The new American is brown

MANILA, Philippines - Last Nov. 1, a day set by tradition to honor our beloved dead, I celebrated life with the baptism of my first grandson, after three beautiful granddaughters.

Mikel Antonio Meloto Gonzalez, joined the Christian world at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Los Angeles, California surrounded by Asian and Mexican godparents. This new American is brown, a smooth mocha complexion of various eastern and western blends handed down over the ages, with big round chocolate eyes and thick black hair. I must admit he is, in the eyes of a proud grandfather, perfect.

He is the first born of my second daughter, Wowie, formerly a TV host in the Philippines whose elusive heart was captured by a Filipino American entrepreneur she met in Los Angeles. Micray, her husband, became an irresistible choice for her as a lifetime hero after he ran the Long Beach marathon to raise funds to build homes for the poor in the Philippines. Filipinos like him in other lands have not forgotten the poor at home, after Gawad Kalinga provided the channel for reconnection.

My grandson will be growing up in a new America that recently elected the first brown President, with traces of black Africa and white Europe in his genes; with a half-sister who is half Indonesian, married to a Chinese Canadian with roots in Sabah. Barack Obama was, in the eyes of American voters of various ethnicities, religion and color in the last presidential election, the best hope for change. This is a non-political statement with no racial bias intended. It is simply recognizing historical symbols and transitions.

 President Obama is wishfully perceived by non-Americans like me as a leader pursuing not only the interest of his country, but one who will make it his highest interest to support the dreams of poor nations left behind by their best citizens who now call America home. This is for me the most promising strategy of reducing global poverty and the formula for lasting peace if it becomes the platform of his leadership.

 This is in the best interest of my grandson who entered the world last Sept. 24 as an Asian born in the United States. It definitely will make the world safer for him if successful Asian Americans with their vast resources, expertise and influence are harnessed to help end poverty in Asia.

 Though President Obama is claimed by Afro-Americans as the fulfillment of Martin Luther’s dream to overcome prejudice someday, of Rosa Parks’ faith that she is no less human or less American because she is black, his ascendancy to the most powerful office in the world is also redemptive to Asians who endured their share of discrimination in their pursuit of the American dream, though they did not demand equality through militant activism or protests but through hard work in a culture that valued merit. And they succeeded in gaining prosperity, and with it respect, in less than half a century, even exceeding white Europeans whose work ethics made America strong.

 Mikel will be raised in America where Asians, including four million Filipino-Americans, collectively enjoy the highest economic status, have the highest average household income and the lowest unemployment (6 percent compared to 8.4 percent for whites, per CNN’s latest report) and are considered the least burden to welfare.

 Mikel’s godfather Tony Olaes, born and raised in San Diego, is the biggest supplier of pop culture shirts in the major retail outlets of America. His beautiful godmother, Maricel Villanueva, is a top real estate broker in South California. One of the guests in the baptism, Dr. Tex Abay, is the founder of the Kansas Spine Hospital. In my visit to UC Irvine the previous day, I was with Josie Castro, the CFO of UCLA’s School of Public Health.

 On this particular trip I attended the annual ball of the Philippine Heritage Institute as a recipient of their first International Humanitarian award, where I met many outstanding Filipinos, mostly nurses, and heard their amazing stories of their struggle to get to the top of their field. The ladies, led by founder Naomi Palma-Armada, looked resplendent in their glittering gowns and sparklers, showing no sign of wear and tear from years of enduring long work shifts and demanding patients and clients. But they shone more brightly that night when they announced that they will work with GK in bringing light to the gloomy life of the poor towns in the Philippines where many of them came from.

 I also met the owners of the biggest Asian supermarket and food chain in the West Coast, Seafood City, who gave the biggest donation to the relief operations of Gawad Kalinga for the Ondoy and Pepeng typhoon victims. Due to the increased buying power of Filipino Americans and their growing passion to patronize Asian products, the sales of the most successful Filipino business enterprise in the United States increased despite the recession. We hope to fuel this mood by encouraging more Filipino entrepreneurs at home to produce world class brands.

 Again, I say this not to put down the heirs of the founding fathers of America but simply to communicate to Asians, and Filipinos particularly, that they are not inferior or second class by virtue of color after centuries of colonial conditioning that they are. The final emancipation of Asians is not only the browning of America… the acceptance that brown is beautiful after years of believing that they are not white enough or tall enough, or their ideas bright enough… but in making it their ultimate goal to help bring their countries of origin out of poverty and corruption to cap their success and complete their journey.

 If Singaporeans, South Koreans and Vietnamese can do it, there is no reason why Filipinos cannot do it too.

 Regaining the honor that we have lost is our healing as a people and the highest measure of our greatness. If Filipinos can live an honorable life in America, we can also do it in the Philippines. But first, we must all give our country a second chance and not simply dismiss it as hopeless because our politicians are corrupt or the poor are lazy. This is a cop-out attitude that no Filipino must take to his grave. If they can throw away their hard earned funds by trusting Madoff and his corrupt friends in Wall Street, they might as well bring their resources to the Philippines and invest in bringing their country out of poverty. They can consider retiring there which can give them more mileage for their dollar, or manage their investments themselves and share their work ethics that made them successful in America.

 If more of us will do more good in the Philippines rather than complain or blame, we can drive out evil and corruption in our country within our lifetime.

 The role of Filipino Americans is crucial to the long term interest of the United States in Asia. There is a deep historical affinity and affection that makes the Philippines the safest place for Americans in Asia, more so if poverty is reduced to address the root of crime and insurgency.

 Present Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney knows this, which has earned for her the affection of our people, and the reputation of being the most admired American diplomat to our shores. To the residents of our Gawad Kalinga communities, where she has been coming to volunteer with embassy personnel, visiting US soldiers, NFL and NBA stars, she is the face of the beautiful American in Asia.

 That cause for us is nation-building; the campaign is GK 2024 – to bring five million Filipino families out of landlessness, homelessness and hunger in one generation, from 2003 to 2024, by building productive and peaceful intentional communities in every barangay, in all towns and cities in the Philippines. I was confident to articulate this clearly in Boston last June 12 at the GK Global Summit after experiencing the lavish love and the capacity for heroic sacrifice of Filipino Americans for our country if they find a patriotic cause that inspires hope and trust.

 This is what will make Mikel whole as a Filipino American and secure as a global citizen who will genuinely care for our people and our planet.

 This is the same cause that will shape the future of Ariel, Chloe and Wolfie… children of my daughter Anna and her British husband Dylan… who are white Filipinos, little cappuccinos growing up in the Philippines, and their cousin Tala and all my descendants, including the poor and the orphans that I have adopted as my own. As my exit strategy, I will make it my greatest legacy for them to treasure the gift of being Filipino by creating abundance and peace in these precious isles of the Orient which a beautiful and talented people in various hues of tropical tan call home.

This is my simple prayer for Mikel.

1. To love God and the country of his birth by being a good, honest and hardworking American.

2. To honor his father and mother by caring for the Philippines, the country that nurtured and educated them and made them an asset to America.

3. To be proud of his roots and to learn to speak Tagalog (or my Ilonggo and my wife’s Kapampangan).

4. To consider it a sin to bash the Philippines and to abandon our people.

5. To remember always that being Filipino is not about legal citizenship, skin color or distance, but about passion. Anyone who loves the Philippines is a Filipino; those who are destroying it are aliens.

If it is God’s will and his destiny, Mikel can even aspire to be the first Asian American to become the President of the United States of America.