Tuesday, April 13, 2027 | 6pm to 7:30pm
25 West 43rd St, 10th Floor, Suite 1000
between 5th & 6th Avenues, Manhattan
Join co-editor David K. Yoo for a discussion on this volume, which examines the early history of Filipino migration to Hawai‘i and California starting in the 1920s through the lens of the Filipino Federation of America. Originating as a voluntary mutual aid society before evolving into a revitalization movement, the Federation demonstrates how Filipino immigrants drew upon Indigenous worldviews and cultural resources to sustain community life and foster a growing ethnic consciousness in the United States.
The Federation’s membership was drawn largely from young, single male migrant laborers—the sakadas who worked on Hawai‘i’s plantations and California’s farms. Their collective experience of racial discrimination, economic exploitation, and cultural isolation highlights the broader struggles of Filipino immigrants, as well as the distinct strategies and fraternal support systems they created for survival.
At once local and transnational, the Federation maintained active linkages to the Philippines, where members engaged in the political and religious dimensions of the movement. Ultimately, the history of the Filipino Federation of America records both a vital microcosm of the early Filipino immigrant experience and an important case study in transnational migration.
Purchase Book: https://uhpress.hawaii.edu
