Filipinos in Chicago: A Legacy of Transformation and Resistance

Celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month by delving into the history of Chicago's Filipino American community with Block Club Chicago.

Join award-winning editor and writer Michi Trota (she/her) for an engaging and in-depth discussion with Mark Calaguas (he/him), Board Chair for Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment (AFIRE), community leader Jerry Clarito (he/him) and educator and advocate Carla Navoa (she/her/siya) about how Filipinos created vibrant communities in Chicago and continue to draw on a rich tradition of collective action and advocacy to achieve transformative justice and dismantle inequitable institutions for all Chicagoans.

The speakers will explore how Filipinos weave their history with migration, American imperialism, and resistance to authoritarianism to help shape the growth and development of Chicago culture and politics. From the alliance forged by Filipino and Black workers during the Pullman railcar strikes to the ways U.S. immigration policy has at turns enabled and targeted Filipino immigrants, this discussion will seek to highlight some of the stories that are often left out of Chicago's history and what lessons can be learned as we continue the fight to make Chicago a truly welcoming, supportive, and just home for everyone.

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