John Marc Desengano was a seven-month-old infant when his family migrated to Australia. He shares what it was like growing up Filipino during the early nineties and his discovery of being Filipino-Australian.
Key Points
- John Marc grew up in Noble Park, Dandenong.
- In the nineties there were only a few Filipino and Asian migrants living in Australia.
- John Marc lives in Melbourne and devotes his time to working with the youth as a mentor and a theatre artist.
- He is the 'Tito' to SBS Filipino's coming podcast series 'Titas and Titos Guide To'.
Assimilation worked really well (that was the buzzword back then). We grew up in Noble Park in Dandenong. Apart from eating adobo and seeing family on the weekends at that age (primary school to early high school), I kept forgetting I was brown; I am Filipino.John Marc Desengano on growing up Filipino-Australian during the early nineties in Noble Park, Dandenong
'When I was 27 years old up until now, there's a reclamation of cultural identity. There's an exploration for me of what it means to be Filipino or Filipino-Australian. There's a lot of advocacy for young people to explore their identity and to understand that it's okay if you don't understand it yet'John March Desengano on reclaiming and understanding his Filipino identity growing up in Australia
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