About

Fil Ams Rising is a series of five virtual workshops where speakers from our community introduced different parts of Filipino American history and helped guide discussion about the skills needed to help high school students become more effective leaders.

The idea for Fil Ams Rising started with the sudden political unrest centered around racial injustices during the summer of 2020. A lot of people were pushing Club Kaibigan, the Filipino club at Whitney High School, to show solidarity for the Black Lives Matter movement. That got me thinking. I couldn’t truly empathize with what the black community and other people of color were going through —are still going through— because I wasn’t aware of my own history of struggle in this nation. I realized my generation of Filipino Americans could become even greater allies if they knew about this history, too, and I wanted to give kids my age the chance to do so. We could use this knowledge to help us take action, and that’s where the leadership lessons come in. It’d be amazing if there was more Filipino representation in positions of leadership, whether it be in school or what you grow up to be. 

Hello! My name is Koa DeLeon, and I’m the creator of Fil Ams Rising. I’ve had a lot of help from so many people, and it’s been amazing getting to know other Filipino Americans through these workshops. I wanted to create a website to document the ins and outs of Fil Ams Rising and to share all the knowledge that I’ve learned with everyone else. I hope you take the time and watch through the videos on this site because knowing one’s history is truly a beautiful thing. Thank you!

A huge thank you to Julia Modina, Leia Ogawa, Alanna Chan, Jaden Sioson, Max Legaspi, Alex Fang, Jasmina Floranza, Chloe Menchavez, and Cruz Maralit for helping me create this website! Love you guys :))

Partners

Here are some student-run organizations that have played a huge part in supporting Fil Ams Rising. Additionally, here’s FANHS LA, the Filipino American National Historical Society, who also lent a big hand in support. I highly suggest you go check them all out!

• Participant Reflections
  by Koa DeLeon
  March 1, 2021
  I’ve gotten so many reviews and reflections from the participants in Fil Ams Rising, and I just thought I’d share them here. Hope you enjoy reading! Koa DeLeon’s Filipino American Rising workshops provided a safe, inviting environment to learn what it means to be Filipino American. Out of the 5 workshops, I was able to attend 3, andContinue reading “Participant Reflections”
• Handbook
  by Koa DeLeon
  February 28, 2021
  Fil Ams Rising is a series of five virtual workshops where speakers from our community introduced different parts of Filipino American history and helped guide discussion about the skills needed to help high school students become more effective leaders. Hi, there! I’m Koa, and this is a how-to handbook in case you would like to organize a programContinue reading “Handbook”