Singgalot – The Ties that Bind: Filipinos in America
from Colonial Subjects to Citizens

(Monday, January 23, 2012, Stony Brook, NY) Did you know that Filipino sailors landed on American soil in the 1600s? that the first Filipino settlements in America were in the bayous and marshes of Louisiana? That more than 7000 Filipinos fought in World War II? That there are more than 2.7 million people of Filipino descent living and thriving in the United States? Do you know what America is like for Filipino immigrants, and what they have contributed to America?

Celebrate this rich heritage at the Charles B. Wang Center with Singgalot – The Ties that Bind: Filipinos in America from Colonial Subjects to Citizens, on view from February 12 through April 22, 2012. This important exhibition, co-curated by Dean Alegado of the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Franklin Odo of the Smithsonian Institution, tells of the lives, culture, community, and achievements of Filipino American. After tracing the first trans-oceanic trade missions between Manila and Acapulco in the 1500s, Singgalot explores the tenuous political relationship between the United States and the Philippines, when Spain ceded the Pacific-island following the Spanish-American War. Rarely seen historical images detail Filipino migration between 1906 and 1935 as Hawai’i sugar plantations, West Coast farms, and Alaskan canneries recruited Asians to join the labor force. When the U.S. government sounded the call to arms in the 1940s, Filipino immigrants answered, serving as infantrymen and earning respect from a grateful nation. Nearly 20 years later, the 1965 Immigration Act hastened a third major wave of Filipinos who would champion major changes in gender equality and class in the Filipino American community and make significant contributions to the fight for civil rights. 

The Charles B. Wang Center offers a number of complementary programs to Singgalot. On March 3, 2012 at 3:00PM, a Community Opening Program features Filipino-American comedian Rex Navarrete, as seen on Lopez Tonight and in the films Komik Organik and Hella Pinoy. Whether tracing the colonial history of the Philippines through Filipino cuisine, talking about the place of Filipinos in Latino culture, or lampooning figures in pop culture, Navarrete polished, accessible -- and very, very funny.  On March 8, 2012, our Campus Opening Reception features dancers from Philippine Students United Organization (PUSO).

From their important role in Pacific trade to their service in World War II, from their work as artists and performers to their civil rights activism, from Manila to Louisiana to Hawaii to New York, Singgalot – The Ties that Bind is a tribute to this important Asian-American community. Developed by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program and presented in New York in conjunction with Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Social and Cultural Club, Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Asian Pacific American Association, Collaborative Opportunities for Raising Empowerment (CORE), Filipino American National Historical Society (FAHNS), Filipino American Human Services, Inc (FAHSI), Filipino American Unity for progress (UniPro), Filipino Children’s Fund, Philippine Consulate of New York City, Philippine United Student Organization (PUSO) of Stony Brook University, Stony Brook University's Asian and Asian American Studies Department, and Suffolk County's Asian American Advisory Board.

February 12 through April 22, 2012, Charles B. Wang Center Room 201
Monday Thru Friday 10 am to 6 pm
Saturday 12pm to 5 pm
Sunday 12 pm to 5 pm

Community Opening Program with Performance and Reception: March 3, 2012 at 3:00PM

Campus Opening Reception with Performance: March 8, 2012 at 6:00PM

Free Admission

For groups larger than 10 people visiting please email wangcenter@stonybrook.edu

The Charles B. Wang Center at Stony Brook University, located at Exit 62 off the Long Island Expressway, initiates and collaborates with academic departments, student groups, community organizations, and individuals in presenting the public with a multifaceted, intellectually sound, and humane understanding of Asia and Asian American cultures, and their relationship to other cultures.

CLICK HERE TO PRINT FLIERS

###

Fourth Annual Asian American and
Pacific Islander Heritage Month

MAY 12, 2012 Charles B. Wang Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, 1-6 pm Free Admission; 4:30 pm, Multi-Cultural Program & Presentation of Awards to Distinguished Individuals and Induction of AAAB Officers

The Suffolk County Executive’s Asian American Advisory Board, Suffolk County Office of Minority Affairs, Wellbrook Foundation, Inc., Charles B. Wang Center and co-sponsored by Holiday Inn Express Stony Brook, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Taiwanese American Association of Long Island (TAALI) and Filipino Children’s Fund, Inc. (FCF) cordially invites you to the Third Annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration, established to promote cultural awareness of the Asian Pacific American communities and celebrate the diversity of Long Island’s population, will be held at Stony Brook's Charles B. Wang Center.

Featured will be multi-cultural booth display, arts and crafts, costumes, dance, featured presentations, vendor and corporate displays and workshops.  There will be multi-cultural dance and musical performance, open theater, Induction of New AAAB Board Members, Presentation of Awards for distinguished individuals and Awarding Ceremonies for the Social Harmony contest.  

FREE admission from 1-6 PM at the main lobby.  Featuring AAAB Youth Orchestra show starts 1:30 PM, open theater show at the main lobby starts 2:30 PM; and multi-cultural featured presentation at 4:30 pm admission $10 entrance.  The Wang Center Theater seating is limited, First Come, First Serve. Multi-cultural performance tickets are sold at the entrance, please visit our website at www.scaaab.org   For more information, please contact, Ramon Villongco at 631-742-3479; Jim Liu (631) 675-6504 or Jim Young (631) 913-8321.

Media contact:    

Jim Liu, Publicity Chair                     (631) 675-6504              jingxliu@yahoo.com

Ramon Villongco, AAAB Chair        (631) 742-3479             Chimo@optonline.net