'America is not the heart': Kapag hindi lahat ng pangarap ay nagkakatoto

Lumaki sa isang bayan na tinatawag na Milpitas, isang bayan na karamiha'y mga Pilipino, Vietnamese at Mehikano. Napapalibutan ng mga Pilipino o mga tindahang Pilipino sa halos lahat ng dako, iyon ang Amerika para sa Pilipino-Amerikanong manunulat na si Elaine Castillo. "I grew in a town called Milpitas which is a town that is mostly Filipinos, Vietnamese and Mexicans. I was surrounded by Filipinos or Filipino groceries everywhere, so for me that is America,” pagbabahagi ng Pilipina-Amerikanang manunulat.

'America is not the Heart' author Elaine Castillo Source: Supplied by Sydney Writers Festival

Dahil ba sa lumaki sa isang komunidad na magkakaiba ang kultura, hindi na ba siya nakaranas ng anumang anyo ng rasismo o hindi pagkakapantay-pantay?

"I would not say that. I think I was sheltered from a lot of racism, because I was never a minority growing up. So I never felt ostracized or alienated in that way..." paglalahad ni Castillo.

 

Gaano ang pribilehiyo na maipanganak at lumaki sa isang maunlad na bansa tulad ng Amerika?

"When I realised that (I am privileged) is actually more when I went to the Philippines for the first time. I think when you are growing up, if you 're American, you don't think about it especially when you are seven or eight. I was obviously  aware that my parents were immigrants...I was aware that the difficulties that we experienced being a kind of a working class family in the Philippines were directly related to being part of the Filipino diaspora," pagbabahagi ng sumulat ng nobelang America is Not the Heart.

Dagdag niya na ang kanyang kamalayan sa mga paghihirap na naranasan ng kanyang pamilya na isang uri ng mangagawang pamilya sa Pilipinas ay direktang nauugnay sa pagiging bahagi ng diaspora ng mga Pilipino.

"I remember my mum, saying that when she was giving birth to me was a very difficult birth. She used to tell me that if we were in the Philippines, we were put to death. From that set of awareness, I was aware of the certain types of economic privilege that are afforded just by the virtue of being born in America."

Ang nobelang American is Not the Heart ay nakatuon sa isang babae na nagngangalang Heronima de Vera, isang dating miyembro ng New People's Army, hindi dokumentado na nanirahan sa mga kamag-anak sa California noong mga taong 1980 at bahagi ng diaspora ng mga Pilipino at nakasalamuha ang mga Pilipino-Amerikanong ipinanganak at naninirahan doon. 

Ang kanyang hinangaan na libro ay dadalhin ng Pilipina-Amerikanong manunulat Elaine Castillo sa Australya at tatalakayin ito at ang mga ang pakikibaka ng mga komunidad migrante na nagsisikap na isabuhay ang pangarap na Amerika kasama ng Tongan-Australian writer at community arts worker mula Western Sydney Winnie Dunn bilang bahagi ng Sydney Writers' Festival 2019.