’s afraid to ask employees where to find things. They’re busy. Instead, I have spent the years wandering, creating a mental map of where to find what I need. My kitchen follows the same philosophy.

[CHOPPING SOUNDS]

Kaitlin Milliken: I feel like I could have done a more organized job. But I haven’t really cooked in a long time.

Nathan Flohr: What we’re seeing right now is I have three bowls around me. One of onions. One of carrots, ostensibly julienned. And green beans…snap peas, cut into chunks.

Kaitlin Milliken: I’ve been frequenting Super 88 since I came to the city nearly eight years ago. My mom and grandma helped me settle into my first dorm at Boston University. I was 17-years-old and the first of us to go that far away for an education.

We quibbled as we unloaded my suitcases into the prefab drawers of Warren Towers. When it was time to say goodbye, I saw the strongest women in my life cry. I cried too, as I turned the other direction on Comm Ave and walked away.

On that day, I said goodbye to one community. Not a complete farewell, of course, but my family felt more distant than ever before. So I began to grow a community around myself. I launched radio shows and threw parties, but my favorite way to connect was through cooking.

Nathan Flohr: What’s happening right now?

Kaitlin Milliken: I’m sautéing everything, while also boiling water, while also recording. Welcome to the process. It’s a more cursed process than usual.

Kaitlin Milliken: When I lived in my first apartment, I made my grandma’s adobo recipe to introduce my friends Catie and Kreag to Filipino food. When I got sick — and then, you know infected my roommate Frank — I made us arroz caldo.

Around our coffee table, we made core memories and laughed and commiserated. I felt like I had a second family that I could share my east coast adventures with. I felt like I had a second home.

Since those moments, I have graduated and moved away from BU’s campus. I’ve spent the last three years in Allston/Brighton. My small community has grown up with me and in many ways expanded. Through those changes, I have always brought my culture with me. When I started a book club in 2018, we read The Body Papers by Grace Talusan, who writes about her experiences as a filipino woman in Boston — not white enough to perfectly fit in Massachusetts but not culturally fluent enough to feel at home in Manila. We read Malaka Gharib’s I Was Their American Dream, a graphic memoir about moving away from California. Both made me cry.

Around the same time, I got involved with BOSFilipinos. The group offered a different experience. Instead of growing a new community, I was able to tap into one that was pre-existing.

I loved my Boston family but I missed what I had back home. BOSFilipinos’ meetups gave me an opportunity to meet people who were raised like me, who went to college here, who faced similar cultural barriers. This show, which debuted in early 2020, allowed me to capture these connections at a time defined by isolation.

I also learned about the vibrant community we have here. What I’ve loved the most is learning the history — when Filipino people walked these streets for the first time; how people kept the culture alive. Through this show, I’ve learned that community building runs through me. It’s in my blood and from my family. It makes saying goodby to this town so hard.

Nathan Flohr: Right now, in front of us, we have a pan and a pot. In the pan, we have the pancit with all of the noodles and vegetables and meat. It’s over medium heat, is that right?

Kaitlin Milliken: Yeah, medium heat.

Nathan Flohr: How often does it get stirred?

Kaitlin Milliken: Um, until it’s combined and things are cooked.

Nathan Flohr: Do you leave it alot?

Kaitlin Milliken: Yeah, it’s fine.

Nathan Flohr: Okay.

Kaitlin Milliken: When I’m cooking this meal, I’m in the waning moments of my time in Boston. I have roughly two months left before I go back to California, leaving this home to rejoin the one I left in 2014.

I’m sharing this meal with my boyfriend and my roommate — two people who perfectly represent what I’m running toward and what will remain once I’m gone.

Michele Garlit: You need help doing lumpias?

Kaitlin Milliken: Yes, in a bit. That’s what that will be.

Michele Garlit: I figured that’s what it was.

Kaitlin Milliken: Nathan and I met in 2021, while I was on an extended trip to my hometown. Without diving into all the details, we decided to do long distance. We’ve been flying back and forth to see each other for over a year.

My trips home have been long — four to eight weeks in the Bay Area on average. Right now, he’s here for his spring break, recording kitchen noises for me while I make a meal, and learning how to roll lumpia for the first time.

Kaitlin Milliken: So meat cylinder.

Nathan Flohr: So we take the meat cylinder.

Kaitlin Milliken: Put it in the center. I’m actually going to take that one. It’s going to be kind of long, cause you don’t want it to go all the way to the end.

Nathan Flohr: So at the very end of the triangle, of the wrapper.

Kaitlin Milliken: Yeah. So you’re pulling the corners in.

Nathan Flohr: Pull the corners in.

Kaitlin Milliken: Then pinching and rolling.

Nathan Flohr: How much?

Kaitlin Milliken: More.

Nathan Flohr: If it were to be measured, two tablespoons almost?

Kaitlin Milliken: Yeah? I’m so bad. I measure with my heart. I don’t know measurements.

Nathan Flohr: I feel like that’s probably the authentic way.

Kaitlin Milliken: He’ll come back again in June, and we'll leave together.

Kaitlin Milliken: We don’t have to finish the whole plate of lumpia.

Michele Garlit: But what if, Katie, we finished the whole plate of lumpia?

Nathan Flohr: Exactly. Live a little. Drink your drink.

Michele Garlit: There are plenty of drumsticks in here so everyone can get a drum.

Kaitlin Milliken: Oh, here this is going to be better for it.

Michele Garlit: And then I also have some pork belly in here, if people have feelings about that. There are a couple bay leaves that I couldn't find. And I didn;t want to stick my fingers all up in it.

Nathan Flohr: They’re in there.

Michele Garlit: So if you see a leaf don’t be afraid.

Kaitlin Milliken: My roommate Michele and I have been best friends for a decade. We met in high school. When I left for college in Boston, she stayed in California and went to Santa Clara University. She moved out east for law school in 2020.

She’s the most recent person I shared this city with. We merged groups of friends, discovered new restaurants and visited my favorite haunts. During this period of transition, she has been my rock.

When I leave this city, Michele will still be in Boston. She’ll be in our apartment, taking the train to downtown — the same trek I made for years.

But tonight, it’s the three of us, sitting down for Filipino food and to record this episode. It’s the best of both worlds, my favorite people who are both from my hometowns sharing a meal in my favorite city.

Kaitlin Milliken: Alright, I feel like I was supposed to make a speech for this.

Nathan Flohr and Michele Garlit: Speech, speech, speech.

Kaitlin Milliken: And then, I like didn’t think about it. Which is classically me. Thank you guys for dinner. Thank you for all your help. And I’m glad we get to do this.

Nathan Flohr: Speech.

Kaitlin Milliken: That was the speech.

Nathan Flohr: Better speech.

Kaitlin Milliken: Okay better speech. I’m going to miss you.

Michele Garlit: Food good.

Kaitlin Milliken: Yes, food good. BOSFilipinos over, sad. I don’t know. It’s been a ride, but this is a good dinner. I’m going to stop recording now.

Kaitlin Milliken: Boston is a magical place. It’s a big city with the opportunity to grow your career and pursue what you think are your dreams. It’s a place to find the people who embrace you for you. It’s a playground to explore and develop an intimate relationship with. It’s a small town where you can feel a connection to your culture, your neighbors and yourself.

Seven plus years in and I can tell how Boston shaped me. I like to think, in some way, I built something here. No matter how small, I shaped it too.

[MUSIC]

Kaitlin Milliken: Okay, this is the last time I’m going to do the outro. Okay. Wow. [DEEP BREATH] This has been the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken. Music for our show was made by Matt Garamella.

Thank you to Trish Fontanilla for supporting me while I ran this project. Thank you Hyacinth Empinado for being my friend since we connected at a BOSFilipinos meet up in 2019. Thank you to everyone who shared their stories and knowledge on this show. You helped me learn so much. I’ve grown to love this city even more because of you.

Thank you to my family in California and my chosen Boston family. I love you all. Thank you to Michele and Maxine for being my best friends in both places. I can’t believe it's been a decade. Thank you to Nathan for helping me produce this episode, for listening to the draft of this script, for letting me show you all my favorite places, for moving me home, for helping me through this transition. It means the world. I love you.

And, lastly, thank you for listening to this episode and our show. You turned this podcast into a community. It’s been really special. Until next time, goodbye.

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A BOSFilipinos Update

BOSFilipinos is turning 5 this year! In this episode, we’ll look ahead and share what you can expect from our group in 2022. That includes how you can get involved and a little bit more about the future of our show. Trish Fontanilla, who runs BOSFilipinos, joins us for this episode. 

Listen to the episode and see the transcript below. 

Transcript

[MUSIC]

Kaitlin Milliken: Hello, and welcome to the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken, and this show is obviously made by BOSFilipinos.

In each episode, we highlight a different aspect of Filipino life in Greater Boston. But today, we’re giving you an update on what BosFilipinos itself is doing. That includes what you can expect from our group in the future, a few personnel news, how you can get involved and a little bit more about the future of our show.

For this look ahead, I hopped on a call with Trish Fontanilla, the woman who runs the whole operation. If you’re a long time listener, you might remember Trish from our second episode ever.

Thank you so much Trish for being here today.

Trish Fontanilla: I am always excited to talk to you, Katie.

Kaitlin Milliken: So I know that we've had you on the show before, and most of the folks who are listening do know what BOSFilipinos is. But if you could just like give us a little bit of a highlight and background, for those who may just be listening to their first episode, of what the group has done in the past.

Trish Fontanilla: It's such an interesting thing to talk about these days. I feel like it's taken on different iterations since a pandemic. But I think of it as a community group to talk about different Filipino happenings around the city, as a way to bring people together — putting out some great content through podcasts and blog posts and social media. And just a way to elevate Filipino and Filipino American voices around the city. Things that we've done in the past… So this is pre-pandemic, stuff that hopefully fingers crossed, we get to do a little bit more of in 2022. We were doing bi-monthly meetups, so people just getting together that are Filipino and their partners or kids, just a way to see each other every other month. We've done profiles on the website, these podcasts. We were doing some videos of me learning Filipino, which was pretty great, even though I didn't always remember all the things that Hyacinth, who's another volunteer, helps us with. But yeah, just a different way to get multimedia, both in-person and online as a way to, again, highlight different voices around the city.

Kaitlin Milliken: Great. So I know that you mentioned some things that we've done prior to the pandemic, some of the online stuff we've been continuing to do. It's a new year. Tell us what's in store.

Trish Fontanilla: Yeah, you know, I wish the COVID fairies out there would give us more memos about all these different variants that are coming. Because I think I was talking to someone in early December and thinking about doing meetups again. But we will definitely see. I would love to do some sort of outdoor picnic situation to make things safe for people. I hope by next Christmas, we could do a holiday celebration. We did kind of…it wasn't a Noche Buena because it wasn't for Christmas. But we did a really great event at St. Anthony's in Downtown Crossing and a lot of different folks, cross generational, came and brought food, which was really amazing. So I'm hoping we can do some of that as well.

I also know that we have some volunteers that have reached out that want to help. So continuing to up the content a little bit. I know the past couple years have been draining for a lot of us. I feel like I waffled already during this podcast. But I'm going to be optimistic and hopeful of us gathering in different ways in-person this year. So that is my dream to do a little bit more of that in 2022.

Kaitlin Milliken: I also know that there's a lot of, you know, online stuff that happens for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Filipino Independence Day, Filipino American History Month. So if you were to think about the big things throughout the whole year that people should watch out for, what would you highlight?

Trish Fontanilla: I know on Independence Day, there is a flag raising at City Hall. I know there's a few other Filipino groups that get involved with that.

AAPI Heritage Month is April and Filipino American History Month is in October. So we like to do profiles. I try to do a profile every day, which is a lot of folks, I'm really proud. Idon't think we’ve repeated anyone yet. And because there's so many Filipinos and Filipino Americans around the city. So if people know of amazing people or you are an awesome person, or you need someone to tell you how awesome you are, please nominate yourself or other people because we'd love to highlight and profile different folks.

And if you're the kind of person that likes to put together events, I think for this upcoming year, still focusing on outdoors. I know in the past, we've done kayaking, you know people have done hikes. So I know I'm a little bit more comfortable talking about those kinds of events in this upcoming year. It's very much driven by what people are interested in. So if there's some cool stuff that's happening especially, particularly if it's outside and we can gather together safely, I would love to talk to different people about their interests and you know amplify that out into the communities so they can meet new folks and have folks to do the things that they love together.

Kaitlin Milliken: Great and I know that there are a number of other Filipino groups or people who put on events. I know PEAR has done online panels as well as some in-person outdoor activities. The colleges in the area have been putting on a variety of different types of programming in different mediums. If people want to get their events highlighted or promoted by BOSFilipinos, what's a good way to do that?

Trish Fontanilla: Yes, for sure. And we've done throughout the pandemic, we've actually partnered with a few different organizations. I know, during the school year last year, we did some panels with some of the college groups, especially some of the groups of the students that graduated last year that were really worried about networking. So there was some Filipino community groups, but I know there was also Asian and immigrant groups that were like, “Hey, we're going into the workplace, and we need a little help.” So if you ever want to partner with a group…

I mean, we are self-funded. So we have limited sponsorship resources. But if you ever want to be amplified, or want to be interviewed or highlighted, you can tag BOSFilipinos on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. The best way for us to pay attention is also to send us an email at info@bosfilipinos.com. Instagram is our most lively, I think, channel. I personally am not gonna lie, I'm not on Facebook as much. So if you tag us on Facebook, it may take a few days or a week for me to get back to you. But if you tag us on Instagram, I personally am on there pretty much every day, so I'll see it there too. And then on Twitter, I check too. So happy to amplify anything. I will say a lot of people do a lot of fundraisers. So unless you're affiliated with a nonprofits, I tend to not share those. Just because I know that there's so many things happening in the Philippines, and I don't have the resources to backtrack, to see where funds and stuff go. But if you have any questions, you can always send an email to info@bosfilipinos.com.

Kaitlin Milliken: Awesome. Same question about getting involved. Some folks may want to volunteer with BOSFilipinos, get connected and participate in whatever talents and skill sets that they bring to the table. Tell me about what BOSFilipinos is looking for from volunteers and sort of how people can reach out and start participating.

Trish Fontanilla: There's a form on our website. So bosfilipinos.com. There's that form on the, I think it's like the contact us page. So there's that. You can also send a note on Instagram, I will say I’m a little bit old school. So if you need a longer reply, I will probably prefer email so that I can type it out. Because I'm not as cool answering all the things on my phone for Instagram.

But yeah, I've always asked volunteers because I can tell people what we need. But I feel like engaging people in what they're passionate about, what they like to do, is an easier thing with volunteers. Because otherwise, there's just some administrative stuff… If anyone finds joy in that if you do, please email info@bosfilipinos.com. Always looking for people that are creative people that like doing multimedia. So you know, audio, video, blog posts, and then get an also, again, events, if you're interested in leading a group of people, essentially saying, “Hey, I'm going on this hike, can you share with the BOSFilipinos group that I'm going on the hike, and if people want to come we can connect?” That kind of stuff. And we can do it in a way that feels safe. So not, you know, sharing your location necessarily, but getting interested and having people to connect with you.

Tell me how much time you have. Do you like an hour? Do you have a few hours a week that you want to volunteer? And what are you most passionate about? Or who do you want to meet? And then we can figure out a way to, you know, funnel that back into BOSFilipinos and have it be something that you're really excited about, but also something that's helpful for the community as well.

Kaitlin Milliken: Right? I am going to actually take a moment to make a specific ask. Trish already knows this, but I'm actually going to be moving in the near future and the show will no longer be hosted and led by me specifically. So if you have podcasting skills and you listen and you are interested in volunteering, or if you would like to host and have the equipment, you could reach out to that same email. You could also reach out to me on Twitter and I'm happy to talk a little bit about the process if you're a little intimidated but are intrigued. That's KatieMilli on Twitter and also Instagram etc. That's my last plug.

Trish Fontanilla: Well first off, what I wanted to say is thank you for being the founder of the BOSFilipinos podcast, I think you were potentially the last hug I had for a very long time. Because we met in person right before the podcast launch. And we got JP Licks ice cream. And we sat by the Charles River. And we started talking about this podcast, and I have gotten so many amazing compliments about it. I think it's been a wonderful addition to what BOSFilipinos is doing. It's a different way for people to consume information that we've done before. So I think I want to take a quick moment to say thank you so much for setting us up and for continuing on during the pandemic.

Anybody that is interested in hosting, or co-hosting, or the technical side. I mean, as you can maybe tell, I can ramble all day, and ask people questions, but the technical side and what he does behind the scenes, I don't even know all the things that you do behind the scenes, you just make magic and it happens. So definitely reach out to me or Katie. And we will hopefully figure something out. Or if there's like other ways we want to, you know, share information. But this has been such a lovely way to get to know the city to get to know the people. And I'm really thankful for you for doing this podcast.

Kaitlin Milliken: I think my last question for this episode would be like, you know, one Filipino thing in 2022 that you're excited for. So I think that could be like a personal thing. If your family does stuff. Something for BOSFilipino. Something that happens in the city You know, we can both share one and wrap it up.

Trish Fontanilla: A little piece of news that some people may or may not know is I am on the transition committee for the new mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu. And I am going to continue to be. The transition actually finished up in January. Because, you know, there was no longer a transition period. There is a little time in between that's never happened before. Mayor Walsh went to work for President Biden. And then there is an interim mayor, Mayor Janie. So there's a lot of stuff. I was a transition committee advisor. And I'm going to continue to be an advisor for the mayor of Boston. And it is pretty freaking awesome. To have the first elected woman, first elected Asian American, and it's really given me hope in a lot of different ways.

Thinking about this year, it's going to be BOSFilipinos fifth anniversary. And so, I was just thinking about that. So I would love to do some sort of celebration, again, outside. Our birthday is in July. So hopefully that will work out. So I'm crossing my fingers, that will be good.

And something that I've been talking about for a really long time is having a festival in the city of Boston. And I was hoping it would happen year five. It's not. No festivals are going to come together in the next few months. But thinking about getting those wheels turning and doing something really awesome and celebratory, that is inclusive of a lot of different people around the city would be lovely. So I would love to use this fifth birthday as a way to kick off that around the city.

Kaitlin Milliken: That's awesome. I definitely would also want to highlight like a Filipino thing I always look forward to that BOSFilipinos works on: Our blog posts that come out in October for Filipino American History Month. I know both you and I have written posts, and so has Hyacinth, another volunteer. But I definitely encourage folks that, if they have a great story to tell about their Filipino American upbringing or an aspect of Filipino or Filipino American life they really like… I've talked about books in the past one. So it's not only just family history, definitely get writing and send them in. And it's always exciting to read those from a person-on-the-internet perspective. So very excited for that.

Trish Fontanilla: That is like a really good point. It doesn't have to be historical. It doesn't have to be a list. Get in your feels. It doesn't all have to be like rosy happy stuff like there's a lot of different things that we experience in the city as people and you know, as people that are growing up around this. If you have some personal essays, we'd love to read those and even if they've been published before.

Kaitlin Milliken: Thank you so much, Trish, again for taking the time. Very excited to see what 2022 has in store.

Trish Fontanilla: Thank you.

[MUSIC]

Kaitlin Milliken: This has been the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken. Music for our show was made by Matt Garamella. Special thanks to Trish Fontanilla for everything — including making the time to chat for this episode. If you’re interested in running this show or pitching in, send an email to info@bosfilipinos.com. If you like our show, you can subscribe on your streaming platform of choice. You can also follow us on Instagram, @bosfilipinos, for more. Thanks for listening and see you soon.

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Celebrating Religion and Culture with the Filipino Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Boston

Religion, especially Catholicism, has been deeply intertwined with Filipino history and culture. Catholicism was first brought to the region by the Spanish over 500 years ago. As of 2015, The Philippine Statistics Authority reports that nearly 81 percent  of the total Filipino population are Catholic. And, according to Pew Research, 65% of Filipino Americans identify as Catholic. 

For many Catholic Filipinos, religious life doesn’t just mean going to mass. It can mean celebrating the ways that their heritage and religion intersect. The Filipino Apostolate is one way people can participate in religious celebrations specific to the Filipino culture and connect with other members of the Filipino community. 

Our guest today to talk about the Apostolate and Filipino-Catholic celebrations is Father Alex Castro. Father Alex is the pastor of Saint Anne Saint Patrick Parish in Sturbridge Massachusetts. He is also the chaplain for the Filipino Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Boston.

Listen to the full episode.

TRANSCRIPT

[MUSIC]

Kaitlin Milliken: Hello, and welcome to the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken, and this show is obviously made by BOSFilipinos.

In each episode, we highlight a different aspect of Filipino life in Greater Boston. Today, we’ll take a deep dive into one of the area’s religious communities: the Filipino Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Boston. Religion, especially Catholicism, has been deeply intertwined with Filipino history and culture. Catholicism was first brought to the region by the Spanish over 500 years ago. As of 2015, The Philippine Statistics Authority reports that nearly 81% of the total Filipino population are Catholic. And, according to Pew Research, 65% of Filipino Americans identify as Catholic.

For many Catholic Filipinos, religious life doesn’t mean just going to mass. It can mean celebrating the ways that their heritage and religion intersect. The Filipino Apostolate is one way people can participate in religious celebrations specific to the Filipino culture and connect with other members of the Filipino community.

Our guest today to talk about the Apostolate and Filipino-Catholic celebrations is Father Alex Castro. Father Alex is the pastor of Saint Anne, Saint Patrick Parish in Sturbridge Massachusetts. He is also the chaplain for the Filipino Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Boston.

Thank you so much, father, Alex, for taking the time to chat today.

Father Alex Castro: Thank you, and it's my pleasure. Thank you for inviting me to be part of this activity.

Kaitlin Milliken: Tell me a little bit about the history of the Filipino Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Boston? How did it get started? And when did it get started?

Father Alex Castro: Well, I think it's around the late 1990s. It came out I think, as a part of the celebration of the centennial of the Philippine Revolution. So specifically, I think it's before 1998. There was already a group of people, group of Filipinos in Boston, who are desiring to celebrate the Filipino Centennial here in Boston, the longing for more, not only for the celebration, came out after that. So therefore, they established officially, the Filipino Apostolate, and different communities joined them, participated and providentially there was a Jesuit priests from Boston College, who help them and guide them in towards forming the whole apostolate. From there, it grew into a different level, not only for the celebration, but now regularly we meet. We celebrate together in different places.

Kaitlin Milliken: So you mentioned that this started in the 90s. It's sort of grown a little bit more celebrations, more togetherness. Tell me a little bit about how things have changed over time.

Father Alex Castro: Well, right now we are strategically present in two areas of the Boston area. We have what we call the North Shore communities, and they celebrate mass in Malden, Lexington, and then now it's another growing community in Salem. So those are the North Shore communities and then they celebrate mass together at 1pm, at St. Joseph's in Malden, and then Central/South Shore are located in West Roxbury, at Holy Name, and then that's where they gathered together for the celebration. Before that, they were in different churches. But now in those you see them almost permanent in those two areas. So those are just the Filipino Apostolate. But outside the Filipino Apostolate, there are other organizations not PAMANA. And then the Philippine Nurses Association and the Central Massachusetts Filipino American Association. It's a growing group now, but again, the desire for the Filipino Apostolate is to really bring people together through the celebration of the Eucharist and then also to celebrate our Filipino traditions related to our faith. Now that's how it continues to grow.

Kaitlin Milliken: So tell me a little bit about some of the traditions that are related to religion that intersect with Filipino culture and identity.

Father Alex Castro: What are constants are this: one, Easter celebration is specifically Salubong. Now, we have that on a regular basis. Or sometimes when when Easter Sunday falls into one of those two Sundays, we have that big celebration. So then, of course, Christmas. Christmas, either in one of those two communities also. And then of course, Santo Niño. And then during the month of May we have Santacruzan. And so those are just some of the Filipino traditions that we celebrate together here in the Boston area. Unfortunately, we don't have Simbang Gabi because well, it's too cold here in Boston. And then so people might be, they would like to be in bed, still during that time, but we still have the regular masses and then those major celebrations.

Kaitlin Milliken: Some of our listeners may not be Catholic, or they may not be Filipino. We have all types of folks who listen to our show that might be their first time ever hearing those terms.

Father Alex Castro: Santacruzan and the feasts of the Santo Niño are to very unique Filipino celebrations, I would add another one that's the Easter Salubong. So I will start with the Easter Salubong, salubong in Spanish is encuentro or in English, the encounte. For us Filipinos for us Catholic Filipinos, we believe that Jesus after his resurrection, first of all, he appeared to his mother. For us, whenever we go out, and then we come back at home, the first thing we do is to tell our parents we're back. So we see that also in the experience of the Salubong that Jesus first appeared to his mother. So we reenact that through what we call the saloon or the Elantra early morning of Easter Sunday 1000s of people gathering in every church has to celebrate that.

The Santo Niño, the holy child. The image of the holy child is the earliest image brought by the Spaniards to the Philippines that was recorded April of 1521. And that original statue is still in Cebu. So for us, it's a connection. It's a connection to the faith that was brought to the Philippines by the Spaniards in 1521. Now that is a clear connection of 500 years of Christianity. So we still celebrate that in Cebu. And not only Cebu, in other areas of most of the area, the churches in the Philippines to really recognize and commemorate the presence of Christ and Christianity 500 years ago. That's the Santo Niño.

Santacruzan. Santacruzan and Flores de Mayo, actually there are two, interconnected celebrations. Flores the Mayo obviously is pertaining to Mary during the month of May. But Santacruzan is different. It is the reenactment of the founding of the True Cross in Jerusalem by Queen Elena. That is why in every Santacruzan and you have what you call the Reina Elena and then with his with her Constantine, because Constantine then is the son of Reina Elena. So you'll see that in all the processions and then Reina Elena carries a across which symbolizes the true cross now, and then you will see in that procession, the women dressed beautifully representing the different mysteries of the Blessed Mother. And also you will see that with their symbolisms with their images of the Blessed Mother so it's really connected.

So those are very unique and very festive celebrations that we would like to always bring to people, and not only Filipinos now but also to the faithful or just to to really be immersed in the Filipino culture here in the greater Boston area.

Kaitlin Milliken: Great. So tell me a little bit about your journey. What brought you to the greater Boston Massachusetts area?

Father Alex Castro: Just like what I said I belong to an international congregation. Now, when I started my vocational journey in the Philippines. I started with the assumption sisters in Pampanga. But then when I told them that I would like to join a congregation they told me like oh, we have the Assumption Fathers is the Assuptionists, why don't you join them. So in 2001, I was sent here to discern with the community and then I liked it. So I joined them and then became a part of their community. And then in 2006, when they started the Filipino Foundation, I volunteered to be part of that foundation to be back in the Philippines. But then after my ordination in 2011, my first assignment was to be sent back to In the United States in 2012. I stayed for two years at our university, Assumption University and then 2014 to 2018. I was transferred to our community in Brighton in Massachusetts nearby the Boston area, that's where I met the Filipino community, I became part of the celebration and then the activities. And then that was the time when I became the chaplain not to be a part of the planning and organizing activities for the Filipino communities in Boston. But then after that, in 2018, I was moved to our parish here at St. Anne’s now but I'm still connected to their activities, because right now, we don't have yet permanent chaplains. I'm still doing, I'm still the chaplain for the Filipino Apostolate. And all the became bigger now. Because right now here in the parish, more and more Filipinos are visiting the shrine and then connecting them to the whole Filipino Apostolate so that they could participate in those activities.

Kaitlin Milliken: So when you were in Brighton and became involved with the Filipino community in Massachusetts? Were you surprised by the number of Filipino folks who were living in the area? Or was that something you already knew about?

Father Alex Castro: From the very beginning in 2001? We thought like, “Are there Filipinos here?” No. Well, I was surprised they were Filipinos. Well, I think I don't think that's already a surprise, because some people would always tell us “all the Filipinos are everywhere.” But no, I never thought that there would be a big group. And then when I went to Boston, I was introduced to the community. And then, there was a lot of first Filipino families and then the communities. That was the time when I asked the group to introduce me to the different groups so that I will feel connected. And then we can invite them to all the activities, which was really, really an opportunity for me to know more about the Filipino situation and then the Filipino presence, in not only in the Archdiocese of Boston, but outside Boston.

Kaitlin Milliken: So I'd love to just hear if you have any personal memories or stories that you'd like to share from leading mass for this community.

Father Alex Castro: I think it's October 30, we celebrate with the cardinal of Boston, the commemoration of the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. I brought the idea to the cardinal when I participated in one of his masses, when I told the cardinal, “Your Eminence, this year is a special year for us Filipinos because we're celebrating 500 years of Christianity, and we would like you to celebrate with us.” And that he said, like, “I'll be happy to join you now.” So it was October 30. It was in Holy Name. And he was so impressed with the presence of the Filipinos. It was the weather was not good, but we were able to gather around 200 people. And then he was so impressed with that. So that was big.

And then at the same time, it's an expression of who we are in the diocese — in the Archdiocese, and then the Greater Boston Area. And then at the same time, we saw the support of the cardinal in what we do, and that he recognizes our presence in the greater area and what we can do now how to participate in the activities of the Archdiocese of Boston. That was where that was big. That was something that we treasure, and then we would like to pursue that in different activities also.

Kaitlin Milliken: My final question for you, Father Alex, if people want to get involved and attend the celebrations that you're leading, how can they do that?

Father Alex Castro: Second Sunday, it's at St. Joseph church in Malden at one in the afternoon. And the third Sunday, it's in Framingham, St. The Church of St. Tarcisius in Framingham, again one in the afternoon. And then fourth Sunday at Holy Name church in West Roxbury, at one in the afternoon. And all of these are posted on our Facebook account, the Filipino Apostolate of Boston, where you we post all the information and all the activities, aside from the regular masses, and we hope that this will be an opportunity for Filipinos around to join us in those activities and to participate and to share and to express the culture that we have an expression of faith expression of who we are as as Filipinos and then at the same time sharing that to the wider community.

One of the Filipino theologian, Jesuit always mentions this. What is unique about the Filipino culture is one, it's faith. Two is fun. You know that. There's always a celebration in relation to fate. And of course, food. Food will always be there. It's the nourishment of the soul, nourishment of camaraderie, and nourishment of the body. So those are what is unique about the Filipino character. It's always being expressed. And you know that I mean, like, it's our way of expressing who we are. So we invite people, not only Filipinos, but those who are interested in our culture to join us in those activities.

Kaitlin Milliken: Thank you. I think that's an excellent note to close on. Thank you so much, father Alex, for taking the time.

Father Alex Castro: And thank you also for this opportunity.

Kaitlin Milliken: This has been the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken. Music for our show was made by Matt Garamella. Special thanks to Father Alex Castro for making this episode special. To learn more about the Filipino Apostolate of Boston, visit their facebook page.

If you like our show, you can subscribe to the BOSFilipinos Podcast on your streaming platform of choice. You can also follow us on Instagram, @bosfilipinos, for more. If you have ideas of what we should cover, you can let us know at bosfilipinos.com. Thanks for listening and see you soon.

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Aldrin Agas on Culinary Pop-ups and Filipino Cooking Tips

With Thanksgiving in the rearview, the holiday season is in full swing. While many folks kept their gatherings small in 2020, more folks are celebrating this year with family and friends. And that often includes sharing a meal.

So today’s episode is all about food. Aldrin Agas, chef and owner of Kuya’s Cooking, joins us to talk about his own culinary journey and tips for improving your kitchen chops. That includes how he launched his catering and popup business, where to get ingredients for your Filipino pantry, and how to get your hands on recipes. 

Listen to the full episode.

TRANSCRIPT

Kaitlin Milliken: Hello, and welcome to the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken, and this show is obviously made by BOSFilipinos. 

With Thanksgiving in the rearview, the holiday season is in full swing. While many folks kept their gatherings small in 2020, more people are celebrating this year with family and friends. That often includes sharing a meal. 

So today’s episode is all about food. Aldrin Agas, chef and owner of Kuya’s Cooking, joins us to talk about his own culinary journey and tips for improving your kitchen chops. That includes how he launched his catering and popup business, where to get ingredients for your Filipino pantry, and how to get your hands on recipes. 

Thank you so much Aldrin for taking the time to be on our show.

Aldrin Agas: Thanks for having me. It's a pleasure to be here and an honor to be interviewed by you.

Kaitlin Milliken: So just to get started, tell me about how you got interested in cooking. When did you get started?

Aldrin Agas: Oh, I've always had an interest in cooking. It's definitely been a lifelong passion of mine. I think one of them, one of my fondest memories, or earliest memories of cooking is being taken to my Lola's house. This was before I was old enough to watch over my younger brother, but she would always cook us really simple things. And, one of our dishes that we loved was just simple eggs and rice. And I remember being just barely able to be able to safely operate the stove. I asked my grandma, “Grandma, can I make eggs? Can I make eggs?” I made my best attempt at scrambled eggs as I could, and now that was back when I was probably seven or eight years old at the time. Yeah. Probably how I first got interested in cooking. 

And you can almost say that it's kind of in my blood too, because my dad was a chef in the Navy. My parents usually tasked me with cooking food. I always wanted to help him prep whatever needs to be prepared for cooking.

Kaitlin Milliken: There's a big jump between learning how to cook eggs, and opening your own catering business. Tell me a little bit about the learning process. What really helped you develop your culinary skills?

Aldrin Agas: It's always a lifelong sort of love for learning. Because there's always something new to learn, whether it's a new ingredient, a new technique, a new way to fuse different sorts of cultures and different flavors, or if it's a new way to present a food or present a dish. I feel that you always have to have that passion for learning when it comes to cooking. 

For myself, I've been really blessed to, to first have, have my parents teach me all these wonderful recipes from home. But as I've had transition into being a being a chef, learning how to cook food professionally, I definitely attributed to just a lot of love research and more importantly, being able to have a really great network of folks that have been in the industry and have been able to have show me different things show me different tricks and just having a really wide network of support to kind of guide me along this journey. So it's definitely been exciting and fun, and I can't wait to see where this journey takes me next.

Kaitlin Milliken: Let's get a little deeper into Kuya’s Cooking. When did you start it, and what inspired you to launch that?

Aldrin Agas: So I've always had a passion for hospitality. I've been in the hospitality business for for over 10 years now. So I've done everything from bartending, to managing a bar, to sales and events and so it was a way to marry my passion for hospitality with my passion for food. And right around 2017 I'd say is when we when myself my brother and one of my closest friends we were all on the couch just kind of kind of taking it all in and just talking about dreams and aspirations that we came up with the name of Kuya’s cooking and it kind of stuck. So for a period between 2017 and 2020 I had a really simple website. It was just something to kind of tease the senses, and I would make some dishes every now and again for friends and family. 

Right around when the pandemic hit, it was really an eye opening thing for me just because the whole hospitality industry dropped off from top to bottom. And it gave me a chance to kind of really assess, what do I really want? What do I really want to do with my life? And what do I want to do special? That's really what gave me that kick in the pants to say, “You got to do this. You got to make it happen.” So I went through the formal process of starting up Kuya’s cooking right at the back end of 2020. And then I officially joined Foundation Kitchen, which is where I operate out of now. Foundation Kitchen is a shared kitchen space. Some shout out to all the members of Foundation Kitchen, by the way. And that's where I operate now and where I've been operating since January of 2021. 

At the beginning of the year, I did limited food releases. I did a few things between January and April. And I had a few couple months to just kind of take a step back, reassess. There are crazy things going on in my life during that time as well. So just take another step back to say, “Where do I want Kuya’s Cooking to go?” At the end of July, I did my first pop up. And I've been going strong ever since. So it's definitely been an awesome journey. And, the thing that prompted Kuya’s Cooking was just being able to share my love for Filipino food, share my love for food in general, to everyone and specifically to the Boston area. There's definitely a lack of Filipino food and of Filipino restaurants in general. And I'm looking to change that.

Kaitlin Milliken: So Aldrin, how can folks eat your food? How can they get in touch with you and get access to everything that you're making?

Aldrin Agas: So right now the number one way to do that is through my pop ups. Take a look at my website. It's www.kuyascooking.com. I  have a schedule of my upcoming pop-ups. You can also contact me directly if you want to do catering orders of some sort. And yes, I think the ultimate goal, definitely the ultimate goal of Kuya’s Cooking is to eventually open up a brick and mortar restaurant that's accessible to the greater Boston community. So that would definitely be the ultimate goal here. But for now, please support my pop-ups. It definitely helps to get the word out about Filipino food in general. And it’ll definitely help Kuya’s Cooking take off and hopefully get to the point where we're able to open up a permanent location.

Kaitlin Milliken: Tell me about your first pop up. Is there a memorable moment that really sticks with you when you think about that experience?

Aldrin Agas: Yeah, I would say the main thing from my pop ups and like one thing that really, really sticks out to me is when I get a chance to talk with someone, during all the busy moments that will pop up. If I do get a chance to talk to someone and I've heard this quite a bit, I ask them, “Is this your first time having Filipino food?” Sometimes you will get that rare “yes.” But I follow that up with asking them, “Is this your first time having Filipino food in Boston?” And I would say nine times out of 10 folks say “yes.”

That just warms my heart, just knowing that people's first experience when it comes to Filipino food and in New England. Filipino restaurants are kind of few and far between in New England right now. And yeah, wouldn't have hurt to have another Filipino restaurant in the area. 

Kaitlin Milliken: Let's talk about cooking. Not only are folks looking for ways to eat Filipino food at restaurants and at pop-ups, some folks may be interested in learning how to do some cooking at home. What guidance do you have for those folks?

Aldrin Agas: I would say and this applies not just to Filipino food but in general… I would say or actually I’ll quote Miss Frizzle from the Magic School Bus for this one. 

Kaitlin Milliken: Excellent choice. 

Aldrin Agas: “Take chances. Make mistakes. Get messy.” I really think that learning how to cook, especially learning to cook a specific dish,  it takes time. It takes trial and error. Sometimes you make something that's not so good. Trust me I've had my fair share. 

And, really learning that when it comes to recipes, don't be afraid to improvise. A recipe is never set in stone. And sometimes you have to make do with what you have in your kitchen or your pantry. So, feel free to talk about ingredients. Feel free to say, “Maybe I like a little bit more spicy or a little bit more salty. Maybe I'll add a little bit of this. Add a little bit of that.” Really make the make the dish your own. And really, really listen to your gut. Because Lord knows there's a lot of bad recipes. And I feel like if you have that mentality of really putting yourself out there and trying out new things, you really can't go wrong.

Kaitlin Milliken: Let's get a little deeper into recipes. So when it comes to Filipino cooking, you can find stuff online. If you speak Tagalog, sometimes there's videos of people. You can hit up relatives. Where can people get started? If they're like, “I want to eat this, but I have no idea what even goes into it at all.”

Aldrin Agas: I would say that for one — just to plug you all — go to a BOSFilipinos event and just ask around. I'm sure everyone has their own awesome take on whether it be adobo or sinigang, dinuguan on maybe you'll even run into me and we can chat about food. There's actually a pretty surprising amount of Filipinos here in Boston and I definitely think that it's definitely evidenced by like my pop ups there are a ton of Filipinos around. So definitely go up to the Filipino meetups. But if you're looking for a specific website, if you want to really get granular about it, one of my favorites to go to for just entertainment value too is Panlasang Pinoy. So I believe the guy's name is Vanjo Morano. And, he's always entertaining. He posts pretty regularly. So if you're looking for a recipe, I’d definitely go there. But again, recipes are always up for interpretation. So feel free to ask around. Get different opinions on recipes and let the wind take you where it may. Yeah.

Kaitlin Milliken: My second cooking question has to do with ingredients. Where do you get some of the harder to find Filipino staples when you're making your dishes?

Aldrin Agas: So for one, like I would think that the number one ingredient that I use pretty often that is kind of hard to get is bagoong. So for the audience that is not familiar, bagoong is a salted shrimp paste that's used in a lot of Filipino cooking. Bagoong is actually pretty difficult to find if you don't have a car at the moment. And that's actually something that I hope to change as well, better access to Filipino ingredients. 

Speaking here and now, if you want to get really great Filipino ingredients, if you want to support a local Filipino business, I would say Sure Pinoy down in Quincy. That's the number one place to go to for Filipino ingredients. And then if you poke around, there are a few Asian grocery stores. It's definitely hit or miss. But sometimes Asian grocery stores in the area will have a Filipino section where you are able to get bagoong and like none that I can recall in the immediate downtown Boston area. But if you expand your search to Everett, Malden, those areas, sometimes you'll find Asian groceries with Filipino ingredients.

Kaitlin Milliken: Great. So we're sort of moving into the holiday season and that's a big time for — hopefully this year — gatherings and food. Tell me what one of your favorite holiday Filipino dishes is to eat and why.

Aldrin Agas: I would say, so I don't cook this that often. So I always find I tend to cook it during the holidays just because it's nice and rich. It's also, by the way, the dish I submitted when I auditioned for Master Chef a few years back. I love cooking kare kare. It's one of those things that's awesome on a cold winter day to warm the soul. That mix of bagoong, peanuts, peanut butter — who doesn't love peanut butter? And then have some nice green veggies in there, and an awesome protein of your choice. I usually go with a nice kind of chop but you can go with whatever.

Kaitlin Milliken: My final question for you Aldrin, what's one kitchen tip that you want to leave with the folks listening?

Aldrin Agas: Definitely invest in a good knife and cutting board.Those are two touch points that you use to cook with on a daily basis. So you don't need a super expensive knife. You can actually get a really good knife for under 50 bucks. But a really awesome knife and cutting board would be one tip. And then I'll actually throw in a bonus tip for actual food. For all your proteins brine them. Whether it's chicken breast pork, brine them because it just takes the flavor and when you do cook it, it brings the juiciness of the meat to a whole new level. 

Kaitlin Milliken: Awesome. Thank you so much, Aldrin, for taking the time. 

Aldrin Agas: Thank you so much for having me. Have a great day. 

Kaitlin Milliken: This has been the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken. Music for our show was made by Matt Garamella. Special thanks to Aldrin for making this episode special. To learn more about Aldrin’s business visit kuya’scooking.com

If you like our show, you can subscribe to the BOSFilipinos Podcast on your streaming platform of choice. You can also follow us on Instagram, @bosfilipinos, for more. If you have ideas of what we should cover, you can let us know at bosfilipinos.com. Happy holidays, and see you in 2022.

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The History of Filipinos in Boston

While Filipino American History Month is officially over, we’re going to extend the conversation and talk about the history of Filipinos and Filipino Americans in Boston. In this episode, we discuss when Filipinos first came to Massachusetts, as well as the organizations that create communities to bind them together. 

Guests include Richard Chu and Mary Talusan. Richard is a professor at University of Massachusetts Amherst. He teaches courses on US empire and the Philippines, Asian American history, and Chinese diaspora history. He also published a 2007 paper of Filipino Americans in Massachusetts. Mary is an assistant professor at California State University Dominguez Hills. Her family immigrated to Boston in 1974. She is also doing a research project on Filipinos in Greater Boston that will be published by Arcadia press. 

Listen to the full episode.

TRANSCRIPT

Kaitlin Milliken: Hello, and welcome to the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken, and this show is obviously made by BOSFilipinos. 

While Filipino American History Month is officially over, we’re going to extend the conversation and talk about the history of Filipinos and Filipino Americans in Boston. In this episode, we’ll discuss when Filipinos first came to Massachusetts, as well as the organizations that create communities to bind them together. 

For this discussion, I’m joined by Richard Chu and Mary Talusan. Richard is a professor at University of Massachusetts Amherst. He teaches courses on US empire and the Philippines, Asian American history, and Chinese diaspora history. He also published a 2007 paper of Filipino Americans in Massachusetts. Mary is an assistant professor at California State University Dominguez Hills. Her family immigrated to Boston in 1974. She is also doing a research project on Filipinos in Greater Boston that will be published by Arcadia press. 

Thank you so much, Mary, and Richard, for joining us today to talk about Filipino history in Boston. Just to get us started. What do we know about early Filipino immigrants and they're settling in the greater Boston area? Mary, if you want to start us off, that would be great.

Mary Talusan: The earliest record that I found of Filipinos in Greater Boston were students who came here and went to elite universities, or they were sent by the Philippine government as Pensionado under the Pensionado Act, but a lot of them did go home to the Philippines and to take up positions in the government. 

What I found while I was doing research on my book on the Philippine Constabulary Band, which was a band that was formed during the early years of US colonization, and then ended up touring the United States several times. They came in 1909, and actually played at Symphony Hall. And what was most fascinating about this visit by this Philippine band was that it included my great grandfather, who was playing flute and piccolo for this band.

Their conductor Lieutenant Loving was an African American officer, and he actually attended New England Conservatory, but he spent 40 years in the Philippines, so I have to maybe count him as Filipino as well.

But in doing that research, I also found that there was a couple of groups. In 1915, there was the La Gota de Leche who, you know, had meetings of Filipinos that were living in Boston. Filipino Collegians of Greater Boston, in 1904, they had an event talking about Rizal, and these were again Pensionados from the Philippines who were attending Harvard, Tufts, MIT, Boston University, and Northeastern University.

Richard Chu: In the course of writing this study on Filipino Americans in Massachusetts, which I published in 2007, I came across what you may call an amateur historian. His name is Nestor Enriques. He's a retired US Navy man. He did some research on Filipinos participating in wars here in the United States. And he listed at least 12 Filipinos enlisted in Massachusetts. So that was about the 1860s. That's sort of the earliest kind of history that we can find about Filipinos in Massachusetts. They fought in the Civil War, but probably left after the Civil War. 

And the same thing with the Pensionados, the students who probably didn't stay. In the 1960s, when we do have some kind of record showing that there were some Filipinos who have settled here in Massachusetts, I found out that there were about 900 Filipino men, and about 550 Filipino women, who were registered as living in Massachusetts. And over time, that number has increased as more and more Filipinos migrated to Massachusetts, either directly from the Philippines or from other states.

Kaitlin Milliken: Great, and I'd love to talk a little bit about that increased migration to the greater Boston area and how that affected cultural hubs. Can we discuss some of the groups or cultural hubs and centers that took root in the region? I know that's something you mentioned in your paper Richard.

Richard Chu: Yes, one of the earliest groups, for example, was PAMANA mainly formed by Filipinos who worked in the Navy and then decided to settle here in Boston or in Greater Boston. They started out with themselves and their families. And then later on the organization expanded to include other families who are not necessarily from the Navy or the Coast Guard. And since then, there are other groups that have been formed. And today, I think there's a thriving number of organizations for Filipinos and Filipino Americans.

Kaitlin Milliken: Mary, I know that you're also writing a book about the history of Filipinos in the Boston area. Have you found anything about those types of cultural hubs or centers?

Mary Talusan: Richards, right. They're formed around professions. So some of the earliest, as he said, were founded in the 1960s. But we do know of one that existed in the 50s called the Philippine Bataan Club of Boston and New England. But again, yes, a lot of these Filipinos went back home, and a few of them stayed. The few that came in the 60s and then settled here, they formed the PMANE, which is the Philippine Medical Association of New England, for physicians. And then PNANE later was started for nurses as well. 

I have a book here that was published by the Filipino Association of Greater Boston Inc., which was published, which was formed in 1967. And in 1982, they published a self published work called Montage, and there's only a limited number of copies. But Joyce Javier did a great job of putting together photos of Filipinos and their cultural activities around that time. And so it only goes up to 1982. So the book that I'm working on will focus mostly on the 60s, 70s, and 80s, and a little bit into the 90s. 

But the longest lasting ones that are still around today, I would say, are PMANE Philippine Medical Association of New England. PNANE, the Nurses Association is still in existence. And of course, Iskwelahang Pilipino which was founded in the early 70s is still around today. We have some, you know, really wonderful records of organizations that have lasted for a number of decades and are still around today.

Kaitlin Milliken: Great. I would love to dive a little deeper Mary into the book that you're working on. Can you give us some background on what exactly it is and why you decided to write it?

Mary Talusan: For Filipinos in Boston... I would say when I came out here to the West Coast, and I told people that I was from Boston, the first thing they would say was, “There are Filipinos in Boston?” And I said, “Yes, of course my parents have been there, you know, since the early 70s.” 

But I know of many Filipinos that came in even in the early 60s, before the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act kind of opened the doors to immigrants from Asia, for example. Ildefonso de Laurant was performing for the Boston Pops in the 1960s. He arrived in 1962, and was a flutist for the Boston Pops for many years. I think it's really interesting to capture those little known histories of Filipinos in Boston, as well as you know, the larger organizations that kind of have been the backbone of making Filipino culture in Boston and Greater Boston really visible to the wider public. 

So that's what I really wanted to do in this book was to share the pioneering work of my parents' generation and their friends, to really lay down the foundation for the next generation and their grandchildren to feel a sense of pride, history and belonging to the greater Boston Society.

Kaitlin Milliken: What are some of the things that you're focusing on or subjects that you tap that people would expect to see when the book comes out?

Mary Talusan: Yeah, well, I'm really excited because in addition to taking folks through a photographic history of Filipinos arriving in the 50s, 60s and 70s. When we get up to the 1980s, I'm sure you know that Benigno Aquino Jr. and his family came to Boston when they were in exile. From Boston, Ninoy, as we called him, returned to the Philippines and sadly was assassinated. His wife, Corie Aquino, who we know became president of the Philippines, was here in Boston with him as well.

So, my parents’ friends who were part of their inner circle, or their barcada, had all these wonderful family photos of the Aquino's during that time and generously shared them with me. So I don't think there are a lot of family photos of the Aquino's during their time in Boston. So that's going to be kind of one of the gems of the book. I think I have the final Christmas family photo of the Aquino family in Boston, the year in which Ninoy was assassinated. And that was contributed by a first cousin of Corie Aquino, who ended up joining the board of the Benigno S. Aquino Jr. Memorial Foundation, whose headquarters was on Commonwealth Avenue in Massachusetts. 

I also have a lot of photographs from the early 1900s, the Lichauco family, who were here, they had some daughters that lived in Newton, Massachusetts in 1914. The son, Marcel Lichauco was the first Filipino to attend and graduate Harvard College as an undergraduate. So they were so wonderful to share those historical photos with me as well. 

But later on, we get into the, you know, the 90s, when my generation starts coming into adulthood, and they're going off into different parts of the country. I did as well. I'll never forget my roots in Boston. And part of the goal of this book was to capture that time period when this older generation, I mean, they're coming of age, some of them are passing away, and their children are moving all over the United States pursuing their own careers and having their their families. I hope to capture that generation of Filipinos, but I know that there are new communities forming. New immigrants have come to Boston and so I'm really hoping that other people will kind of take on the goal of continuing to archive and promote and make visible Filipino American lives in the greater Boston area.

Kaitlin Milliken: Moving forward a little bit. Richard, I'd love to toss this over to you. In your paper that you published in 2007, you sort of talked about some of the demographics of Filipino folks living in Boston, can you share a little bit about that and the role that the Filipino population plays in the Boston community today?

Richard Chu: Unfortunately, the 2020 census has not yet been this aggregated. In other words, the details of the census have not yet been released. And so what I'm going to rely upon are the census records from the year 2000 and 2010. And from these two census records, there are interesting demographic statistics about the Filipinos that can tell us more about the community in terms of population. 

The steady growth of Filipinos, or Filipino Americans in Massachusetts. In 2010, the number was only 11,980. And then in 2013, it increased to 18,673. Now, in 2020, there are 25,842 Filipinos or Filipino Americans in Massachusetts. 

And then in terms of the gender ratio, it's interesting that over time. There are more females than males in earlier times. And this was back in the 1960s. It showed that there were 897 Filipino males and 546 Filipino females, and this can be explained partly by the large number of Filipino nurses. There is a large number of Filipino nurses in Boston. 

So that's the gender ratio and in terms of median income, Filipino median income for 2010 was $86,143. In terms of educational attainment, many Filipinos also have at least a bachelor's degree. And the statistics show that in 2010 62.2% of female Filipinos have at least a bachelor's degree. And then English proficiency. No surprise is high among Filipinos because of our colonial history, so we were colonized by the United States for almost 50 years and until today, the medium of instruction in many Philippine schools is English. Many of them who came here to the United States are proficient in English. 

The average household size of Filipinos in the year 2000 is also larger than the average in the state. And I guess this we can attribute to the familial practice of Filipinos of having extended families. It's not surprising if adult children still live with their parents or, that they live with their relatives. 

And lastly, in terms of occupation, over 50%, in the year 2000, of Filipinos are in management, professional and related professions. This can also be explained by the fact that many Filipinos who came to Boston are in the medical or healthcare sector. So these are just some of the statistics that we can glean from the census records. That gives us kind of a broader picture of the Filipino community in Massachusetts.

Kaitlin Milliken: Yes, thank you so much for that context, Richard. It's always really helpful to see how you know the history connects with what we see today. Mary, my follow up question to you is, when you were writing your book, I know that you mentioned it's focused on the 60s through the 80s. Were there any points of research or things that stood out about the Filipino community in the 2010s, early 2020s, you know, that you might have come across as you were working on the project?

Mary Talusan: Well, as Richard said, you know, there's always been like fresh influxes of Filipinos immigrating into the Massachusetts area, mostly because of work, their professional work. In the early 2000s, for example, the Boston Public School system actually went to Cebu, and hired about a dozen teachers to fill positions in math and the sciences in the Boston Public School area. And so it was wonderful to connect with them, and, you know, 20 years later, ask them what their experience has been like. A lot of them did stay in Boston. A lot of them joined existing groups such as the Filipino Apostolate. And some of them even formed newer groups. There was a group of Filipino psychiatrist that I know came in the 90s.

 And, you know, fast forward to today, there's a lot of businesses, also by Filipino immigrants. And so I was able to include some of them in my book. But again, I focus mostly on Filipinos during the 70s, 80s and 90s. It was really great to know that there was a FANHS New England chapter, that's the Filipino American National Historical Society, which has 35 chapters around the country. But FANHS New England was really active, like from the 90s, up until about 2005. And I hope that some folks would revive that again, because I think it's one of the ways that we can engage organizational structure to help with research projects involving Filipino Americans. 

I know Richard still continues to do research and I think you're involved with there's an archive at UMass Boston, Asian American Archive as well. Hopefully what the book will do would be to encourage some more research. I don't think this is going to be definitive, but I hope to kind of encourage continuing research on Filipino Americans because there are always new things going on.

PAMANA, which is the Philippine American Mainstream Advocacy for Nonpartisan Associations, has been doing flag raising at Government Center on Philippine Independence Day. Iskwelahang Pilipino continues to educate American-born youth about their Filipino heritage and instills pride in that. There's Santa Cruzans that are going on and different, just informal get togethers by the community. But I think one way to help make that more visible is to find a way to centralize the information and build directories and collaborate more between the different organizations. 

Kaitlin Milliken: My final question to both of you, what's one thing you want people to remember one short thing about Filipino or Filipino American History in Boston? What should they bring with them once this episode is over?

Richard Chu: Our history is really tied to American colonial history. And that is one course that I teach at UMass Amherst, which is the US Empire and the Philippines. The reason why there are many Filipinos here in the United States is that the United States colonized the Philippines and that created this migration of Filipinos to the United States. We have to also look back to our history and be critical of this history. While we have many things to be grateful for here in the United States, we also have to ask those questions why Filipinos, for example, have to leave their country to find better economic opportunities. And how is this migration history tied to our colonial history?

Kaitlin Milliken: Great and Mary, do you have anything to add?

Mary Talusan: Document for yourselves your own family's history, the accomplishments that you've done and someday we can get together and archive from which people can build histories around the Filipino community in Boston and throughout New England.

Kaitlin Milliken: Fabulous thank you both so much for taking the time. 

This has been the BOSFilipinos Podcast. I'm your host, Kaitlin Milliken. Music for our show was made by Matt Garamella. Special thanks to Richard and Mary for making this episode special. 

If you liked this episode of our show, you can subscribe to the BOSFilipinos Podcast on your streaming platform of choice. You can also follow us on Instagram, @bosfilipinos, for more. If you have ideas of what we should cover, you can let us know at bosfilipinos.com. Thanks for listening and see you soon. 

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Kaitlin Milliken Kaitlin Milliken

What’s on My Fil-Am Bookshelf…

Ever since I was young, I have loved reading. As a child, I always had a book with me — a habit I carried into adulthood. Reading allowed me to explore the world and myself, offering one way for me to grow my understanding of my cultural background. 

Here are the books by Fil-Am authors that are on my shelf, and what I’ll be reading next. 

Fe: A Traumatized Son’s Graphic Memoir by Bren Bataclan. In this graphic memoir, Cambridge-based artist Bren Bataclan explores his relationship with his late mother, Fe. He celebrates her life in it’s totality — retelling moments of closeness, their fights, and funny stories from their time together. Bataclan also shares his immigration story and how that shaped his family relationships. 

I was Their American Dream by Malaka Gharib. Another graphic memoir, journalist Malaka Gharib shares her experience growing up as an Egyptian and Filipino American. She explores the intricacies of living between cultures, spending the school year with her mother in Southern California and her summers with her father in Egypt. With whimsical art and interactive elements, Gharib guides the reader through her cultural identities. 

The Body Papers by Grace Talusan. In her first memoir, Talusan retells stories from throughout her life, tackling themes including immigration, cultural identity, hereditary disease, and belonging. She shares her experience living in Greater Boston as an undocumented immigrant and how her culture shaped her childhood. She also dives deep into points of cultural reconnection — including a Fulbright trip to Manila that she took as an adult. 

In Waves by AJ Dungo. In this comic, AJ Dungo memorializes his late partner and her battle with cancer. Not only does he walk through her diagnosis and treatment, but he details the love of surfing that binds them together. Dungo intertwines his personal story with those of surf legends. 

What I’m Reading Next: Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala. A mystery novel released this year, Arsenic and Adobo blends Hallmark movie and mystery theatre in one engrossing tale. When main character Lilia Macapagal experiences a breakup, she moves back to her home town to save her Tita Rosie’s restaurant. But when a food critic (who happens to be her ex) drops dead on the premises, Lilia has to solve the case. 

Do you have other Fil-Am book recommendations? Let me know! 

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Trish Fontanilla Trish Fontanilla

What's Kept Me Going Through the Pandemic

By Hyacinth Empinado

Going through the pandemic while pregnant has left me longing for some creature comforts. When the going got tough, I found myself seeking out things from my childhood in Cebu. I craved Filipino food, videos and music. Hearing Tagalog and Bisaya just wrapped me in warm fuzzies, and soothed my hormonal 30-something psyche. So when Trish asked me to write a blog post, I thought I would share some of the things that have kept me going. 

Ginaling and Nilatang baboy

These dishes really take me back to my childhood. When I was in elementary school, my mom used to bring my sister and I homemade lunches. Some of my favorites were ginaling (ground pork simmered in tomato sauce with peas, carrots and tomatoes) and nilatang baboy (boiled pork soup). We parked under a huge acacia tree, and they were sometimes joined by my friends. My mom would pack the food in stainless steel containers and serve the dishes piping hot with white rice (of course). So much yum!

Hilaw na Mangga (Green Mango) 

In the Philippines, green mangoes are akin to pickles — many women crave them when they’re pregnant. I am no exception. It’s also one of my favorite foods. I always bought them when the mango man made the rounds at school. Sometimes my mom would buy a kilo, and the whole family would have them as an after-dinner snack while we watched soap operas. Many people prefer them with bagoong, fermented shrimp paste, but I think they’re just perfect with a little bit of salt. 

Filipino Music

When September hit, I couldn’t help but listen to Jose Mari Chan’s “Christmas in Our Hearts.” I’m usually pretty adamant that Christmas music should only be enjoyed in December, but I was feeling pretty nostalgic. Listening to this gave me all the warm fuzzies and really hit the spot. 

I’ve also been enjoying some OPM (original pilipino/pinoy music). I keep going back to KZ Tandingan’s Wish bus rendition of Isang Linggong Pag-ibig (originally sung by the legendary Imelda Papin). When I just want to sit back and relax. I listen to Janine Berdin and Joanna Ang’s Bisaya song Bulalakaw. These songs take me back to a simpler time and make me feel like I’m back home in Cebu.

Toni Gonzaga’s Toni Talks 

I’ve been glued to Toni Gonzaga’s Toni Talks on YouTube. I’ve learned so much about the big names I grew up watching on TV. She’s talked to many of my role models growing up like journalist-turned-politician Loren Legarda, newscaster Ces Drilon and media mogul Charo Santos-Concio. As a multimedia producer, it was interesting to me to see how these women progressed in their careers and tackled challenges in their work. If you want to learn more about what drives certain Filipino celebrities and politicians, her show is worth checking out!

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