Filipino-American History Month
Written by Joanna De La Cuesta
The first Filipinos arrived in the U.S. in 1587 in Morro Bay, California. Filipino-Americans have since grown into a population of over 4 million and have made significant contributions to society, science, and arts and culture. In 2009, Congress passed a resolution recognizing October as Filipino-American History Month. In this article, LACAAEA is extending its celebration by highlighting some notable Filipino-Americans and their outstanding achievements.
Angelita Castro-Kelly served as NASA’s first-ever female Mission Operations Manager to oversee the early developmental missions for NASA’s Earth Observing System Program. Angelita was born in the Philippines where she graduated summa cum laude and continued her graduate studies in the U.S. Despite the big gender discrimination that existed during her time and at her chosen field, Angelita persisted to prove that she was as capable as her male colleagues to do the job. She received many recognitions for her contributions at NASA, such as the Flight Project Mission Impossible award and the NASA Honor Award Exceptional Achievement Medal.
Emil Guillermo is an award-winning journalist and the first Asian-American male to host a national news broadcast program. He was born in San Francisco and studied film and history at Harvard University. Emil hosted NPR’s All Things Considered from 1989 to 1991, making him the program’s first non-Caucasian host. He was also a writer for AsianWeek, the largest English language Asian American newsweekly in the country. Emil wrote the column called “Amok” for over 14 years, which was considered the most widely-read column.
Lea Salonga is best known as a Broadway actress who landed the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon and the first Asian woman to win a Tony award. She is also the first actress of Asian descent to play the roles of Eponine and Fantine in the Musical Les Miserables Additionally, Lea provided the singing voices of two Disney Princesses: Jasmine in Alladin (1992) and Fa Mulan In Mulan (1998) and was awarded the Disney Legends Awards in 2011. In 2004, Lea married an Asian America of Chinese and Japanese descent, and they have one daughter. She and her family currently resides in the US and the Philippines. Lea’s more current project is playing Aunt Gail in the film Yellow Rose, which is a musical drama about an undocumented Filipina girl who has a dream of leaving her small town in Texas to pursue a country music career. The film premiered at the LA Asian Pacific Film festival on May 2019.
Rob Bonta was sworn as Attorney General of California on April 2021, making him the first Filipino-American and second Asian-American to occupy the position. He was born in the Philippines and immigrated with his family to California when he was just an infant. Rob’s parents were activists for the United Farm Workers Movement and worked alongside Cesar Chavez to organize farmworkers to fight for racial, economic, and civil rights. Rob and his family moved to Sacramento where he attended high school and was the class valedictorian. He then attended Yale University and graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1998. Before becoming California’s Attorney General, Rob served nine years as a Deputy City Attorney in San Francisco. In 2012, Rob became the first Filipino-American in California to win the election to the Legislature to represent Assembly District 18.
