This project is part of the ACAM Dialogues 2022/3 Cohort Projects. In her project, Divine Reyes highlights moments of Filipinx-Canadian activism through the centuries, and shares her own thoughts and reflection towards what it means to live as a form of resistance.
Click here to learn more about the ACAM Dialogues 2022/23 Cohort Projects.
19th Century: I want to start with the first Filipinx immigrants in British Columbia, at least the first known Filipinx immigrant, Benson Flores. Flores immigrated and settled on Bowen Island in 1861 and established his home near Trout Lake, also known as present-day Grafton Lake. He worked as a fisherman and had a boat rental business in Snug Cove. Flores’ boat rental business was apparently the very first one in Snug Cove, at least in accordance with the Bowen Island Historians group. Then in 1909, Flores gained Canadian citizenship.¹ For context, anti-Asian sentiment was prevalent in the West during the late 1800s, with the head tax working to exclude and discourage Asian migrants from arriving. This tax was implemented a few years after Flores immigrated to Canada. While the head tax was mostly targeted towards Chinese people, general exclusionary sentiments and policies were also directed towards other people of Asian descent. Benson Flores’ existence as a settler in British Columbia challenged the expected outcome of these exclusionary immigration policies, which restricted the entry of non-white immigrants. Flores established a fruitful and peaceful life on Bowen Island until he was 81 years old. While Flores’ life seems ordinary, being one of the first Filipino Canadian immigrants on record highlights the early presence of Filipinx people in British Columbia. His existence demonstrates how Filipinx immigration and migration to Canada has been part of history, longer than the significant movement of Filipinx migrants in the 1960s. Flores’ story of immigration and settlement sheds light on the ways that Filipinx migrants and immigrants have established their own narratives in history – something that tends to get overlooked in mainstream historical narratives. This story breaks that traditional focus.
20th Century: In February 1969, the Victoria Filipino-Canadian Association was established with the aim of organizing a Filipinx community. Its members established a community of approximately 30 people, mostly women in healthcare and a community center. More community members joined when there was a “significant number” of Filipinx women who moved to British Columbia “in the 1960s,” most of whom were also “working in healthcare.”² Not only did they organize to bring about a flourishing Filipinx community in Victoria, but they also provided mutual aid, and encouraged new immigrants to join their community. On top of that, they helped reduce the barriers around housing and other needs for those settling in Victoria. Filipinx immigrants had difficulties due to their racial identities, the racial tensions during the 60s and 70s, and the underlying discriminatory practices in the rental market, on top of the many challenges one faces when moving into a new country. This also means they had to learn to adjust to the cultural norms, social practices, and bureaucratic systems, navigate employment and, possibly, education processes, and access essential services and opportunities. The Victoria Filipino-Canadian Association played a crucial role in supporting Filipinx immigrants build lives in Canada; whether it was through fostering connections, mutual support, or sharing experiences and knowledge with their community members. Due to the organization’s emergence, it inspired other Filipinx cultural centers and communities to emerge across Canada. The association’s historical significance brought about a continuing legacy of Filipinx communities in our present day. It is one of the oldest and most well-established Filipinx community organizations in British Columbia. The association played a significant role in preserving and celebrating Filipinx culture in British Columbia.
21st Century: The foundations that these people have established continue to be built on. Before coming to these stories, I felt alone in my activism. I did not see much about Filipinx resistance, especially in the Canadian context. It was slightly discouraging when I was not able to find Filipinx-Canadian role models I could personally relate to when it came to social justice work. Now, I can see that even my existence is in and of itself a form of resistance, just like Benson Flores’ existence was during his time. I can continue this legacy of creating a Filipinx community wherever I am, as well as continue to tell its history so that other Filipinxs may know about being a part of the ongoing history of Flipinx community organizing. By being positioned as a Filipinx-Canadian settler in British Columbia, I add to this longer history of Filipinx settlement in British Columbia. Knowing this story in history may not change much of our present-day lives, but it can change the way people look at the breadth of Filipinx Canadian history, especially in British Columbia. Rather than its common known start in the 1960s, others may see that Filipinx-Canadian history starts long before that decade. This history may also allow for other Filipinxs to not feel ashamed of celebrating their heritage, something that is quite important, especially for people like me, who may have been afraid to show off their heritage in the past. Due to the groundwork that these people in history have established, I am given the freedom to be open about the person I am and who I can be, all while establishing my personhood in different intersections (being a queer, Filipinx woman in so-called British Columbia). Telling these histories is important, as it allows people to recognize the contributions of activists and organizations that people today benefit from and continue to establish this history through their own work as well. They highlight the intersections and foundations for community building, solidarity, and organizing in the present day.
Personally, it feels so liberating to know that just by being and living is also a form of resistance – and a part of a longer history of resistance, at that. In this found liberation, I have this drive to want to continue building upon the work that these people have established in history. I want to continue joining spaces that foster solidarity and an anti-oppressive decolonial lens, like joining online talks and groups that want to dismantle systems that silence marginalized voices. Even if I may not see more Filipinx-Canadian activism in mainstream social justice works, I still continue that Filipinx activism wherever I may go. These histories have allowed me to feel connected to and included in a greater and longer part of British Columbia’s history and the broader discourse of Filipinx activism. And, hopefully, others with similar positionalities may feel the same way too.
¹ Ysh, Cabana, “Benson Flores,” Canadian Encyclopedia.
² Laura Ishiguro, “Protest: the people’s province, ca.1960s-1980s,” HIST 305, 22 March 2023.
Check out Divine’s accompanying Instagram post here!
About Divine: Divine Reyes is a second-generation Filipinx-Canadian. She graduated with a major in Gender, Race, Sexuality & Social Justice and a minor in ACAM. She further pursued her passion for social justice through her undergraduate degree. Being in GRSJ and ACAM allowed her to better understand how the systems of oppression and social systems work in peoples’ everyday lives and taught her how to navigate them with a nuanced approach. Her academic career opened up her love for feminism and activism and learned how they intersect within Asian and racialized communities through her ACAM courses. Her academic journey also allowed her to realize that even when she feels hopeless, change can still happen in the smallest of ways. Divine is currently working in the community, working with at-risk, homeless youth and is looking forward to further applying the knowledge and abilities she’s obtained from her degree into the field of social work.
Click here to learn more about Divine’s experience in the ACAM Dialogues Cohort!