What do Pinoys like about Pareng Barack?

MANILA, Philippines - Anvil publishing recently released a very timely book about the newly elected US president entitled Pareng Barack: Filipinos in Obama’s America by award-winning writer Benjamin Pimentel.

The book is about Obama’s incredible march to the American presidency, and about how Filipinos responded to his campaign and his victory.

Pimentel states one of his main theses in the first chapter: “Pareng Barack himself has just completed a historic journey... (as) the first person of color to lead the United States of America, the man who now will inherit a place of incredible honor, but also take on challenges of enormous magnitude. Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States. For many Filipinos in America, it is a time of celebration and pride. For others, of concern, even fear.”

Benjamin Pimentel was a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle for 14 years, and now covers technology for Marketwatch. He co-produced Toxic Sunset, a documentary about the environmental damage caused by the US bases in the Philippines, which won the Golden Gate Award at the 1994 San Francisco International Film Festival and other awards. 

YOUNG STAR: What will readers find interesting about the book?

Pareng Barack is an account of how Filipinos responded to the historic election campaign. The book also examines the Filipino American story filtered through my own experiences and insights as a journalist based in California.

How will the presidency of Barack Obama impact the lives of Filipino Americans?

Because race has played such a critical role in American politics for a long time, I think Obama’s election as the first person of color to serve as US president has had a tremendous impact on communities of color in general, including Filipino Americans.

What do you like most about Barack Obama?

He is an intellectual who also has worked at the grassroots level as a community organizer. And he has displayed a steady temperament that is very much needed right now.

What do you like least about Barack Obama?

He is a politician and thus will likely have to make compromises once in power. That’s the part about him that’s untested.