PinoyBuilt — Stories of Filipino America

Philippines • June 2026. Maharlika, Pacific Islander, or Asian? The Decolonization of Filipino Identity. maharlika meaning, filipino pacific islander, filipino identity, ferdinand marcos maharlika, mount pinatubo anniversary, austronesian filipino, decolonization philippines. IDENTITY • PHILIPPINES • JUNE 2026 Maharlika, Pacific Islander, or Asian? The Decolonization of Filipino Identity Thirty-five years ago today, Mount Pinatubo reshaped the islands. Today, two debates — Asian or Pacific Islander, Philippines or Maharlika — are reshaping the global Filipino identity. The truth is harder, and more beautiful, than either side admits. Thirty-five years ago today, on June 15, 1991, Mount Pinatubo released the second-largest volcanic eruption of the twentieth century. The blast injected so much sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere that it cooled the global climate by roughly half a degree Celsius for two years. It...

While hate crimes in this country increased last year by two percent overall, hate crimes against Americans of Asian and Pacific Island descent rose by 146 percent, with the Trump administration's use of racist rhetoric during the pandemic blamed by some for the rise in violence. History shows that Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders have had to weather this wave of discrimination and scapegoating many times before. CBS News correspondent Weijia Jiang reports.

UCSF Dept. of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Speaker: Helen H. Hsu, PsyD Lead Outreach Clinician/Asian American Specialist Vaden Health Center Counseling and Psychological Services Stanford University Past President Asian American Psychological Association Learning objectives: At the end of this presentation, learners will be able to: Identify key bimodal demographic and historical factors underlying Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) mental health Improve assessment of systemic factors and stressors impacting AAPI health in the COVID-19 era Integrate cultural and community resources relevant to AAPI resilience intro treatment considerations

Asian Americans now constitute enough voters to be the margin of victory in multiple swing states, including 11% of the electorate in Nevada, 5.5% in Texas & 4.7% in Georgia. 🤔 #DidYouKnow : Asian Americans now constitute enough voters to be the margin of victory in multiple swing states, including 11% of the electorate in Nevada, 5.5% in Texas & 4.7% in Georgia. Join our campaign & help us elect @JoeBiden & @KamalaHarris 👉 https://t.co/wk3NyFyMnf pic.twitter.com/3yhMtufNL0 — Asian American and Pacific Islanders for Biden (@AAPI_Biden) August 28, 2020 Be sure to register to vote! You may need to update your voter registration if you've: ☑️ Moved within your state. ☑️ Changed your name. ☑️ Want to update your political party affiliation. Submit your changes before your state’s deadline to vote this year. — VoteGov (@VoteGov) August 27, 2020

Disney is set to release "Moana" on November 23, 2016, but it wanted to cash in on Halloween costumes -- too hastily it seems. Source: Disneystore.com Disney released the Moana costume last weekend on its online store. The costume is that of Maui , a demigod in Polynesian mythology . In the Disney animated film, Maui is voiced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Although Disney has featured brown-skinned people in its films before (think “Pocahontas”), it has not released a costume in which 'brown skin' itself is depicted as part of the costume. The costume’s description reads, “Your little one will set off on adventures in this Maui Costume featuring the demigod’s signature tattoos, rope necklace and island-style skirt. Plus, padded arms and legs for mighty stature!” Accompanying the description is a photograph of a young boy, who has brown skin, wearing the costume. (See above). Source: Disneystore.com Unsurprisingly, there was immediate outrage and bac...

Three thousand years ago, the greatest sailors in the world voyaged across the vast Pacific , discovering the many islands of Oceania . But then, for a millennium, their voyages stopped – and no one knows why. From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes “ Moana ,” a sweeping, CG-animated feature film about an adventurous teenager who sails out on a daring mission to save her people. During her journey, Moana (voice of Auli’i Cravalho) meets the once-mighty demigod Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson), who guides her in her quest to become a master wayfinder. Together, they sail across the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous monsters and impossible odds, and along the way, Moana fulfills the ancient quest of her ancestors and discovers the one thing she’s always sought: her own identity. Directed by the renowned filmmaking team of Ron Clements and John Musker (“The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” “The Princess & the Frog”) and produced by Osnat Shurer (“Lifted,” “One M...