Thursday, October 29–
Today in class, we had the great chance to meet Kaba Modern founder Arnel Calvario via FaceTime! If you didn't know, Kaba Modern is a dance crew that was famously featured on season one of MTV's America's Best Dance Crew. Although Kaba Modern wasn't the topic of conversation, we got to learn about the founder, Arnel Calvario's background into dance and how it created an impact on his own culture as well as colleges that had cultural clubs. 

Growing up, Arnel was heavily involved in the hip hop scene which eventually lead to his involvement with dancing. In high school, he became a part of the dance and party scene. But it wasn't until college when he saw how a lot of cultural clubs were starting to create their own hip hop and dance crews. It was then, when Arnel was attending UC Irvine that he created Kaba Modern. As Arnel mentioned, dancing became a huge thing as it turned into a ripple effect in SoCal. As time went by, social media also became big and it helped spread the word within the community. The community was what really helped find Arnel's identity. The B-Boy and cultural communities represented where they're from and that's what made performing important for Arnel and other dance crews that formed during the time. 

Dance is commonly used as on outlet for people to find their identities. Many of the new dance forms that were popular in history and present day are a direct reflection and response to oppression. Voguing is a great a example of how one's oppressed culture used dance to counteract the negative and be comfortable in one's identity. Voguing is not often acknowledge for its surface representation for the rise of homosexuality in the 80's. Voguer's created what was called a "gay house" and house systems which was only the beginning and outlet for homosexuals to express themselves through dance. 

​The Gay House and House Systems that were created during the Voguing dance craze built a foundation for the homosexuals to build a sense of family. Within these families they created communities, aside from not having a lot of money, they saved their money to buy extravagant costumes that gave them a sense of hope and portrayed what they wanted to be and embody. ​

To end our week we closed our class off with a unity clap. Also known as, “Isang Bagsak” translates to “one down, one fall” which symbolizes the importance of the power of the people. This is to further the idea of creating unity amongst those who are oppressed and spreading awareness of the struggles of the past and the present.

     In 1904, the St. Louis World's Fair was an event that affected many Filipinos who were apart of it. Filipinos were put on display like animals and the whole concept of it was wrong. In all, there were about 1,100 Filipinos that were put on display as a form of entertainment. The Igorots were the main attraction of the Philippines' "exhibit." Dogs were the main diet of the Igorots and this ultimately became the reason why "Filipinos eat dogs" became a stereotype. It wasn't because they wanted to eat dogs, but it was the only thing given to them to eat. Although it is believed that the Igorots went back home to the Philippines "happy," its still unbelievable that they went through this experience of being treated like animals. ​

EDUCATION IS ​POLITICAL 

We discussed some of the L items that are compromised in colonialism and what is needed to divide and conquer. Labor, Love, Land, Life, Language, Liberty and Legacy. If you really wanted to change the way someone thought...where would be the most effective? The CLASSROOM. 

|The classroom is the site the that reproduces society's values|
​
|Military Strategy of Schooling: molding the people's minds is the best means of conquest|

American schooling in the Philippines has been used as the systematic placement of people into different social positions. American schooling was the key to the U.S. colonizing the Philippines. In addition to the colonization and oppression of Filipinos in the Philippines through land, resources, religion and language, they also changed the way Filipinos ate & cooked.

They changed the curriculum in the classrooms implementing the importance of hygiene, nutritional benefits and agriculture. The restaurants in the Philippines consisted of European, West fare, American and Spanish cuisine. The implementation went beyond the classrooms in curriculum but also through literature, changing cookbooks and changing advertisements. Ads changed the way Filipinos cooked by stating that imported products were better because it passed higher sanitation and hygiene standards. There was every reason why Filipino cuisine and homegrown, native, products were not sufficient enough. Imported was better. 

INDIGENOUS vs. CURRENT DIET


​What is killing the Filipina/o American?
​
CANCER

HEART DISEASE 

​DIABETES

Before colonialism through deforestation and diet Filipinas/os lived off the land. Their diet consisted of fish and greens. Because of the climate and working conditions Filipinas/os stayed away from heavy meals. They snacked lightly throughout the day, which was known as "merienda." However, even that was changed when Americans came. They were told to eat 3 meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

So, who had do you think had it right? Filipinos or Americans

What foods do you think are indigenous to the Philippines?

​​Here's what we came up with...