Elon Musk, the entrepreneurial wiz, co-founder of PayPal and Zip2, and founder of SpaceX and now Tesla Motors | Photo by JD Lasica via Flickr/Creative Commons CC BY 2.0
Part XXIII of the “EDEN America” Series
Serious students of history remember the “Renaissance.” It was a passionate period of European cultural, artistic, political, and economic “rebirth” following the Middle Ages. It happened from the 14th century to the 17th century. The Renaissance promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature, and art, aside from socioeconomic fields of endeavor.
In modern times, it led to the coinage of the term “Renaissance Man” (or Woman or Person, its politically-correct usage in the 21st-century). Before, it was also called the Universal Man or Italian Uomo Universale. It was an ideal concept that developed in “Renaissance Italy” from the notion expressed by one of its most-accomplished representatives, Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472), that “a man can do all things if he will.” Yes, the idea embodied in the basic tenets of the Age of Renaissance.
The “Old-Man River” Initiatives can usher in a modern “Age of Renaissance” not only in North America, but also perhaps, in the world, maybe for the next three centuries — that is if most of the plans and programs succeed.
What if every state, county, city or town, or even an ethnic community can encourage all their “Renaissance Persons” to help with the suggested “Old-Man River” initiatives? The term “Renaissance Person” can be used again for very-clever mortals, especially from the ranks of the youth, that are good at many different things. We may pattern it after the persons that excelled in their tasks or vocation during the Renaissance period of history. Two of the best-known people from that era were Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.
The Idea of an “Overseas-Filipino Renaissance Person” Recognition of an Award
This columnist started writing professionally in Los Angeles (CA) only in 1988. He finally decided to use his skill as a wordsmith (that he learned in a Benedictine-run College of Journalism in Manila as a member of its Class of 1966). Before that, he worked for American moving and storage firms. He also published in 1977 the first Filipino-authored book on relocation, How To Move Successfully Without Really Trying.
” … how Overseas Filipinos (especially Filipino Americans) could “look good, feel good and proud of their multiethnic contributions to North America and the World. All by doing things differently in a classic rebirth of an ethnic community, especially in literature, sports, activism, political involvement, and other proactive activities.”
As stated in the first article in this column on Nov. 23, 2020, this writer joined what became colloquially known in 1988 as the “Filipino Literary Gang of Four” (later increased to Five) in Southern CA. We were then writing for two Filipino-American publications. I started to dish out weekly, an op-ed piece, and a series of articles about “reinventing” the Philippine military. Or “reinventing” the Filipino Psyche. Or how Overseas Filipinos (especially Filipino Americans) could “look good, feel good and proud of their multiethnic contributions to North America and the World. All by doing things differently in a classic rebirth of an ethnic community, especially in literature, sports, activism, political involvement, and other proactive activities.
It caught the attention of the most-senior writer in our group, whom we called the “Poet-pundit.” He was Fred Burce Bunao (now deceased). He retired as the most-eminent copy editor of The Manila Times before he migrated to the United States in the late 1970s. Mr. Bunao also won the Palanca Award (for Poetry in English) in 1969. The Palanca is the Filipino equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. The poet-pundit opined that I was trying to promote the idea of “Renaissance” or rebirth of the Filipino literature, governance, socioeconomic development, etc. He joked that perhaps the publications’ staff of writers should call me “Mr. Reyessance” (sic). He was that witty and funny.
But in all seriousness, Mr. Bunao, who also served as my literary mentor, wished me luck. But he said that I must demonstrate or do some of what I had been proposing in my writings. Yes, I needed to build a track record before this writer could persuade Overseas Filipinos (and even Mainstream America) to consider my advocating programs.
Now, 33-years later, I have written more than 4,000 essays, satires, articles, and commentaries published on several Filipino-American websites and Facebook (as Notes and comments in some 70 Groups that I founded and, or co-founded or administered). And it took me longer to do events that were first in the annals of our ethnic community in the United States. For instance, this columnist first proposed in 1977 a Filipino-American Community Night (or Day) at a Major League Baseball (MBL) stadium in New York. After 29 years, my supporters and I were able to do the first event at the Dodgers Stadium on July 24, 2006. And followed it with the second Filipino event in a regular MBL game at the Dodgers Stadium in July 2007. Then soon, Filipino-American baseball events followed in San Francisco and Oakland (CA), and New York City, as organized by other community-based coalitions that followed in our footsteps.
The Philippine Consulate General requested me — as the 2006 overall elected chairman of the 2006 Kalayaan Philippine Independence Committee — to represent the Filipino-American community in that year’s “Parade of Nations” at the Opening Ceremonies of the Los Angeles County Fair at the Pomona Fairgrounds in Southern CA. Finally, it was a recognition of my advocacy for our community to be proactive in mainstream events. After this, journalist-led Filipino writers participated in the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at the UCLA Campus from 1998-to-2000. We did more like fielding for the first time Filipino participation in several Asian-American, Tet, and other Festivals in Southern California. As mentioned earlier, we also held the first-ever Fiesta Hispana y Filipina at the West Covina Mall (in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County) with the support of FedEx as the sole corporate sponsor.
“Then the respective awardees can form task forces to make their individual state better places to live in, do business, and invent new things like electronic tools and gadgets to propel humanity to the stratospheric levels of success and accomplishments. And eventually, the task forces can be done on a national scale so that they (and we) do it in North America and the rest of the world.”
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In the 24th part of this series — scheduled for Dec. 15, 2021 — we will issue the plans to launch the “Overseas-Filipino Renaissance Awards next year.” It will be our recognition of our community’s persons, couples, and organizations (as highly-vetted) that have demonstrated a track record of “reinventing and rediscovering” Filipino lives, causes, and concerns in North America and other foreign countries — all for God and country.
Perhaps all the 33 states that are part of the Mississippi River Deltas can search for their own “Renaissance Men or Women or Couples or even Community Organizations.” Then the respective awardees can form task forces to make their individual state better places to live in, do business, and invent new things like electronic tools and gadgets to propel humanity to the stratospheric levels of success and accomplishments. And eventually, the task forces can be done on a national scale so that they (and we) do it in North America and the rest of the world.
