AFIRE collaborates on pride event for the Filipinx/a/o community (Past Event)
(CHICAGO, IL)
The Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empower (AFIRE) is excited to announce it is collaborating on the first Pride of its kind for the Filipinx/a/o community. AFIRE is partnering with queer and trans-led groups Luya Poetry, Blasian March, Invisible 2 Invincible (i2i), and individual organizers from around Chicago to co-host The Great Baklaan, a learning space and performance for Filipinx/a/o peoples of all ages.
While Chicago Filipinx/a/o organizers have long engaged in local and state-wide advocacy efforts, drawing attention to well-established issues of housing, voting rights, and queer and trans rights overall, among others, this is the first event of its kind for the Filipinx/a/o community that focuses entirely on the history and experiences of LGBTQ+ Filipinx/a/o people in Chicago through an intergenerational space that prioritizes both sharing history and celebrating the present. “This is so meaningful to have this inter-generational space for Filipinxao community + Filipinxao allies,” notes Kristina Tendilla, event partner and founder of Look With Your Mouth, a developing oral history project uplifting story collection as a means of documentation, connection, & generational healing.
The Great Baklaan is a collaboration that reimagines opportunities to showcase the Filipinx/a/o LGBTQ+ community. Discussions will entail the issues we face and our experiences navigating systems and institutions that actively deny us, as well as celebrate the many ways we convene, organize for change, and support one another. This ticketed event will offer a number of spaces for participants to engage:
Panel discussions and breakout sessions in the morning and afternoon
A gallery walk / collaborative art-making
A resource fair
Access to local groups and organizations with LGBTQ+ leadership or prioritizing LGBTQ+ issues
Evening performance showcasing local Filipinx/a/o LGBTQ+ performers
Event details:
Saturday, June 8, 2024
10a until 7:30p, doors at 9:30a
18th Street Casa de Cultura in Pilsen
2057 W 18th St, Chicago, IL 60608
Registration link for tickets and event FAQs: https://tinyurl.com/thegreatbaklaan
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ABOUT LUYA POETRY
Luya is a poetry organization founded in July 2018 that centers the stories and experiences of people of color. As part of their overall programming, Luya hosts a monthly open mic, a place where brand new poets and seasoned poets alike can find a space where they feel supported, inspired, and challenged. Luya also hosts workshops, showcases, and collaborates with local community organizations to bring poetry to new spaces. Luya believes that art is a potent political tool, and creates intentional spaces to encourage poets to make unapologetic art towards a future where we are safe, thriving, and free.
ABOUT INVISIBLE 2 INVINCIBLE
Invisible to Invincible (i2i) is a community-based organization that celebrates and affirms Asians & Pacific Islanders (APIs) who identify as LGBTQ+ in the Chicago area.
ABOUT BLASIAN MARCH
The Blasian March is a solidarity action between Black/African, Asian, and mixed Blasian communities. This is achieved through education on parallel struggles with white colonial settler violence and mutual celebration of our lives.
ABOUT AFIRE
AFIRE is a community organization that creates a political home with and for Filipinx/a/os* to confidently organize toward the liberation of immigrants, workers, domestic workers, queer and trans people, and oppressed peoples everywhere.
* We use Filipinx/a/o as shorthand for Filipinx/Filipina/Filipino to honor all gender identities.
