S/Heroes of SOMA Feted Through a Mural Exhibit During Fil-Am History Month Celebrations

PRESS RELEASE
SFPCG-PR-118-2021

S/HEROES OF SOMA FETED THROUGH A MURAL EXHIBIT DURING FIL-AM HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATIONS
02 November 2021

In celebration of the Filipino-American History Month, the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco joined the South of Market Community Action Network (SOMCAN) in the unveiling of its Reclaiming our Space (ROSe) art exhibit on 28 October 2021 at the Children’s Creativity Museum in San Francisco, CA. 

Deputy Consul General Raquel R. Solano and Cultural Officer Ethel Castillo, attending on behalf of the Consulate, joined the Fil-Am community in SOMA, in celebrating the occasion and in admiring the mixed media stencil murals of artist Mel Vera Cruz which feature 35 community leaders whose legacy to the Filipino American community in the Bay Area is well-recognized. The murals were “dedicated to the leaders and their legacies that have helped build, empower, engage, and continue to inspire our communities ongoing contribution for a just society.”

Featured as “S/Heroes” were community leaders/organizers, veterans, seniors, mothers, workers, farmers, professionals and residents, whose work continue to “position Filipino-American life as an inextricable part of the story of San Francisco, the Bay Area and/or the South of Market.”

Among the “S/Heroes” were the following: Amado Khaya Canham; Robyn Rodriguez;Lorna Velasco; Bernadette Sy; Lolita Kintanar; Oscar Penaranda; Anastacia “Tess” Diaz; Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales; Luisa Antonio; Juvy Barbonio; Tony Remington; Emil De Guzman; MC Canlas; Teresita “Tetet” Naval; Father Obet; Phil Chavez; Daz Lamparas; Juanita Tamayo Lott; Alice Bulos; Steve Arevalo; Rosita Tabasa; Jen-Ortega Lapena; Estella Habal; Leni Juarez; Anita Sanchez; Alleluia Panis; Rizalino “Ross” Quema; Lillian Galedo; Mrs. Herminia Gorre; Shirley and Pat Mingming; Felix Junia; Eric Fructuoso; Mike “Dream” Francisco; Marie Romero; and Pio Candelaria.

In her remarks during the program, DCG Solano expressed thanks and appreciation to the featured “S/Heroes” for making the Fil-Am community in SOMA “a place we can call a home …where one feels safe and accepted, and can get the support he/she needs to lighten his burdens and pursue his aspirations.”

She noted that “through the work of the S/Heroes, the initiatives they have spearheaded, the organizations they have created, the mechanisms and network they have formed, it became easier for our fellow Filipinos to navigate the systems in place in their environment, address their needs and concerns through the resources that are made available in the community, be it in the areas of health, education, housing , employment, family and community development.”

She also indicated that the “empowering work and legacy of the S/Heroes is a reflection of the caring and sharing culture of the Filipinos, particularly the values of bayanihan, pakikipagkapwa, paggalang at pagmamalasakit.” The Fil-Am community was therefore urged to continue to embrace and nurture their culture, and to harness it as a source of strength and hope, especially in times of challenges.

SOMCAN, or the “South of Market Community Action Network,” is a non-profit organization which takes up wide-ranging issues in the SOMA neighborhood to nurture, through its various programs, “the lives of youth, families, individuals, and workers”.

SOMCAN’s ROSe program “uplifts Filipino language, culture, and history by combining art and design with community planning to educate, organize, and strengthen the Filipino community’s civic engagement in shaping their neighborhood and city.” -END