This exhibit was inspired by my thesis as an MA student in the Humanities program at San Francisco State University. Both works examine Filipino American history through a close reading of poems chronicling the stories of one Filipino American family’s evolution in the 20th century. The poet, Kenneth Zamora Damacion, published pieces about his immigrant parents, their family, and his experiences growing up as a farmworker; as well as reflections on his marriage, his divorce, and his favorite jazz musicians. The enclosed essays, linked to each selected poem, consider the current-day realities of the causes and effects of Filipino American history on the Damacion family -my family- and other Filipino Americans.

Following his unexpected death, I rediscovered my father’s poetry to look for stories about him, our family, and where we came from. Through these readings, I found profound insights into our family's emotional and cultural dynamics, which had been topics intentionally avoided in my youth. We could continue to communicate through the legacy of his works, which provided an inspiring connection to our family’s personal slice of Filipino American history, and from which I would connect our stories to the histories of other Filipino Americans.

In these essays, I focus on how my father's poems capture the experiences of early Pinays and Pinoys, particularly addressing themes of labor, longing, and otherness. By situating his poetry within relevant historical and cultural contexts, this work aims to validate Filipino American culture, challenging the degrading narratives associated with our history. Through both text and curatorial practice, I argue that increased research and visibility in Filipino American studies are essential for fostering understanding and sensitivity, ultimately advocating for the amplification of Filipino American voices and experiences to shape cultural identity and collective consciousness.

The poems featured in this project and elsewhere, can be found in a variety of outlets published between 1980-2000: Outsiders: poems about rebels, exiles, and renegades, Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art, Hawai'i Review, The Missouri Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, the Hiram Poetry Review, and in The False Angel, a special collection published by Pegasus & Pendragon Books in Berkeley.