Final - IP 411

by Michael Schulze-Oechtering

7. An aspect of Ilokano writing is its clear social commitment to causes that have something to do with human liberation, social justice, and linguistic and cultural democracy.

An essential aspect of Ilokano writing is social commitment. As people who have experienced oppression first hand, Ilokano writers have the ability to not only write about social problems, but also express their own personal pain, anger, and desires for a better future. It is through these actions that the Ilokano artist’s work becomes a weapon for justice. Through looking at Carlos Bulosan’s “If You Want to Know Who we Are” we can see how the Ilokano artist positions himself or herself as critical members of a revolutionary movement.

In Bulosan’s “If You Want to Know Who we Are” he uses an ambiguous term “we” throughout the poem. Each stanza the term we can mean something completely different from the last stanza. It is not until the last line where Bulosan gives a clear definition to the term we, that definition is revolution. What defining we as revolution in the end of his poem does is it allows Bulosan to explain the many facets and players in a revolution with all his prior stanzas. I will look at three stanzas in particular.

One stanza discussed the responsibility of those outside the working-class to the revolution. “Reaching for the future, nourished in the heart; we are doctors scientists chemists discovering eliminating disease and hunger and antagonisms.” (Bulosan, 191) By placing doctors, scientists, and chemists as participants in a revolution movement shows that all people in society have a role in creating a better world. This passage also eliminates social hierarchies. By saying scientists are members of a revolution just as a factory workers or farmers Bulosan is saying that people in different social ranks are brothers and sisters in the struggle, but the social hierarchy in our society that separates them is corrupt.

Another stanza depicts the struggle against state and mob repression. “If you want to know what we are, observe the bloody club smashing heads, the bayonet penetrating hollowed breasts, giving no mercy; watch the bullet crashing upon armorless citizens; look at the tear gas choking the weakened lungs.” (Bulosan, 191) This violence in this stanza is exactly what the revolution is responding to. In a society where true freedom exists no one would have to experience the violence that Bulosan speaks of.

The last stanza I want to look at explained revolution as an ideal that cannot be killed. “We are the living dream of dead men everywhere, the unquenchable truth that class memories create to stagger the infamous world with prophecies of unlimited happiness – a deathless humanity; we are the living and the dead men everywhere…” (Bulosan, 191) The importance of this message is it allows us to understand the many unfortunate deaths in revolutionary movements. Even though our comrades may die no firing squad can kill justice or freedom. Justice and freedom are ideas. Ideas do not bleed; they live forever through our collective memory and our efforts to create a truly just society.

In this poem Bulosan is able to discuss an oppressive reality and also provide a message of hope. These are two messages that are necessary for people to hear. As a truly revolutionary artist he is able to have his work speak to the needs of his people. By doing this “If You Want to Know Who we Are” must be seen as an expression of freedom.

10. Ilokano writing has its place in American writing in general, and in Hawai’i writing in particular.

Ilokano writing has its place in American writing due to the historical contribution that Ilokanos gave to the United States as a nation. During the early stages of US colonization in the Philippines, the early 1900’s, the US was growing as a world power and having the Philippines as a colony was a move to solidify the US as a world power. In the process Filipinos, mostly Ilokanos and mostly males, were brought to the US as laborers. This act positioned Ilokanos in the US as members of the US working-class. A Song for Manong, a play written by Marina Feleo-Gonzalez, tells the story of these Ilokano workers and presents two arguments. One of those arguments is a need to recognize the contribution of these workers and the other is acknowledging the history of resistance of these workers.

In scene two of A Song for Manong there is a conversation between the owner of a Hawaiian sugar plantation, Mr. Wilcox, and his luna. “Yes, sir, Mr. Wilcox, I received your letter-order for “fertilizers” and “Filipinos”… Yes, sir, it is a good idea. Filipinos are used to stoop labor, that is what they have been doing all their lives! Yes, sir, Mr. Wilcox, the Filipinos are the answer to our problem!” (Feleo-Gonzalez, 22) This passage shows the historical relationship Ilokanos have to the US. Not only have Ilokanos been laborers, they have been a form of cheap labor. The fact that Ilokanos were associated with fertilizer showed the dehumanizing manner of their labor. Ilokanos were ordered as tools for labor, instead of hired like a human laborers. When we place the events of this play into historical relevance we can understand the importance Filipino labors. This plantation scene is set in the early 1900’s. This time period is only three or four decades removed from the legal end of slavery. With it no longer legal use slaves as manual labor, new forms of labor had to be introduced to maintain the status quo in the US. Filipinos were one of the new forms of labor that was introduced. Thus the success of big businesses, particularly in Hawaii, cannot be discussed without acknowledgement of the exploitation of Ilokano workers.

However, this exploitation experienced by Ilokano laborers was meet with an equal amount of labor organizing. All the workers on the Hawaiian plantation rose up demanding higher wages under the leadership of an Ilokano worker, Pedro Calosa. Calosa reminded his fellow workers that they had “nothing to lose but their chains.” (Feleo-Gonzalez, 30) The strike is eventually successful in raising the wages of the workers. However, the strike was also successful in representing the history of resistance of Ilokanos in the US. Throughout A Song for Manong Feleo-Gonzalez shows her audience Ilokanos experiencing oppression and standing up against it. It is this history of resistance that Ilokano Americans must look at with both pride and respect. We must be proud of our Manongs for demanding a better life even when their own livelihoods were the price. We must also show respect to them because all the luxuries we have are a result of their sacrifices. However, the only way to truly show respect to them is to continue from where they left off.