Response to “My Family’s Slave”

Many have responded to Alex Tizon’s article, “My Family’s Slave,” since its publication in The Atlantic’s June 2017 issue. As members of the Philippine Women Centre of BC, we invite readers to be critical of what has been written. We ask readers to confront the uncomfortable questions of privilege that the author did not ask himself in his article, despite benefiting greatly from the story of Eudocia Tomas Pulido. We ask readers to see the article not as the end of her story, but as the start of understanding the conditions that make such a story possible.

Her story does not end here. It is one among the number of stories that countless Filipina women have. Eudocia’s story is not unlike stories of Filipina women working under Canada’s Caregiver Program.

Women from the Philippines migrate with temporary status to countries abroad for work as domestic workers, care aids and caregivers. They are encouraged to do so through government-established labour programs that fill in serious gaps in care provisioning for highly-privatized economies in the global north, while they keep the economies of the global south afloat through the billions of dollars of remittances they send home. Yet as women become the sole breadwinners of their families, their temporary status as migrants, as domestic workers, as mothers in absentia keep them locked into feudal-like conditions of modern day slavery, as they toil for the eventual promise of citizenship, economic stability and family reunification.

Within and without the home, women continue to struggle for their freedom. And so the story continues.

“Where is Lola?”
While the article is described as a story of slavery and posits Eudocia, the family’s slave, as the story’s central figure, it is clear that Tizon’s account focuses on his family’s perspective. We get an insider’s account into the slavemaster’s story, one that is clear in describing their high-status and privilege. We learn of his origins as a member of the landowning and military class. We read about how they became incorporated into the American middle-class as a “model immigrant” family with a professional background. Even when Eudocia’s unpaid labour for the family calls the family’s status into question, nobody in the family is willing to relinquish their privilege, not even the author.

Even as the family refused to admit it, Eudocia was relegated to being the family’s slave, as we read about many times over in several examples. We read about how Eudocia is treated as a disposable member of the family, despite how her unpaid labour keeps the family together. We read about how the family takes advantage of Eudocia’s background as a young, uneducated member of the poorer classes. How she is unable to leave the home, to use an ATM machine, to pursue an education or to visit her family.

Even when Eudocia moved into the author’s home, she continued to be the family’s slave. He thought cutting off her chains had made her free, without thinking about the invisible ones holding her down, such as facing a language barrier, her lack of education and having no actual financial means separate from the author’s family. While Tizon claims to provide better conditions for Eudocia, he complains about how she continues to cook and clean. Whether he understood it or not, he became the benevolent new master for his family’s slave. And in publishing Eudocia’s story from his family’s perspective, she continues to “serve” as a vehicle in his tell-all for his catharsis from his own guilt.

Ending modern day slavery
You may have found Eudocia’s story shocking but sadly, we didn’t. We have called for the end of Canada’s Caregiver Program (CP) for over two decades now. Many of our members have experienced abuse firsthand and have openly and generously shared at events, public forums and in university classrooms. They’ve shared their trauma. Don’t simply stay shocked at the degradation of our women, but question the ways in which you are complicit with the ongoing abuse. We cannot let the vestiges and deep injustices of enslavement, as an ongoing global and historical process, mar our loving humanity and our solidarity in our collective struggle for freedom.

Uplift the stories of our women. Scrap Canada’s Caregiver Program and advocate for universal childcare for all women.

Stand with love, not fear: solidarity against Islamophobia

Vancouver, BC—Members of the Philippine Women Centre of BC stand in solidarity with members of the Muslim community, who have been targeted by Islamophobic attacks such as the recent Quebec mosque shooting. We also stand with those across the border who are calling for an end to the immigration ban against all Muslims, and an end to all religious, gendered and race-based oppression that have fueled the spike in hate crimes. As racialized members of Canadian society, we stand together against all forms of marginalization and hatred.

While diversity is an empirical reality in Canada, with a population from various ethnic backgrounds, systemic racism continues to uphold hierarchies of exploitation and stands as a barrier between the cohesion of our many communities. Colonial legacies and ongoing forms of dispossession have and continue to impact us today, from the displacement of communities from their historic neighbourhoods to Trudeau’s approval of the Kinder Morgan Pipeline. Despite the image of a welcome Canada, the reality of refugee and temporary foreign worker detentions and deportations, and the refusal of refugee resettlement increases delineates an immigration system of refusal, not belonging. Hate crimes and violent attacks are not isolated incidents that mar the image of a diverse Canada, but are symptoms of the reality that people of colour and Indigenous people face in this country.

The threat is fear and racism in ourselves and our institutions, not the Other. We must end racist and exclusionary policies and advance the movement for genuine settlement, integration and permanent immigration. We continue to stand in solidarity and advance our common struggles towards a truly multicultural and equal society.

Stop Islamophobia!
Condemn the immigration ban against Muslims now!
Rescind the exclusionary “Safe Third Country” agreement!
End systemic racism and call for genuine settlement and integration!

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For more information, contact:
pwcofbc@gmail.com
facebook.com/PhilippineWC
@pwcofbc

Minamahal kong Nanay, Tatay, Tito, Tita, Lolo, Lola (Canadian Version — Tagalog Translation)

Ito ang bersyong Tagalog ng Letters for Black Lives, isang proyekto para sa mga taga U.S. at Canada para sa paglikha at pagsalin ng mga materyales tungkol sa anti-Blackness para sa mga kommunidad na nagkakaisa sa #BlackLivesMatter at mga kilusan para sa tunay na kalayaan ng mga itim o Black people. Ang mga letra ay isinulat at isinalin ng daan daang tao na gustong magkaroon ng makatotohanan at magalang na usapan kasama ang kanilang pamilya at komunidad tungkol sa sa isang isyu na malapit at mahalaga sa kanila.

Minamahal kong Nanay, Tatay, Tito, Tita, Lolo, Lola:

Mayroon po akong gustong sabihin sa inyo. Marahil ay hindi ninyo nakasama ang mga itim nung lumalaki kayo. Pero para sa akin, mahalagang bahagi sila ng buhay ko: ilan po sa kanila ay aking mga kalaro, kaibigan, kabarkada, kaklase, katrabaho at kapamilya. Ngayon, ako’y lubos na nag-aalala sa kanilang kalagayan.

Kamakailan lang sa U.S., pinatay ng mga pulis ang isang itim na lalaki, si Alton Sterling, habang siya ay nagbebenta ng mga CD sa labas ng isang tindahan. Kinabukasan, pinatay ng pulis ang isa pang itim na lalaki, si Philando Castile, pagkatapos siyang pinatigil para punahin ang kanyang sirang tail light. Kasama niya sa kotse ang kanyang nobya at ang anak niya na apat na taong gulang lamang.

Itong taon pa lamang, mahigit na 500 tao na ang pinaslang ng mga Amerikanong pulisya. Bente-singko porsyento (25%) sa kanila ay itim, kahit na ang mga itim ay bumubuo lamang ng labing-tatlong porsyento (13%) ng pangkalahatang populasyon sa Amerika. Dito sa Canada, ang mga itim ay hinuhusgaan na masama, pinupunterya at minamaltrato ng ating kapulisan, at ang kanilang bilang sa bilangguan ay labis. Kamakailan lamang, sina Andrew Loku, Jermaine Carby, Abdi Hirsi, Jean-Pierre Bony, at marami pang ibang itim, ay binawian ng buhay ng mga alagad ng batas ng Canada. Tandaan din natin sila Jeffrey Reodica, Christian Derro, Charles Dalde, Mao Jomar Lanot, Deeward Ponte at iba pang kabataang Pilipino sa Canada na pinatay o maling hinusgahan ng mga pulis. Kadalasan, hindi napaparusahan ang mga pulis sa pagpatay nila ng mga taong ito.

Ito po ang nakakilakilabot na katotohanang hinaharap bawat-araw ng karamihan sa aking mga kaibigang itim.

Kahit naririnig natin ang mga panganib na hinaharap ng mga itim, ang ating kaisipan at pakiramdam ay inuudiyok tayong mag-pokus sa mga iba’t-ibang paraan kung paano tayo iba sa kanila, at huwag bigyan pansin ang katotohanan, sa halip na makidalamhati sa kanilang kalagayan. Tuwing may nababaril na itim ang mga pulis, madaling isipin na ito ay kasalanan ng biktima, dahil marami tayong naririnig na negatibong kabulaanan tungkol sa kanila sa balita, telebisyon, at mismo sa ating sariling hapagkainan.

Gusto ko pong ipamahagi sa inyo paano ko nakikita ang sitwasyon. Tingin ko po baka magkatulad ang ating pananaw.

Tayo ay dumadanas ng diskriminasyon dito sa Canada dahil sa ating pagiging Asyano at Pilipino. Minsan tayo ay hinuhusgahan dahil sa ating pananalita, dinadamutan ng mga opportunidad dahil sa paningin na hindi natin kaya mamuno. Madami sa ating nakakatanda ay hindi pinagpalad na makapagtrabaho sa kanilang piniling at pinagaralang propesyon dahil ang kanilang edukasyon sa Pilipinas ay hindi kinikilala bilang sapat. Ilan sa atin ay nababaon sa hirap. Ilan sa atin ay trinatratong parang kriminal at pinamumukha na ‘di tayo karapatdapat manirahan dito sa Canada, lalo na ang mga walang papeles o permit at ang mga naghihintay ng kanilang Permanent Residency.

Pero sa kadalasan, hindi binabaril ng mga pulis ang mga anak o magulang natin dahil sa ating lahi, ‘di gaya ng kung paano nila tratuhin ang mga itim at mga Indigenous o mga katutubo ng Canada. Bukod pa sa roon, madalas tayong tinatratong mas mabuti ng mga employer, mga nagpapaupa ng tirahan at mga institusyon kumpara sa pagtrato nila sa mga itim o katutubo.

Ilan ang mga dahilan kung bakit iba ang mga karanasan ng ang ating mga kaibigan na itim. Sa bakasakaling alam niyo na po, sinakop ng mga taga Europa itong kontinenteng ating kasalukuyang tinitirahan, ninakaw ang mga lupain at likas na kayamanan ng mga katutubo at puwersahang kinuha ang mga itim sa Afrika bilang kanilang alipin. Daan-daang taon, ang kanilang mga angkan, pamayanan, pamilya at kahit ang mismo nilang katawan ay sapilitang ginamit at inabuso para sa pansariling pakinabang. Kahit pagkatapos ng slavery, patuloy silang nakakaranas ng diskriminasyon. Noon at ngayon, patuloy na ipinaglalaban ng mga itim ang kanilang mga karapatan sa pagboto, pagbili ng bahay at ari-arian. Noon at ngayon, patuloy silang namumuhay sa gitna ng karahasan.

Sa paglaban ng kanilang mga karapatan, ang mga aktibistang itim ay naglunsad ng kilusan para maisulong ang pagkakapantay-pantay, hindi lamang para sa kanila kundi para din sa atin. Bilang mga Pilipino at may kulay dito sa Canada, kailangan po nating maunawaan na ang mga karapatan na kanilang mga ipinaglaban ay atin ding tinatamasa ngayon. Lubos po nating pasalamatan at kilalanin ang kanilang mga pagpapakasakit at pakikibaka para makamit ang mga pangkalahatang karapatang pantao.

Pare parehas po tayo na lumalaban sa ‘di makatarungan na sistema na naghihikayat na tayo ay makipag-kompetensya at makipaglaban sa isa’t isa. Marami pong itim ay pumunta sa Canada bilang imigrante o refugees, na humahanap ng mas maganda at ligtas na pamumuhay para sa kanila at kanilang pamilya, tulad po ng nakakarami sa atin. Ang ating pasakit at paglaban, kahit man hindi magkaparehas, ay magkaugnay.

Sa lahat po ng mga dahilan na ito, sinusuportahan ko po ang Black Lives Matter at iba pang mga kilusan para sa tunay na kalayaan ng mga itim. Parte po nito ay ang paggamit ng aking boses kapag ako’y nakakakita sa ang aking komunidad — o sa aking sariling pamilya — na nagsasabi o gumagawa ng mga bagay na nagmamaliit sa katauhan ng mga itim. Taos-puso kong sinasabi ang mga ito upang ipa-unawa sa inyo ang kanilang tunay na kalagayan.

Sana po ay makiisa tayong lahat na makiramay sa galit at hapis ng mga magulang, kapatid, asawa, at mga anak na nawalan ng mahal sa buhay dahil sa karahasan ng pulisya. Sana rin po makisama kayo sa aking hinagpis at pagdamay at susuportahan ninyo ako kung pagmagpasiya akong ipahayag ang aking pagtutol sa karahasan ng pulisya sa pamamagitan ng aking boses o sa pamamagitan ng pagprotesta.

Hinihiling ko po na ipakita ninyo itong sulat sa inyong mga kaibigan at himukin silang makisimpatya at gamitin ang kanilang boses para ipahayag ang kanilang pagtutol sa kalupitan ng pulisya. Alam ko po na nakakatakot na magpakita ng pagtutol sa mga alagad ng batas. Gayon pa man, hindi po pwede tayong manatiling tahimik at walang bahid na konsensya habang ang mga buhay ng ating kapwa tao ay nanganganib bawat araw, lalo na sa kamay ng isang sistemang may tungkulin na protektahin tayong lahat.

Sapagkat ako po ay inyong anak, ipinagmamalaki ko kayo at habang-buhay akong magpapasalamat sa inyong mahaba at napakahirap na paglalakbay para makarating dito, at na kayo ay nagbigay ng inyong pawis at dugo sa isang bansa na maaring hindi naging mabuti sa inyo. Alam ko hindi ninyo ninais na pagdaanan ko ang paghihirap na dinanas ninyo. Sa halip, kayo po ay nagtiis at nagsikap dito sa Canada, sa kabila ng prehudisyo at diskriminasyon, para mabigyan ako ng mas mabuting buhay at kinabukasan. Sama-sama tayo dito, at hindi tayo pwede mapanata na tayo ay ligtas hanggat LAHAT ng ating kaibigan, mahal sa buhay, at kapit-bahay ay ligtas rin. Ninanais namin na ang Canada ay maging paraiso para sa lahat, kung saan bawat tao ay maaring manatili dito, malaya sa pangamba ng karahasan ng pulisya at lahat ng uri ng diskriminasyon, katulad ng diskriminasyon sa lahi. Ito ay ang kinabukasan na ninanais ko — sana ay ito rin po ang ninanais ninyo.

Pag-ibig at pag-asa,
Ang inyong mga anak

English translation is immediately below:

Sinigang Sundays Study Series

Get ready to be steeped in community-based knowledge and herstory this summer as we launch the next phase of our Sinigang Sundays with a four-part study series, starting this Sunday, July 3rd. Organized by the Philippine Women Centre of BC, Sinigang Sundays has been a regular, bi-weekly gathering space for Filipino women throughout the Coast Salish Territories to collectively build critical consciousness through a Filipina feminist lens. Simmered through the discussions that have emerged from our previous sessions, this upcoming study series will include four sessions on topics that reflect our realities as Filipino women in Canada.

The four-part study series will be on the following topics:

• July 3: Culture and identity
• July 17: History and legacy of PWC-BC
• August 7: Understanding the Caregiver Program
• August 21: Contradictions under capitalism

We will navigate each session using film, art, poetry, music and more as our multi-media handbooks and as our creative tools of resistance. We will use art to draw inspiration in order to create our own. Through each session, we hope to use our voices in order to create tools for our community’s broader participation and decision-making. We are building our knowledge not just for ourselves, but for building community leadership in order to create new avenues for change.

“Sinigang Sundays” study series
Upcoming session: culture and identity
July 3, 2016
1:00 – 3:00 PM
E-mail pwcofbc@gmail.com to RSVP

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“Women’s liberation is not negotiable”: Left Forum Conference 2016 in New York!

 

Panelists of “Feminists against Prostitution as a tool for Imperialism” c/o PWC Ontario

Over the May Long Weekend, we flew all the way to New York for the Left Forum Conference. We joined our friends from the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario. Charie Siddayo of PWC Ontario sat on one of the panels entitled, “Feminists against Prostitution as a tool for Imperialism”. Two other women of colour and an indigenous woman also sat on the panel and helped sharpen our analysis on today’s sex industry and how it is undoubtedly a product of colonialism, imperialism and war.

Taina Bien-Aimé of the Coalition Against Trafficking Women urged the medical community to examine the health impacts of prostitution on women’s bodies and minds.

Sarah of Asian Women Coalition Ending Prostitution (AWCEP) explained how prostitution promotes sexualized racism and is used to gain control. She pointed to Thailand, which uses sex tourism to fuel their economy today. AWCEP is in favour of a guaranteed livable income. This would allow for women experiencing financial hardships or domestic violence to have economic autonomy.

Panelists of “Feminists against Prostitution as a tool for Imperialism” c/o PWC Ontario

Charie Siddayo of PWC Ontario, illustrated how policies and state programs like, Canada’s Caregiver Program (previously known as the LCP), permits the exploitation and abuse of women in Canada. She pointed to our past research at PWC BC on mail order brides in 2000 and “Continuing Misery: Trafficking and prostitution of Filipinas” from 2003. She explained that the caregiver program fueled trafficking. The pressures and restrictions put on women to work under one employer and support their families back home, often enduring different forms of abuse, leads women to resort to illegal means such as prostitution to make ends meet.

She further explained the steps to move forward as revolutionaries

• abolish prostitution as a tool of imperialism
• understand the historical conditions that allow for prostitution
• look at how colonization, imperialism and militarization help sustain prostitution
• Socialism will not be successful if they view women’s oppression as tolerable or liberating.

Charie ended off with the quote of the weekend, “Women’s liberation is not negotiable.” Boom.

Nicole Matthews of Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition gave a very powerful presentation on her findings while interviewing 105 indigenous women. In the study, the women were asked about the impact of colonization on their lives, if their families had experienced boarding schools and also about how prostitution affected their lives.

• 90% of women interviewed were homeless or had been homeless
• 92% wanted to escape prostitution immediately
• 69% of women had a family member in boarding schools

Matthews explained that colonization, sustained poverty and the with holding of resources is something that continues to plague indigenous communities. She cites the Indian Child Welfare Act, which also breaks up families and is being challenged by many indigenous groups. Moreover, it is clear that trafficking increases where resources are being extracted.

Matthews explains that indigenous women are being blamed for their own victimization. She emphasizes the fact that the narratives of indigenous women must be put to the forefront when discussing all of these issues.

Overall, it was a very emotional and eye-opening panel. We appreciated each of the panelists for highlighting the historical conditions that allow for the continued oppression of women. We hope to continue our studies to understand this topic even further by listening to and amplifying the voices of women who have lived through prostitution and advocates that continue to speak out.

Sinigang Sundays Reflection: WORK & LABOUR

Sinigang Sundays: WORK & LABOUR 

Work, work, work, work -Rihanna

The Sinigang Sundays crew got together on April 17, 2016 to discuss WORK & LABOUR. A wide range of topics came up related to racism we face in the workplace, mental health barriers, unemployment and stereotypes that we have to overcome.

The filipinas present brought a diverse range of perspectives as women who have experiences in hospitality, childcare, education, immigration, academia and working in the arts. Here are some of the words that we used to describe our experiences working in Canada.

As filipina women, we pick up on the ways that we are stereotyped as being inherently accommodating, submissive and built to provide domestic labour. Because of this, we are exploited as workers and much of our work is invisibilized and devalued. We talked about how we are expected to perform emotional labour and go above and beyond at work.

We discussed experiences under Canada’s Caregiver Program (previously called the Live-in Caregiver Program-LCP), whereby filipina women are overwhelming recruited to provide childcare and elder care in Canada. We condemn this program as Modern Slavery and have been clear on our stance to scrap the program for over two decades. Don’t forget, our Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has a filipina nanny! The program continues to allow filipina women to be degraded and abused as servants to middle and upper class Canadians. In truth, Canada needs to implement universal childcare that will liberate all women and caregivers.

We, as progressive filipina women, will continue to push back against inequality and systems that seek to devalue our labour. Building community and knowing our rights are both major steps to living as empowered filipina women on unceded coast salish territories.

Quote of the day: “Our working class-ness brings us together!”- Qara performed “Why the Working Class?”

If you have been meaning to make it out to SINIGANG SUNDAYS, our feminist filipina hangout, our next gathering will be MAY 1, 2016! We will be making signs and demonstrating for MAY DAY, International Workers Day. Of course, we will need some sinigang in our bellies before we march together.
Please RSVP as soon as possible for more details at pwcofbc@gmail.com.

Sinigang Sundays Launch!

 

At our launch of Sinigang Sundays Feb 7, many new women came together to meet and get to know eachother. All bringing their own stories, it was immediately clear that Sinigang Sundays is a necessary space for filipina women to build community, overcome isolation and hold space for each other. Many different struggles came to surface, including dealing with mental health, housing problems and domestic violence. We are building a community of progressive filipinas that can hold each other up.

Quote of the Day: “Living the Dream with more self esteem” – Jujube performed a rap piece of hers

We are so full from the conversations we had that day! Reminder that Sinigang Sundays happens every 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month!! 🙂

Class Talk on Parent-Child Relationships

Earlier this year, members of PWC-BC were invited to speak about Canada’s Caregiver Program as guest speakers for a Sociology course on “Parent-Child Relationships”at the University of British Columbia. For over 25 years, PWC-BC has been calling for universal childcare and for the scrapping of the racist and anti-woman Caregiver Program (CP). Such calls and the concerns of the Filipino women who enter Canada through this program have been a part PWC’s organizing work since its inception, and we continue to spread the word to this day.

The class talk was introduced by a short animation on Canada’s Caregiver Program, produced by local Pinay artist, Kim Villagante. After a quick screening, the visuals were concretized by Cora Cadiz, chairperson of PWC-BC, through her experiences as a domestic worker under the program. Such stories are the ones that aren’t readily found in the typical textbook–the numerous stories that Filipino women in Canada experience everyday.

It was evident, based on the Q&A session that followed, that a program that only serves the needs of middle to upper-class families should not exist and should be scrapped, but this also spurred further questions in people’s minds. These are the questions that we need to start asking if we want to put women’s liberation and universal childcare back on the agenda.

We were asked what state stakeholders, such as the Philippine and Canadian government, are doing about the issue. Has there been a blacklist of bad employers? Do those in the Philippines know about the reality behind the program? Are there labour standards that are being enforced? When linked to the nature of work that is being performed in the private home, and the interest of the state to uphold a program that is convenient in the context of the privatization of healthcare and childcare, it can be understood that reforms do not go far enough and that the state is in line with employers’ interests in upholding the program.

Others were curious about the impact of the CP on parent and child relationships, and the day-to-day experiences of working as a nanny in an employer’s home. The realities of “nanny sharing,” unpaid overtime, no vacation pay, family separation, overwork, facing the the threat of deportation reflect the actual experience of caregivers in the home. Such experiences run in direct contrast to the notion of the caregiver as a “part of the family,” and reflect the power imbalances inherent within the employer-employee relationship. Not to mention that the CP is an employer-driven program at its core, and functions as a labour program, not as an immigration program.

While it would be great to come out with a survival guide for all migrants and immigrants entering Canada, to shed light on the actual realities we might face upon arrival, what we need goes beyond a lack of information. In fact, the Canadian government has a responsibility to provide settlement services for all newcomers. Beyond services and reforms, we must be critical of the relationship between countries of the Global North who directly benefit from the exporting of labour from the Global South. How such circular migration policies directly maintain the capitalist expansion of both countries, at the expense of the “sacrifices” of the transnational working-class. How the immigration system perpetuates structures of settler-colonialism and modern-day slavery.

To this, we say in 2016, and until we smash these systems: end it, don’t mend it.

 

Hungry for change? PWC-BC invites Filipina women to “Sinigang Sundays,” a bi-weekly Filipina feminist hangout

Vancouver, BC—In a celebration and exploration of emerging Filipina voices for feminism, activism and community empowerment, the Philippine Women Centre of BC (PWC-BC) invites Filipino women across BC to keep their eyes peeled for the next “Sinigang Sundays,” a bi-weekly Filipina feminist hangout. All are invited to share in a free, exciting and open space where Filipina women can discuss Filipina feminism, history and identity through art, discussions, workshops, and of course, food. With the next session set to take place on March 20^th, “Sinigang Sundays” will be a gathering for women to collectively imagine and practice a politics of equality and liberation through creative and empowering avenues.

 As Filipino women, we have so much to contribute. We have so many untold stories to share—about ourselves, each other and the world—that speak volumes about what it means to be a Filipina woman in Canada today. We want women to speak up and speak out about their experiences together, and not in isolation, butby gathering in a community. And besides, who doesn’t like sinigang?

Through “Sinigang Sundays,” Filipina women throughout the Coast Salish Territories can come together and engage in a dynamic conversation about the unique struggles they face as working-class women of colour. Providing more than just food for thought, the Sunday sessions hope to create a creative stew of empowerment and action.

“Sinigang Sundays”
A bi-weekly Filipina feminist hangout
Upcoming session: March 20, 2016
1:00 – 3:00 PM
E-mail pwcofbc@gmail.com to RSVP

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Happy IWD 2016 from the Philippine Women Centre of BC

As we celebrate International Women’s Day 2016 and think of ongoing struggles of Filipina women against oppression and exploitation, we call on Filipina women to come and share their stories.

We all hold valuable stories and knowledge to contribute to build the history of Filipina feminists in Canada. We continue to face racism, oppression and exploitation in our daily realities. The best we can do is ensure that we are not struggling in isolation.

We invite Filipina women in Vancouver to join us at our Sinigang Sundays events (every first and third Sunday of the month). Our hope is to celebrate the history of organizing of filipina women and to make new connections with each other to advance the equality of all women.

International Women’s Day is meant to establish a strong women’s movement for empowerment to know our rights as women. Let us continue to fight back and move forward.

Happy International Women’s Day to all of the women who organize, speak out and stand strong for women’s genuine liberation.

Love,

PWC-BC

Next Sinigang Sunday: March 20, 2016 1-3pm (save the date!!!) To join us at Sinigang Sundays, please RSVP at pwcofbc@gmail.com and tweet us @pwcofbc
#SinigangSundays #PWCBC #IWD2016