Today's TLA is IWL.
Influential World Leaders
I am recently taking an art course in Sunnyvale, California. Yesterday, I talked to my art teacher and asked her if I can do a set of paintings of world leaders who have influenced me in my lifetime. So here is the initial list of influential world leaders I would like to paint for my collection.
Jesus Christ
Che Guevara
Martin Luther King
Jose Rizal
Cesar Chavez
Philip Vera Cruz
Carlos Bulosan
I will try to explain why I have chosen these men. All the feminists will stone me at this point, but perhaps I should also make a list of influential women world leaders in my lifetime. Ok here is my attempt...
Mary (Jesus' mom)
Hillary Clinton
Oprah Winfrey
...
My initial attempt at such a list is pathetic. Other than my future wife, my future daughters, my mother, my sister, and my aunt, I could only think of 3 women world leaders who have influenced me enough to paint them. I am disappointed, because I should be able to think of more women leaders. Perhaps I should read feminist books and really do some research with regards to women world leaders.
Some of you may not know the last 2 on the list, so I want to explain the last 2 gentlemen on the list. For me, Mr. Carlos Bulosan and Mr. Philip Vera Cruz are influential leaders in the Filipino American community. I am picking Bulosan and Vera Cruz, partly because they are heroes in the Filipino American community who are not well recognized within Filipino America and mainstream America.
Carlos Bulosan
The following is a quotation from his book "America is in the Heart."
"America is not a land of one race or one class of men. We are all Americans that have toiled and suffered and known oppression and defeat, from the first Indian that offered peace in Manhattan to the last Filipino pea pickers. America is not bound by geographical latitudes. America is not merely a land or an institution. America is in the hearts of men that died for freedom; it is also in the eyes of men that are building a new world. America is a prophecy of a new society of men: of a system that knows no sorrow or strife or suffering. America is a warning to those who would try to falsify the ideas of free men.
America is also the nameless foreigner, the homeless refugee, the hungry boy begging for a job and the black body dangling from a tree. America is the illiterate immigrant who is ashamed that the world of books and intellectual opportunities is closed to him. We are that nameless foreigner, that homeless refugee, that hungry boy, that illiterate immigrant and that lynched black body. All of us, from the first Adams to the last Filipino, native born or alien, educated or illiterate -- We are America!"
-Carlos Bulosan "America is in the Heart"
As an immigrant, this quotation really hits the sweet spot for me. It eloquently describes a Filipino American, a person of color's and a new immigrant's experience in 2 paragraphs. To accomplish such brilliance is truly a God given talent. He specifically describes the America of/for immigrants. He describes America not as a land, but as an idea, a feeling, and having a heart. Bulosan's America is lost in our modern times. He describes an America, that immigrants would be willing to fight and die for. We often forget that immigrants still fight and die for this country.
It is not the America of oil. It is not the self-centered America. It is not the "You're fired" America. It is not the America of stock options. It is not the America of blue states vs. red states. It is not the America some speech writer or some clever marketer exploits. However, Bulosan's America is an America of hope. His America is a humble collection of immigrants and refugees. His America is made up from an "Indian that offered peace in Manhattan to the last Filipino pea pickers," His America is an idealistic view of freedom and opportunity, yet shamelessly criticizes the faults, the racism, the discrimination, the alienation, the exploitation, and the dirty secrets of modern American life.
I really dig this cat. For more information about Carlos Bulosan please refer to these links, link1,link2.
Philip Vera Cruz
He is a man that should be just as well recognized as Cesar Chavez. Unfortunately he is only a footnote in Asian/Chicano American history and in American history as well.
"Leadership, I feel, is only incidental to the movement. The movement should be the most important thing. If the leader becomes the most important part of the movement, then you won't have a movement after the leader is gone. The movement must go beyond its leaders. It must be something that is continuous, with goals and ideals that the leadership can build upon."
This is an interesting quotation from Mr. Philip Vera Cruz. It implies that people should not follow just because of a leader, but rather should follow the movement itself. One should use the movement as a continuous link to build leaders of today and tomorrow. My mother once told me that the world is a lead, follow, or get out of the way world. But for Bulosan you must define an important movement to lead, to follow, or to get out of the way from. For him a movement is what is important for accomplishing change and making a mark in the world. Here is another quotation from Mr. Vera Cruz.
"My new dream formed, that equality and freedom should belong to all. You cannot be free to step on somebody's toes. Not everybody will make the "American dream" of being millionaires. Our dream must become the sharing of opportunities and benefits of freedom for all. I think that whatever nationality you are, you should be treated equally, otherwise you don't have equality."
The above describes his idea of equality and the idea of not being "free to step on somebody's toes." It is a unique form of the American dream, which is not a self-centered view, but rather an other-centered view to share "opportunities and benefits of freedom for all." It is a simple paragraph about the American dream. He simply dreams of an America in which you treat people (no matter what nationality) equally, in order to have equality.
For more information on Philip Vera Cruz, please refer to these links,
link1,link2
I want to paint these 2 gentlemen, so that I can show my respects, my thanks, my admiration, and my kudos for them. These two men should be recognized and celebrated not only in Filipino/Asian American community but I honestly believe in the community which we call America as well. I have always wanted to write an ethnic studies centric blog. I think I just finished my first one.
Enjoy,
Jonathan
Influential World Leaders
I am recently taking an art course in Sunnyvale, California. Yesterday, I talked to my art teacher and asked her if I can do a set of paintings of world leaders who have influenced me in my lifetime. So here is the initial list of influential world leaders I would like to paint for my collection.
Jesus Christ
Che Guevara
Martin Luther King
Jose Rizal
Cesar Chavez
Philip Vera Cruz
Carlos Bulosan
I will try to explain why I have chosen these men. All the feminists will stone me at this point, but perhaps I should also make a list of influential women world leaders in my lifetime. Ok here is my attempt...
Mary (Jesus' mom)
Hillary Clinton
Oprah Winfrey
...
My initial attempt at such a list is pathetic. Other than my future wife, my future daughters, my mother, my sister, and my aunt, I could only think of 3 women world leaders who have influenced me enough to paint them. I am disappointed, because I should be able to think of more women leaders. Perhaps I should read feminist books and really do some research with regards to women world leaders.
Some of you may not know the last 2 on the list, so I want to explain the last 2 gentlemen on the list. For me, Mr. Carlos Bulosan and Mr. Philip Vera Cruz are influential leaders in the Filipino American community. I am picking Bulosan and Vera Cruz, partly because they are heroes in the Filipino American community who are not well recognized within Filipino America and mainstream America.
Carlos Bulosan
The following is a quotation from his book "America is in the Heart."
"America is not a land of one race or one class of men. We are all Americans that have toiled and suffered and known oppression and defeat, from the first Indian that offered peace in Manhattan to the last Filipino pea pickers. America is not bound by geographical latitudes. America is not merely a land or an institution. America is in the hearts of men that died for freedom; it is also in the eyes of men that are building a new world. America is a prophecy of a new society of men: of a system that knows no sorrow or strife or suffering. America is a warning to those who would try to falsify the ideas of free men.
America is also the nameless foreigner, the homeless refugee, the hungry boy begging for a job and the black body dangling from a tree. America is the illiterate immigrant who is ashamed that the world of books and intellectual opportunities is closed to him. We are that nameless foreigner, that homeless refugee, that hungry boy, that illiterate immigrant and that lynched black body. All of us, from the first Adams to the last Filipino, native born or alien, educated or illiterate -- We are America!"
-Carlos Bulosan "America is in the Heart"
As an immigrant, this quotation really hits the sweet spot for me. It eloquently describes a Filipino American, a person of color's and a new immigrant's experience in 2 paragraphs. To accomplish such brilliance is truly a God given talent. He specifically describes the America of/for immigrants. He describes America not as a land, but as an idea, a feeling, and having a heart. Bulosan's America is lost in our modern times. He describes an America, that immigrants would be willing to fight and die for. We often forget that immigrants still fight and die for this country.
It is not the America of oil. It is not the self-centered America. It is not the "You're fired" America. It is not the America of stock options. It is not the America of blue states vs. red states. It is not the America some speech writer or some clever marketer exploits. However, Bulosan's America is an America of hope. His America is a humble collection of immigrants and refugees. His America is made up from an "Indian that offered peace in Manhattan to the last Filipino pea pickers," His America is an idealistic view of freedom and opportunity, yet shamelessly criticizes the faults, the racism, the discrimination, the alienation, the exploitation, and the dirty secrets of modern American life.
I really dig this cat. For more information about Carlos Bulosan please refer to these links, link1,link2.
Philip Vera Cruz
He is a man that should be just as well recognized as Cesar Chavez. Unfortunately he is only a footnote in Asian/Chicano American history and in American history as well.
"Leadership, I feel, is only incidental to the movement. The movement should be the most important thing. If the leader becomes the most important part of the movement, then you won't have a movement after the leader is gone. The movement must go beyond its leaders. It must be something that is continuous, with goals and ideals that the leadership can build upon."
This is an interesting quotation from Mr. Philip Vera Cruz. It implies that people should not follow just because of a leader, but rather should follow the movement itself. One should use the movement as a continuous link to build leaders of today and tomorrow. My mother once told me that the world is a lead, follow, or get out of the way world. But for Bulosan you must define an important movement to lead, to follow, or to get out of the way from. For him a movement is what is important for accomplishing change and making a mark in the world. Here is another quotation from Mr. Vera Cruz.
"My new dream formed, that equality and freedom should belong to all. You cannot be free to step on somebody's toes. Not everybody will make the "American dream" of being millionaires. Our dream must become the sharing of opportunities and benefits of freedom for all. I think that whatever nationality you are, you should be treated equally, otherwise you don't have equality."
The above describes his idea of equality and the idea of not being "free to step on somebody's toes." It is a unique form of the American dream, which is not a self-centered view, but rather an other-centered view to share "opportunities and benefits of freedom for all." It is a simple paragraph about the American dream. He simply dreams of an America in which you treat people (no matter what nationality) equally, in order to have equality.
For more information on Philip Vera Cruz, please refer to these links,
link1,link2
I want to paint these 2 gentlemen, so that I can show my respects, my thanks, my admiration, and my kudos for them. These two men should be recognized and celebrated not only in Filipino/Asian American community but I honestly believe in the community which we call America as well. I have always wanted to write an ethnic studies centric blog. I think I just finished my first one.
Enjoy,
Jonathan
