Importance to Filipino Rights Movement

Carlos Bulosan and Stanley Garibay were pioneers in the Filipino civil rights movement. They were both among the first to document the Filipino experience in America on paper.

Stanley Garibay was the first Filipino to ever lead a strike in the United States in August 1930. Eleven years later, Garibay found himself running his own publication. He printed news magazines featuring writings from Bulosan, other various writers, and himself. Through his publication, the Pacific Pathfinder, which later became the Pacific Frontier and the Philippines, he gave a voice to the Filipino people. This magazine covered everything from Filipino immigration history, to the first Filipino battalion in Camp San Luis Obispo, and everything in between.[1]

Carlos Bulosan took all his years of frustration as a Filipino being discriminated against in the United States and penned it all on paper. He was the premier literary voice for the Filipinos in a time where justice was not extended to all people in America. His writings proliferated the previously untold struggles of his people, particularly with his semi-autobiography, America is in the Heart. He was more than just talk though, he also participated in many strikes. His writings still have a visible impact in the present day, inspiring people such as Geologic of the Blue Scholars to speak for Filipinos through the arts. He left a lasting influence on the Filipino community and gave birth to many activists in his wake.[2,3]

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