as i said before and i’ll say again until i die, due to the volatile nature of my existence i do not have the luxury of being single-issue.
something that is very very very very important to me that i have not found the strength or words for until now (which i will be posting much much much more about once #matt and kteeo are free, and i will be visiting my lola in marikina and doing what i can do to support kasamas who are struggling over there) in regards to political prisoners, forced disappearances, torture, and murder—sponsored by u.s. imperialism feat. noynoy aquino—is called oplan bayanihan.
this is a disgusting misuse of the word bayanihan, which is not translatable to english but loosely: community, solidarity, mutual aid. it comes from the indigenous tradition of kasamas helping a pamilya move by LITERALLY CARRYING THEIR BAHAY. i remember learning about this when i was young and it has been in my mind ever since. one of the reasons why i love my name, bayani, is because it is the beginning of bayanihan and reminds me of that constantly. the word bayan means community. i’ve been posting a lot of information about oplan bayanihan over the past few months/years (though only the recent ones are tagged) and many of those things have not received a single like or reblog even though i have nearly 1000 followers and a picture of my face or a gif of nicki minaj will get 100+ “likes/reblogs”.
this is but a continuation of over 500 years of colonial and imperialist rule and indigenous genocide in the collection of 7,107+ islands with SO MANY DISTINCT CULTURES, LANGUAGES, AND ETHNIC GROUPS that has since been known as “the philippines” and “filipin@”—a name which, when we use, directly refers to our spanish colonizers.
this is deeply upsetting to me because a lot of people who live in the philippines are not even aware of these atrocities that are happening because of the u.s. government and the philippines government. i expect EVERY SINGLE WHITE PERSON WHO FOLLOWS ME to educate themselves about this (i will not be answering any questions that are easily answerable with google and will delete such asks i receive immediately because they make me very angry).
i will start your journey here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=oplan+bayanihanhttp://www.desaparecidos.org/phil/eng.htmlsome tumblrs that are dedicated to posting about these atrocities and human rights violations and update regularly (message me if you know of more):
http://artivista.tumblr.com/http://sfchrp.tumblr.com/
you have no excuse to not be informed about this and to tell your friends and family what is happening in the philippines because of our corrupt governments. i have not seen a mainstream news article talking about this. you even have to do a few pages of digging on google to find people who are actively AGAINST and RESISTING oplan bayanihan. it honestly is breaking my heart how much support i am currently receiving in every other area of my life except for this.
i want to actively “reclaim” the word bayanihan from noynoy/oplan bayanihan. i want to use it as its original meaning, and as the revolutionary nature of our kapwa and commitment to decolonization.
I WANT TO ACTIVELY “RECLAIM” THE WORD BAYANIHAN FROM NOYNOY/OPLAN BAYANIHAN. I WANT TO USE IT AS ITS ORIGINAL MEANING, AND AS THE REVOLUTIONARY NATURE OF OUR KAPWA AND COMMITMENT TO DECOLONIZATION.
this is also an invitation to my kasamas to go to our homeland as soon as my back is healed enough to sit on a plane. i have the incredible privilege of having a white adoptive dad who is a commercial airline pilot and a large network of pamilya, mostly in luzon (particularly marikina, quezon city, and sorsogon. that was back when i last visited almost 8 years ago, so i’m sure i have much more pamilya spread across the islands now). i want to get as many kasamas over there as i can, for free or close to it, and i can provide kasamas with a safe bahay and plenty of delicious and healthy vegan food. i know the pain of diaspora and the incredible transformation that comes from healing that pain.
i believe in the true spirit of bayanihan. it is something within all of us, embedded in our kapwa. it is incredibly difficult to find in the diaspora but impossible to release once you connect with it.
