Organizing and Basic Sector Integration
Ugnayan has a simple three part principle of educate (workshops, discussion sessions, film screenings, cultural events), organize (through base building, committee system, leadership retreats, skills sharing) and mobilize (through campaigns, events and activities). Ugnayan consciously organizes a membership base composed of one of the most marginalized sectors of society -- im/migrant, womyn, and LGBTQ youth who intimately understand systemic exploitation and oppression. Our programs and campaigns are at the intersection of issues faced by our membership in relation to class, race, gender, sexuality, citizenship status and the like. While addressing immediate concerns, we also tackle the root causes of our problems and provide a long-term perspective to advancing social change.
We outreach to Filipino American youth and provide spaces where we can gather, build, and learn from one another through cultural shows, house parties, and more. Past events include: Reclaim: Rerooting in Our Culture of Resistance, a cultural event commemorating the anniversary f the Martial Law in the Philippines usually held in September; and, Magdiwang (Celebrate), Ugnayan's anniversary / year-end celebration usually held in December.
While addressing our concerns as youth, we aim to anchor ourselves in the larger Filipino American community, especially the domestic workers and low-wage workers. In partnership with Damayan Migrant Workers Association, we support and learn from/with the domestic workers how forced migration directly impacts our lives and our families. This includes attending DAMAYAN's house meetings, assisting on their research project of domestic workers' labor and migration, and more. We also support the Justice for Filipino American Veterans to reverse a history of injustice against Filipino World War II Veterans who have yet to be fully compensated and recognized for the service and sacrifice they provided more than than half a century ago.
Education for Action
We conduct workshops to challenge the systemic erasure of our true history as a people, re-examine our community's experiences in the US, and decolonize our minds. This includes: Philippines 101, a four-part workshop series about the Filipino people’s history of migration to the US, history and root causes of poverty in the Philippines, and forms of resistance; Filipino Youth and Systemic Racism, a two-part workshop series about how systemic racism affects the Filipino American youth personally and collectively, its historical roots, and how we can combat it; and workshops on Filipino History of Migration, Step-by-Step Organizing, and more.
Campaigns
We mobilize around local and international issues that directly and indirectly affect the Filipino American youth such as the unpaid wages of local youth workers, issues on unjust detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants, US war on terror, US intervention in the Philippines, and more.
A current successful campaign includes the Justice for Adriane Campaign -- retrieving stolen wages a young Filipina worker who was unjustly treated by the owners of a Filipino restaurant in Queens. For three years, Adriane was paid $3/hour, had no overtime pay, worked long hours, and her salary was withheld for 6 months. The Justice for Adriane Campaign demands that her employers pay her unpaid wages, issue an apology letter, and respect the rights and dignity of all workers.
Ugnayan works closely with various Filipino and multi-ethnic alliances locally, nationally and internationally.
