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First Came My Grandfather Then My Father Then My Mother - This period saw the gentle lapping of waves of immigration from the Philippines. Due to the Luce-Cellar Act of 1946, immigration strictures were eased and allowed 100 Filipinos annually to come to the US. Filipino Americans who enlisted in the US military were able to come back and bring back with them Filipina war brides accompanied with the hope to start families. However, the incentives given by the Americans to Filipinos to enlist and fight during World War II, dematerialized after the war and hundreds who fought for the US were unjustly denied citizenship and other benefits of veterans.
The children of these hopeful soldiers became the Bridge generation, spanning the gap between immigrants and American-born, between cultural preservation and assimilation, and between modernism and post-colonial. Artist like Johanna Poethig, Terri Acebo-Davis, Lucille Tenazas, and Catherine Wagner continues the work of the previous generation skillfully mastering techniques but at the same time pushing forward a more politicized and culturally informed imagery. Ethnic pride and nationalism became the mode to desegregate, to integrate, and to elevate ethnic communities’ affirmative action. |
