Planting Filipino Activism Roots in Florida
The Malaya Movement made history in 2020 with the founding of the Florida chapter, spreading the fight for genuine democracy in the Philippines to a new region in the American South. Despite the challenges of its creation during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and building a progressive Filipino organization on reactionary and conservative ground, our growth in membership and in the community serves as a reminder that the cause of anti-fascism and anti-dictatorship is just and that it is right to arise.
Malaya Florida began in 2020 with two people new to organizing. Immediate difficulties stemmed from inexperience, geographic separation, and familial obligations. However, with connections through the National Executive Council and social media, the chapter started helping conduct virtual webinars with local organizations Florida Student Power Network and Florida Immigrant Youth Network as well as fellow chapters. In February 2021, Malaya Florida, Georgia, and Texas gathered in a virtual town hall to discuss the Filipino-American Agenda and how it pertained to Filipinos' unique position in the South.
The Malaya chapters in the southern region often unite to hold training and events together. In December 2021 and April 2022 respectively, Florida and Georgia held an online vigil for human rights victims in the Philippines and a film screening of The Kingmaker. They reunited with Texas after the 2021 elections to release a statement to reject the Marcos-Duterte return to power.
Youth and students have been the backbone of Malaya Florida, not just as members and allies but as a connecting identity. In its early days, the chapter supported a series of kwentuhan held by Anakbayan and Kabataan Alliance with Lumad youth in which Indigenous students could share their experiences of their own affirming education and military displacement. In July 2022, Florida presented a workshop for the Florida Asian American Student Union and gathered responses for a PSONA social media campaign.
Through building relationships with Filipino Student Associations, Malaya Florida has been able to blossom toward in-person events. Alongside the hard work of the Florida State, Universities of Florida and Central Florida FSAs and other student groups, the chapter was able to hold an in-person vigil for the victims of Marcos’s martial law.
Additionally, Malaya Florida assisted with the opening of Victor Velasco’s Golden Years photography exhibition, sent representatives to tsinelas action in Washington, D.C., and mobilized to join the protests in New York City against President Marcos’s September 2022 attendance to the United Nations. It also worked with Liyang Network, Association of Filipino Scientists in America (AFSA), and the Orange County NAACP.
Although retaining, involving, and developing membership is an ongoing challenge to balance with external building, we’ve been able to establish our Executive Committee from our 12 members and look forward to continued recruitment. We aim to grow in our current three metro areas to facilitate mobilization as well as spreading to new cities. We also hope that as we tandaan, we will realize such trials as achievable and carry on the fight. Tumindig!
