Gene’s Surf Riders. Filipino-American musicians playing at the Crown Cafe, East Hennepin, Minneapolis. Photograph Collection 1937-1938.
Minnestoa’s Filipino community had its beginnings in a small group of 25 to 30 Filipino students – predominately males – who enrolled at the University of Minnesota and other colleges during the late 1910s and early 1920s. It was not until the late 1920s that systematic recruitment brought 150 to 200 Filipino laborers each spring and summer to Minnesota’s sugar beet fields, truck farms, and canneries. (Mason, S. R. (2003). They Chose Minnesota: A Survey Of The States Ethnic Groups. Minnesota Historical Society Press.)
Felix Taganas (front, center) was the owner of a Filipino diner in Los Angeles in the 1930s.
Filipino diners and cafes offered ethnic dishes and a place where Filipinos could dine without being confronted or refused service. (Courtesy of Jenny Ochale and Celina Taganas-Duffy)
Leyna Bloom, also known as Leyna Ramous, is an American fashion model, dancer, and transgender activist who has been featured in print campaigns for publications such as Candy Transversal Magazine.
Growing up, Victor and Darna have many parts of their heritage that they can celebrate during La Fiesta Hispana every year.
JT in his Traje Charro, carrying Victor, and then Victor and Darna having to dance little traditional dances for their relatives. Darna is always very confident with it. Victor, not so much, regardless of how simple that dance.
After four years I made another visit to Aguinid waterfalls together with Van. Hours down the road we arrived in the southern town of Cebu almost late in the morning.
I’ve heard a story that the named of the falls was based on the local term for slow, which is “aginod.” Or to walk around slowly but locals aren’t convinced as they can casually walk around the steep slopes even before the handholds and footholds were carved by the local government. Aguinid waterfall is a multi-tier waterfall. Going up was a climb of many thrills: wading in the flow or swimming where the water pools, stepping from rock to rock, climbing and pausing to take a shower. The water gushes over sparkling white slabs of limestone. The entire watercourse is blessed with cool, turquoise waters. The trail is covered with lush canopies, think of it as canyoneering’s mellow brother. It may not be as adrenaline-pumping, but it’s as rewarding.
