FAHM 2021: Remembering Early Filipino Pioneers in the US

WASHINGTON D.C., October 1, 2021 – The National Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) welcomes Filipino American History Month (FAHM), a special time when we commemorate the first recorded arrival of Filipinos in the United States on October 18, 1587. They are a group of indigenous Filipinos who worked as sailors on board the Spanish trading ship known as Manila Galleon in Morro Bay, California. This makes the Filipinos the first documented Asian people to arrive in the United States. 

Over the years, the Filipino community has continued to help grow and expand different cities in the United States. From establishing the first Filipino settlement in the United States in 1760, to Antonio Miranda Rodriguez Poblador and other Filipinos being sent by the Spanish Government in 1781 to establish what is now Los Angeles, California. The Filipinos did not just help the population growth in the country, but they also helped advance rights and advocated for US workers. In 1965, Larry Itliong and a group of Filipino farmworkers instigated “The Delano Grape Strike of 1965,” which significantly impacted the American farm labor movement as it brought about the creation of the United States Farm Workers Union (UFW).

Today, many Filipino Americans are among the brave frontline workers fighting a much different battle than our ancestors had fought before. Los Angeles Times reported, “Although comprising only 4% of the nursing population nationwide, nearly one-third of nurses who died of coronavirus in the US are Filipino. In the state of California, where the largest population of Filipinos reside, they represent at least 30% of all deaths from COVID-19 despite constituting only 25% of the state’s Asian population.”

In partnership with Civic Leadership USA (CLUSA) and Legal Good, NaFFAA brings together Filipino Americans who ran for office to share how, you too, can run a successful campaign in the service of your community or your country. 

On October 14th, California's first Filipino American Attorney General Rob Bonta is joining us to share his experience and journey.

For more information or to sign up now, click here.