Filipino American people from all over the U.S. gathered over Zoom on Tuesday to learn about journaling and discuss their shared experiences in a workshop called “Heal the Hyphen” held by LEAD Filipino.
Leadership Education Activism and Dialogue (LEAD) Filipino is a nonprofit organization based in San José that dedicates efforts to uplifting Filipino American communities, according to its website.
Organizer and author Jacklyn Joanino-Sipat, a senior development officer for the city of San José, led the workshop based on her published journal titled “Heal the Hyphen: A Guided Journal for Filipinos Who Grew up in the Diaspora.”
Joanino-Sipat led the group through guided meditations, individual journaling time, and group shares on prompts from her journal.
“There’s this feeling that by being Filipino American ... that you’re in between or not quite fitting in one world or the other,” Joanino-Sipat said. “The journal is meant to explore the questions that help us feel more whole and comfortable with being a combination of all the things that we are.”
One of the prompts Joanino-Sipat presented in the workshop was a question about participants’ connections and experiences with the Philippines.
Sonia Menchavez participated in LEAD’s 2022 Awareness in Action summer program and said she had a profound experience when she went to the Philippines for the first time in 2016.
“It was life changing for me to go back to the Philippines,” Menchavez said. “I spent a while in my 20s traveling all over ... for so long I looked outside of myself for cool cultural stuff but it was a turning point for me to realize that my own culture is beautiful, the land is beautiful.”
Menchavez said she has been journaling for years and was interested in attending the workshop and find ways to connect it to topics around her Filipino American identity.
The workshop was designed for exactly that, along with the purpose of helping attendees feel more grounded and giving them a space to connect to themselves and their Filipino ancestors, according to an Eventbrite description.
“It was really interesting to me as part of the healing journey,” Menchavez said. “It’s nice to have a welcoming, open space to grapple with things together and journaling is a nice medium too.”
Joanino-Sipat said creating opportunities like this for Filipino Americans to come together and unpack their shared experiences is an important part of healing.
A significant portion of the workshop was spent in breakout rooms and large groups where participants were encouraged to speak about everything from the clash between the cultures they grew up with and how they connect with their ancestors.
“If we can begin healing and opening some of these conversations and giving opportunities to connect with others ... that would be a really beautiful thing,” Joanino-Sipat said.
Social work grad student Olivia Aquino said she recently moved away from her Filipino American community and appreciated having the chance to be virtually surrounded by people who understand and relate to her at the workshop.
Aquino said she doesn’t usually journal on the topics discussed in the workshop but felt relieved to talk about them and looks forward to writing about them on her own in the future.
“What was special about this event was that (the other participants) put words to my own experiences,” Aquino said. “Being presented these questions from the context of ‘What does it mean to be Filipino to you?’ is something I have been needing to revisit.”
Aquino said a big part of her Filipino identity is being in a community with other Filipinos, especially in the United States which is a very individualistic society.
She said attending events where she is around other Filipinos helps her heal from the harm that is caused by being a part of the American system of capitalism.
“It is these moments where we are in a community where I feel the most me, where I feel my ancestors' presence the most, and where I feel Filipino because who are we but community?” Aquino said.
