Why So Serious?!

For the most part, I am a pretty easy going guy. However, I have been told that I seem to take my heritage, my community, and my culture seriously...almost to the point of being too serious about it. Perhaps they are right. I suppose I take these things so seriously because I am honestly afraid that I am one of the handful of people who actually gives a damn about the culture and the people it comes from.

I grew up here in the United States of America as a kid with one foot in the Filipino world and another foot in the American world. Growing up, I'd often find it difficult to reconcile the American world around me with the culture I experienced at home. To make things even worse, the culture I experienced at home was practically unknown to the outside world. Into my teens, I became more and more hungry to find out more about my heritage and it's relevance towards the world around me. My studies in the Filipino martial arts were the catalyst for this. As the years went on I became more and more driven to show people that my people and my art were relevant. To this day, that hasn't changed.

Unfortunately, another thing that hasn't changed has been the fact that most young Filipino-American's possess a general lack of interest in anything regarding their heritage. I notice that they embrace certain things. They openly spout "Pinoy Pride", wear the Filipino flag on an article of clothing, and talk about the food...but it seems to stop there. It seems that the deeper parts of the culture and history are being lost and pushed to the side in favor of hip hop, sneakers, and fast cars. I find it so strange how difficult it is to get Filipino youth to show up to a Filipino martial arts clinic...but I also notice how easy it is to get Filipino youth to attend a hip hop dance competition or hip hop class. I find it strange how I will see ballroom, hip hop, and the waltz performed at a girl's Cottilion or Debut, but rarely will I see them perform Singkil or Pandango Sa Ilaw at such an event. At events such as the Filipino Internetworking Dialogue (FIND), I noticed how so many Fil-Am kids will be interested as to which hotel room in the hotel will have the most booze and hottest girls, but they will not often recall or discuss the talks and lectures...assuming the attendees were sober enough to remember it.

I take a look at the next generation of young Filipinos here in America and I'm honestly worried. I am worried that their sense of complacency toward their roots will result in our culture being lost forever. Perhaps I am being overdramatic. I really hope I'm wrong. But, I am sincere in saying that it is honestly something that worries me. I don't want our history to be lost. I do not want our culture to be lost. I do not want the spirit of our people who have fought and died so that we as a future generation may live simply to wither and perish. I've made it my life's mission to use what I know to spread the culture and people I believe in. I am doing all I can to preserve and spread the culture in the most honest way I know how...not just by spouting facts or wielding weapons, but by honestly displaying the good that is within us, the good that was always within us...but also the problems we face which we must openly discuss and practically overcome. But, I can't do it alone.

Please, help me.