Neighborhood News: Filipino culture thriving through festivals, cultural center, historical center, advocacy
For more than a century, Filipinos in Chicago have had a significant impact on Chicago’s cultural vibrancy, economy, and social landscape.
As WBEZ Chicago tells it, Filipino history in Chicago can be traced over three major waves of immigration to the city…first, in the early part of the 20th Century, the second in the 1920’s, and the third in the 1960’s.
Today, Filipinos are the fourth-largest group immigrating to the Chicago area, migrating from their roots on the South Side as Pullman porters to North and Northwest Sides, including Edgewater, Uptown, Albany Park, Irving Park, Lincoln Square, and West Ridge.
They’ve established community institutions like Lakeview’s Rizal Center and Filipino American Council of Greater Chicago (FACGC) serving as a place for cultural celebrations, community support, and social change initiatives, fostered a growing food scene, and contributed to fields like medicine, technology, and education, while also engaging in crucial activism for immigrant rights.
Their descendants continue to build on that legacy through cultural events and robust food businesses.
History
“The first significant wave of Filipinos were the pensionados,” as James Zarsadiaz, told WBEZ earlier this year. He’s the author of Raising Hell in the Heartland: Filipino Chicago and the Anti-Martial Law Movement.
These Filipinos, he said, were mostly young men from wealthy families. They were unique among immigrants in the early 20th century, as most from Asian countries were barred due to racist immigration policies.
But the Philippines had just become a U.S. colonial territory after the Spanish-American War in 1898. Then, in 1903, after the Philippine-American War, the U.S. government began giving these students scholarships to attend American colleges. The goal: to bring American customs back to the Philippines.
According to Wikipedia sources, this group of Filipinos worked as laborers in hotels and restaurants, for the post office, and for Pullman’s menial jobs due to discrimination. By 1930, there were about 2,000 Filipinos in Chicago. After the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 passed, Filipino immigration increased.
Today, immigrant and minority rights are protected through the group AFIRE, whose mission is to create a political home to “confidently organize toward the liberation of immigrants, workers, domestic workers, queer and transpeople, and oppressed peoples everywhere.”
The Filipino American Council of Greater Chicago (FACGC) is guided by the Filipino traditions of pakiki-isa (solidarity) and pakikipagkapwa (embracing shared identity and caring for fellow beings), and is committed to American ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and inquiry.
Celebrating Cultural Heritage
There is one place in Chicago that is considered by many Filipino Americans as their ‘home away from home.’ The Rizal Center, 1332 W. Irving Park Road, named after the Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal, known for his influential role in advocating for political reforms under Spanish colonial rule through his writings, who was executed by a firing squad at age 35. Filipino culture thrives in Chicago through historical institutions like the Rizal Center and organized community groups such as the Filipino American Council of Greater Chicago (FACGC), which provide cultural, social, and economic support for the Filipino community, the seventh-largest in the U.S. Key cultural expressions include the annual Musika SamaSama Filipino Festival, the preservation of community history by the Filipino American Historical Society of Chicago, at the Hana Center, 4300 N. California Avenue, and the availability of Filipino cuisine at local restaurants and bakeries.
One great example of Chicago’s Filipino influence on local restaurants is the restaurant Kasama, 1001 N. Winchester Avenue, the world’s first Filipino restaurant to earn a Michelin star.
Event
On Saturday, September 27, at Eugene Field Park, 5100 N. Ridgeway Avenue, 12pm – 4pm, the Chicago Park District is celebrating Musika SamaSama Filipino Festival. Bring the whole family to this admission-free festival to savor mouthwatering Filipino food, explore artisanal crafts, and enjoy an evening of live music and storytelling. Headlining the festival is Chicago’s premier Filipino folk fusion band, SamaSama Project.
Alison Moran-Powers and Dean’s Team Chicago
