Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance-Vancouver | Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada
Press Release

Music is the message: celebrating the spirit and struggle of the Filipino community

May 17, 2007

On Friday, May 25th 2007 East Vancouver's Sir Charles Tupper Secondary School will come alive with the beats and resounding voices of Roots,
Rhymes and Resistance X: Our Beautiful Struggle (RRR). RRR is Vancouver's only progressive Filipino cultural showcase organized by Filipino youth, and it has opened to packed audiences since its inception in 1999.

Every year Vancouver's Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance / Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada (UKPC/FCYA) has organized RRR during
Asian Heritage Month, not just as a platform for upcoming Filipino talent, but also as a political platform on which to discuss contemporary Filipino issues. This year's theme, "Our Beautiful Struggle," encompasses both the musical character of the event as well as the bittersweet reality for many Filipinos in Canada: facing hardship and lack of opportunity, not to mention political repression, in the Philippines, thousands of Filipinos leave their home country every day. Upon arrival they find themselves in situations that, while different, are sometimes just as difficult.

"The socio-economic conditions in the Philippines are contributing to the massive exodus of workers overseas" explains Jill Laxamana, member of UKPC/FCYA and one of the organizers of RRR X. The Philippines, which exports over a million workers a year under their Labour Export Policy, relies greatly on remittances to keep the country afloat. Canada is one of the major recipients of this migrant labour: "[the Filipino community] here has become marginalized, it's become routine to deport Filipino domestic workers and cliché to criminalize Filipino youth... [the community] is confronted with racist stereotypes, economic adversity, and injustice" says Laxamana.

Historically during Roots, Rhymes and Resistance the UKPC/FCYA has attempted to bridge issues that affect Filipinos in the Philippines as well as overseas, while reaching out through music and performance to youth who are just becoming aware of their cultural and political identities. First organized in 1999 as part of a campaign centred on
the Philippine-American War, it has continued to provide youth with artistic inspiration as well as cultural education.

This year's RRR X will tackle issues such as the escalating violence and human rights abuses being perpetrated against progressive figures in the Philippines, side-by-side with pieces by politically-conscious performers such as hip hop group On Point Collective, spoken word artist Carlo Sayo and multi-media presentations and speakers from
other progressive organizations in the Lower Mainland.

Roots, Rhymes and Resistance X: Our Beautiful Struggle
Friday, May 25th, 2007
Doors Open: 6pm at Sir Charles Tupper Secondary School
419 East 24th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5V 2A2
For more info please contact UKPC/FCYA at 602-215-1103 or
ukpc_fcya@kalayaancentre.net

tickets are available at the door or in advance! Only $10 ($5-8 for high school students with valid ID)