br0ke:

“Images of the Filipina” by Erwin Sunga, Caroline Calderon, Ingrid Liggayu, Bianca Flores

Credits to:
“We, Spoken Here 2” (Barbara Jane Reyes)
“If you want to know …” (Carlos Bulosan, Bino Realuyo, Proletariat Bronze)

Google Filipina, what do you see?

mail order brides
the perfect companions
exotic women
So how do WE define Filipina?

If you want to know who we are
Know our stories
understand our beautiful struggle
Don’t mistake what we say
We portray pinay everyday
in every way
Redefine:
the pinay cannot be bound by gender or sex
Yes, we Babae
and Lalake
We ates and achievers
We prostitutes and poets
We mothers and melissa roxas
We ypsp and yayas
We Rocky Rivera and roll models
We warriors and wonder womyn
We are all pinay

If you want to know who we are…
The pinay cannot be bound by borders
She is constantly moving
constantly recreating herself
We the overseas workers and overworked
We Saudi Arabia and South of Market
We Cory and community
We Bayan and Bessie Carmichael
We Katipunan and Kalinga
We Gabriela and Goddesses

We malakas and maganda
We malakas and maganda
We, malakas and maganda

If you want to know who we are…

We are the Filipina, the Filipino
In solidarity
We are all pinay

mishlapi:

Sharing this to spread awareness regarding Overseas Filipino Workers & shed light about the reality for a lot of people and even our families. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about Coke. But in any case, the difficulties of OFWs needs to be shared.

I also wanted to add that OFWs are often mistreated and exploited. They endure long hours, receive little pay, and have poor living conditions.

While Coke is sending folks back home, I want to also note that we can play a part as well. A bigger part—not just sending folks back home, but creating systemic change.

The Philippines’ biggest export? Its people.

(Source: nina-wins, via asdfghjklmish)