RISE UP! Sacramento youth and students continue to mobilize, educate, and cultivate community spaces

Photo Courtesy: Nathaniel Roque of the Sacramento 4 Philippine Human Rights Act Committee

Last year proved another struggle for folks during the 2022 Philippine Elections. Consequently, Filipinx youth in the Greater Sacramento and Elk Grove Area have worked diligently to create new spaces dedicated to raising awareness of the issues across nations.

In partnership with the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) and Sacramento Filipinx LGBTQIA+ (Sac-Fil), students from the Northern California Pilipinx American Student Alliance (NCPASA) held a Sacramento Philippine Election Vigil with over 25 community members dedicated to educating the masses and creating change. The gathering aimed to highlight and analyze the history of martial law in the Philippines and empower people in Northern California to act.

“The Sacramento youth have been raising awareness of important issues that affect their community both here and back home in the Philippines. By mobilizing other youth and connecting with community elders, they have been working towards building intergenerational unity to tackle these issues,” said Apoll, a student from Sacramento State University.

Sacramento youth — along with members of the Democratic Socialist of America-Sacramento Chapter (DSA), Sac-Fil, NAFCON, NCPASA, and the Sacramento for Philippine Human Rights Act — also organized a film screening of The Kingmaker (2019), which explores the legacy of the Marcos regime and the family’s rewriting of their history of corruption. Over two dozen people critically fixed their gaze on the film and participated in a post-screening discussion.

“The film screening of the Kingmaker led to a really enlightening conversation across many ages,” one community member said.

Dialogue across generations continued at a “Philippines Society and Revolution” workshop hosted by Pocket Bahay, a Filipinx queer collective.

Cultivating spaces for Filipinx to grow as leaders is essential to the movement to advance genuine democracy in the Philippines, and Sacramento youth are answering the call.