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International Hotel (I-Hotel) Reborn (2 of 3)
The event drew together younger artists and activists who vow not to forget a time when elderly and ailing Filipinos were driven out of their homes. The battle cry of the struggle — “I'm old, I'm tired, I'm poor, I don't want to move” — was memorialized in banners, shirts, and leaflets.
Making a tribute to the legacy of the I-Hotel Struggle and historical Manilatown along Kearney Street, younger artists and activists offered their kind words in music, poems, and songs.
The crowd cheered on the adorable students of Bessie Carmichael Elementary School/Filipino Education Center (FEC) composing the group, Galing Bata, as they performed the song, “Akoy Ay Pilipino,” in Tagalog and English, and another poem written by MC Canlas, “SoMa Bow,” reemphasizing the importance of their Filipino heritage, culture, and community. “SoMa Bow” made references to the I-Hotel and other Filipino sites in the SoMa including the heavily involved FilAm youth community space, Bindlestiff Studios, the self-proclaimed epicenter of Filipino American arts located in SoMa. The children cried,
“Mahal ko ang SoMa! I love South of Market!
Tahanan ito ng Pilipino. It is the home of my people.
Lupain itong makasaysayan. It is a landmark of our history.
Nanganganib ang mga Pilipino. Our place in SoMa is threatened.
Kundi tayo kikibo, sinong kikibo? If we don't act and move, who will?
Kundi ngayon, kailan? If we don't act and move NOW, when?
Ating buhay sa SoMa,Ipaglaban!/For our future in SoMa, Fight!”
Bessie Carmichael Elementary School/Filipino Education Center (FEC) is the only Filipino bilingual program recognized by a school district in the country.
Angelica Cabande, representing the South of Market Community Action Network, read a poem with drum and guitar accompaniment in the background. “We don't need your thousand-dollar condos!” she recited from her poem, a response to the gentrification currently taking place in SoMa.
Jeremy Bautista and Jason Mateo of FilAm 8th Wonder also delivered poetry inspired by the time Bautista's grandfather was a resident of the hotel. He said, “I wrote the poem that I performed from the perspective of an I-Hotel resident during the time my grandfather lived here, from my family's experience.”
The San Francisco State University's Asian American 363 class performed a skit reenacting the eviction of elderly tenants, holding each other together as a human barricade as they cried, “We Won't Move!”
