Expressions of Resistance: Intersections of Filipino American
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EXPRESSIONS OF RESISTANCE: INTERSECTIONS OF FILIPINO AMERICAN IDENTITY, HIP HOP CULTURE, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE By STEPHEN ALAN BISCHOFF A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of The requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY Program in American Studies APRIL 2012 © Copyright by STEPHEN ALAN BISCHOFF, 2012 All Rights Reserved © Copyright by STEPHEN ALAN BISCHOFF, 2012 All Rights Reserved ii To the Faculty of Washington State University: The members of the committee appointed to examine the dissertation of STEPHEN ALAN BISCHOFF find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted. _____________________________________ C. Richard King, Ph.D., Chair _____________________________________ David Leonard, Ph.D. _____________________________________ John Streamas, Ph.D. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project has been a labor of love. My partner, Rachel Silva-Bischoff, shares in this accomplishment as she gave me an immense amount of love, understanding, and support to finish this work. As I have told others throughout this project, it is our degree. Over the duration of my graduate program, we have been fortunate to have two beautiful sons in Isaiah and Zion. Seeing the three of them keeps me grounded in my priorities and in my drive for improving myself and the world around us. I am extremely grateful for the help, guidance, and support that my committee has given me. I would like to thank my committee chair, Richard King, in helping me stay on track with my writing and my timeline for this work. I would also like to thank the rest of my committee, David Leonard and John Streamas, for their insightful discussions in shaping my research. Earlier on as I began to form my project’s structure, their feedback along with Victor Villanueva really pushed me forward to get my research underway. My inspiration for doing this project is personal with the effect that Filipino Americans and hip hop culture has had on my own growth along with the bonds I have made. I am indebted to the time and conversations that I had with my projects’ interviewees. To Geologic of the Blue Scholars, thank you for the work that you do and your continued innovation to inspire critical thought. Bambu, Kiwi, and Rocky Rivera are artists that have also connected their artistry to community. These four emcees continue to profoundly affect and influence the Filipino and Filipino American community positively. I am thankful to the amazing Candice “DJ Kuttin Kandi” Custodio. She is a dedicated community leader who consistently displays her commitment to social justice. It was an honor to have Zar Javier of Pnoy Apparel help me on this project. I am grateful to Angela “El Dia” Dy for sharing her time with me on the other side iv of the globe as she continues on in her graduate studies in England. Ian “Daps” Dapiaoen was a great complement to my work with his depth of knowledge on both hip hop culture and Filipino Americans. I vividly remember the work that Angela Dy and Ian Dapiaoen had put into the isangmahal arts kollective in Seattle, WA. My final three interviewees have inspired me in a deep way. Jojo “Kuya Jo” Gaon, Bobby Gaon, and Freedom Siyam were introduced to me soon after I had transferred to Washington State University (WSU). As alumni of WSU and active leaders in the Filipino American Student Association, our bonds have strengthened over time. Kuya Jo, a founding member of isangmahal arts kollective, has left a legacy with all the projects that he has touched. I hold very deep respect for his work, the relationships he builds, and his friendship. Bobby Gaon has been an active contributor to isangmahal and to different parts of the music arts scene in Seattle, WA. As a long-time close friend, I am thankful to the many times that he has taken me to various concerts, introduced me to influential folks, and other countless displays of mentoring and friendship. It is my honor to have Bobby and his family in our family’s lives. Lastly, I want to thank Freedom Siyam. I recall his visit to my apartment as an unofficial mentor to me when I came to WSU. He is someone I respect for his knowledge, community building, and friendship. He is someone that has changed my life, my thinking, and my critical consciousness. It is something I don’t think I will be able to repay. I hope to pay it forward. For my parents, Linda and Art, thank you. In particular, the hardships that my mom has endured during her lifetime have impacted my understanding of the world from a very young age. This project is an extension of her experience. My brother, James, played a key role in this project from the time that he switched musical interests from 80’s rock to hip hop music when we were young. I am thankful to my brother and to my sister, Ashley, for being part of my v support system. I hope to reciprocate that support and love in their endeavors. I am thankful to my grandparents. On my dad’s side, my grandmother Joanne and grandfather Art Sr., has been an advocate in all that I do. I wish my grandfather could celebrate this moment with me. But I know his love has always been there. While I never got to know my grandparents on my mom’s side of the family other than a few memories of my grandmother Arcadia, their experiences and legacy are written throughout my life. To the entire Silva family, I thank them for being some of my biggest proponents even before this dissertation project. They have continuously had words of encouragement for me as I slowly moved towards my project completion. An important person that has been flexible while backing me in my academic and work endeavors has been J. Manuel Acevedo. By being more than my supervisor while working at WSU, Manuel has shown a great amount of understanding and encouragement as I have grown as a person. I would not have been able to complete this work as a full-time staff member without his help. To Jean Wiegand and Rose Smetana in the Comparative Ethnic Studies office at WSU, I thank them for all that they have done to help me in various ways. For the faculty I have studied under over the years at WSU—particularly in the Comparative Ethnic Studies and Women’s Studies departments—thank you. To my fellow graduate students over the year, I am appreciative of our discussions and work together. In particular, I thank Michael Johnson Jr. and Mary Jo Klinker for their help specifically to this project’s completion. There are so many others I would like to thank for their contribution in shaping me as a person as well as my thoughts as a scholar. One of these people is Brian Myers. He has showed me friendship in various ways that go back to our work in student organizing at WSU as undergraduates. I am thankful for the scholarship and work of E. San Juan Jr., Delia Aguilar, Renato Constantino, Jose Maria Sison and others for the ways they have shaped my knowledge vi foundation. The work of Michael Eric Dyson, Cornel West, KRS-One and Byron Hurt has also been influential. There is a vast amount of hip hop artists that continue to evoke emotions, thoughts, and actions that I would not be able to name them all here. There are also many, many more people that have contributed and shared their thoughts and experiences with me to get me to this juncture. Thank you to each and every one of you. vii EXPRESSIONS OF RESISTANCE: INTERSECTIONS OF FILIPINO AMERICAN IDENTITY, HIP HOP CULTURE, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE Abstract By Stephen Alan Bischoff, Ph.D. Washington State University April 2012 Chair: Dr. C. Richard King The unique relationship to colonization for Filipinos has challenged Filipino Americans in their identity development and understanding of Philippine history. Although American exceptionalism has been heavily indoctrinated into the Filipino diaspora due to the colonial education system in the Philippines, Filipino American youth have been able to still recognize themselves as a marginalized community in the U.S. due to their lower socioeconomic status and interactions with racism. By focusing specifically on Filipino Americans and the ways in which hip hop culture has been a site for expressing resistance through identity, my work will expose why hip hop culture has appealed to many Filipino Americans as a tool to resist and subvert oppression. Studying Filipino Americans and hip hop culture exposes the democratizing ways that hip hop culture enables Filipino American resistance to be successfully expressed and recognized. Through qualitative interviews with Fil Ams with significant ties to hip hop culture and the Fil Am community, this paper examines how these Fil Ams perceive their work by incorporating their connections to Filipino and Filipino American communities. This paper examines the reciprocal impact between Filipino Americans and hip hop culture. It looks at how viii Filipino American involvement in hip hop culture integrates a culture of resistance in identity development. From these intersections, the idea of resistance will be explored in terms of ideology and the community organizing efforts of both real and imagined communities. My analysis yields a better understanding of how Filipino Americans utilize hip hop culture. Through this work, it also uncovers how Filipino American youth are targeted through hip hop culture to counter the Americanized, white supremacist teachings of Philippine and Filipino American history. Lastly, my research explores how hip hop culture gets used to motivate and support Filipino American youth in their rejection of imperialism.