ANAKBAYAN-USA

Carry on the Legacy of Malcolm X, Yuri Kochiyama, and Ho Chi Minh May 19, 2015

Anakbayan-USA honors and celebrates the birth anniversaries of Malcolm X, Yuri Kochiyama, and Ho Chi Minh, three staunch anti-imperialists who embodied the spirit of international solidarity. Just as Yuri and Ho stood in solidarity with oppressed African Americans in their time, we stand with the people of Baltimore, Ferguson, and people across the US who are rising up in protest against the brutal extrajudicial killings of our Black brothers and sisters. We call upon all Filipino American youth to heed Yuri Kochiyama’s life-long call to “build bridges, not walls.” We are in solidarity with all oppressed peoples and communities fighting for self-determination against economic attacks and state terrorism under US imperialism, our common enemy.

At the same time, we stand with the call of Asians across the US who also cry justice for slain African-American Akai Gurley and demand that Chinese-American NYPD officer Peter Liang be held fully accountable for his death. We will not allow white supremacy to drive a wedge between Black and Asian communities and pit us against each other in the media  in order to maintain the status quo. All police officers, no matter what their race, must be held accountable for the killings they commit.

The lives of Malcolm, Yuri, and Ho continue to serve as examples for youth of color facing white supremacy and state violence today. It is justified to rebel against an oppressive system that does not serve the needs and interests of the people, to defend oneself as Malcolm stated, “by any means necessary.”  After living as a worker in the US from 1912-1918 and integrating with the progressive Black community in Harlem, Ho Chi Minh later returned to Vietnam to lead the national liberation struggle against French colonialism. Yuri Kochiyama also worked with the progressive Black community in Harlem fifty years later during the 1960’s and joined Malcolm X’s organization. She also supported various national liberation struggles throughout her life, including today’s ongoing revolution in the Philippines. The extrajudicial killing of Malcolm X in 1965 by government assets was executed at a time when his politics began to evolve towards an internationalist perspective due to his travels among the oppressed people of the world.

We urge today’s youth to learn from their examples and realize the interconnectedness between the struggles of poor and working class people across the world. Only by immersing ourselves in working class communities can we concretely understand how people from the US to the Philippines and countries across the globe are all suffering under US imperialism and neoliberal policies. We must carry on and push forward the organizing work started by Malcolm, Yuri, and Ho in order to bring about a more just and humane future.

State terrorism and fascist police violence against African-Americans in the US are a constant thread throughout this country’s existence. The police principally function to serve and protect the property and business interests of the ruling class by quelling the resistance of the working class masses. This rang true in the 1960’s during the time of Malcolm X and was recently demonstrated in Baltimore as well as in other uprisings such as Los Angeles in 1992.

The US was founded by racist slave owners and the wealth of this nation’s ruling class was accumulated through the massive inhumane exploitation of working people and people of color. The first police forces in the US were Slave Patrols created to protect the property of slave owners from rebellion by interrogating and persecuting African-Americans without any justification or due process. This unjust practice continues today as police are increasingly being exposed for their unjust and widespread treatment of African-Americans as automatic criminal suspects and threats to the oppressive status quo.

In tandem with the denial of basic resources and underfunding of social services such as education and youth development programs, the police consistently attack African-American and other communities of color as a means to continue capitalist profit-making through the prison-industrial complex. We demand an end to this malicious scheme and call for systemic changes for the people to gain political power to determine the future of their communities.

Fellow teachers describe Carlos, called Caloy or Charlie by fellow activists, as amiable and adaptable, diligent and trustworthy. He was an organization man, but he was also dynamic, an effective articulator for nationalism, social reforms and civil liberties.

Charlie became a student activist in the mid‑1960s, organizing core groups which later became the base of the militant Kabataang Makabayan (KM), which he helped establish in 1964. Charlie was KM’s first Vice‑President. He also became its National Treasurer, General Secretary and Executive Member of the Committee of Advisers in its National Council. He was a major personality of the 1970 First Quarter Storm (FQS).

In these capacities, Charlie helped organize the massive demonstrations, conferences and congresses that helped spread the nationalist movement in the Philippines. He believed that the revolution started by Bonifacio and Jacinto of the Katipunan was unfinished and had to be completed.

Asian America is not a monolith. We occupy both ends of the economic spectrum, and most people included in the Asian American demographic category identify by ethnicity, not by the western-conceived imagination of what’s known as Asia. But all the important work that advocates do to disaggregate demographic data and research is only important if we are clear about the politics and values that hold us together as Asian Americans. Given that the U.S. economy and political system are rooted in anti-blackness, claiming our place in America means that we must take a position when faced with the separate but unequal worlds of whiteness and blackness. We are either left or right of the color line. There is no sitting that out.

Japanese and Chinese American organizations and leaders were active in creating the model minority myth, and they embraced anti-blackness. But Asian American identity was forged in the crucible of the black liberation struggle, and also centered demands to end imperialism and war. This is what it means to be Asian American. I choose resistance.

Organizers in Ferguson, with national allies, put out this vision statement last night:

We are striving for a world where we deal with harm in our communities through healing, love, and kinship. This means an end to state sponsored violence, including the excessive use of force by law enforcement. We are committed to an America that comes to terms with the trauma of its painful history and finds true reconciliation for it. Mass incarceration and the over criminalization of black and brown people must forever end, leaving in its place a culture that embraces our histories and stories. This means an end to racial bias and white supremacy in all its forms.

 Our dreams are directly linked with those resisting militarism, war, and state repression around the world. We will achieve this new beloved community hand in hand, step by step, in global solidarity with all people committed to lasting peace and full justice.

The mutually reinforcing myths of black criminality and the model minority have no place in the world envisioned by the people of Ferguson, defiantly standing their ground, armed with love and rage in the face of tanks and guns. That is the world that I yearn for, in which we can all thrive and be seen.

Does Ferguson matter to Asian Americans? Yes.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 13, 2014

Anakbayan-USA strongly condemns the illegal arrests of Anakbayan Central Luzon member Gerald “Geary” Salonga and Kabataan Partylist Regional Chair Guiller “Guilly” Cadano and demands their immediate release. 

On August 9, during a meeting, former University of the Philippines Diliman students Salonga and Cadano were forcibly abducted by suspected forces of the 3rd Infantry Battalion of the AFP in Barangay RT. Padilla at 3:00pm. During a fact-finding mission on August 10 led by KARAPATAN, a human rights organization, the youth leaders were found under the custody of the Philippine National Police - Provincial Public Safety Company Headquarters and were charged with “illegal possession of firearms and explosives.” This account of illegal arrest is a part of the ongoing political repression under President Aquino’s counter-insurgency program, Oplan Bayanihan, modeled after the US Counterinsurgency manual.  Oplan Bayanihan serves the purpose of suppressing political dissent and has guided the AFP in committing countless human rights violations since 2011. Just earlier this March, Anakbayan Abra chapter member Freddie Ligiw, along with his brother and father, were murdered by suspected forces of the military in the Cordillera region of the Philippines. We have yet to see justice for Freddie and his family. Both Geary and Guilly are among the thousands of youth and student activists in the Philippines demanding freedom and democracy for the Filipino people. They are among the thousands of youth and student activists addressing impunity and demanding accountability from the oppressive government. They are among the thousands of youth and students actively participating in the National Democratic movement, aiming to educate, organize, and mobilize youth to uphold the basic human rights of the Filipino people, in the Philippines and across the globe. This continued state violence and unlawful detention against the people and activists of the Philippines must be stopped. Anakbayan-USA demands the immediate release of Geary, Guilly and all political prisoners of the Philippines.

Kapit Bisig Kabataan means “Youth Link Arms” in Tagalog. It is a national Filipino American youth and student-led relief network built in response to Typhoon Haiyan and future disasters.

On January 8, two months after typhoon Haiyan devastated Eastern Visayas and left thousands dead and millions homeless, youth and student leaders from Anakbayan-USA, Samahang Pilipino - UCLA, Filipinx American Student Association of Oberlin College, Pilipinos of Hunter College and Liga Filipina of Columbia University met to form a national Filipino youth and student relief network.