Community Book Club Session 4: “Fortitude and Strength of Filipino Women in Hawaii's Past"
April 4, 7:00-8:00pm
Online via Zoom

We are honored to host a discussion between Jonathan Okamura, Professor Emeritus of Ethnic Studies at the University of Hawai`i at Manoa, and contributing author to Tomorrow's Memories, Melinda Kerkvliet, writer of a biography on on Pablo Manlapit, and Deanna Espinas, Secretary of the Filipino American Historical Society of Hawai`i (FAHSOH), and Romel Dela Cruz.

Jonathan Y. Okamura is professor emeritus at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa where he was employed for more than thirty years, twenty of which were with the Department of Ethnic Studies. He is the author of Imagining the Filipino American Diaspora and Filipino American Ethnicity, Education and Diaspora in Hawai‘i, a compilation of his journal articles and book chapters published between 1984 and 2021 available at https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/76524.

Melinda Tria Kerkvliet received her doctorate in history from the University of Hawai'i. Her research interests include Manila workers' unions, Philippine Masonry, and Filipinos in Hawai'i. She published a book on Pablo Manlapit, a Filipino labor leader in Hawai'i who led the 1924 strike. She is a former director of Operation Manong (now Office of Multicultural Student Services) at the University of Hawai'i which began as an ACTION-funded program in 1972. She is an active member of the Filipino American Historical Society of Hawai'i.

Deanna Espinas is a second-generation Filipina of a Tagalog mother from Manila and an Ilocano father from Abra, Ilocos Norte who both settled in Hawaii. Deanna received a master's degree in library studies and retired from the Dept. of Public Safety in 1981. She enjoys being part of cultural activities to celebrate people's experiences growing up in Hawaii. But she is especially fascinated by the stories of those who were native to Hawaii or immigrants like her parents, people who struggled to provide for their family. These stories become movies for the mind. We are invited to imagine history, hear people's dreams for a better life, see what they wore and ate, and feel their emotions. These are memories to be passed on to others.

Romel Dela Cruz was born in the Philippines, raised in a sugar plantation, and attended public schools on the island of Hawaii. Retired as a hospital administrator, grandfather of four, he enjoys playing and singing with a ukulele, and is passionate about sharing stories about the Filipino experience in Hawaii.