Stockton, CA - The Little Manila Foundation (LMF) along with the Black Eyed Peas (BEP) and director Patricio Ginelsa received the President’s Award for Excellence from the California Preservation Foundation in Hollywood last Friday.
The groups were recognized for their unique collaboration to preserve Filipino American history, a part of American society that is highly under represented in mainstream publications. The Stockton-based Little Manila Foundation partnered with Ginelsa and the Black Eyed Peas in March 2007 to create a historical treatment of their music video for the group’s song, “Bebot.” Black Eyed Peas member Apl de Ap performs the song entirely in the Philippines’ dominant language Pilipino or Tagalog, quite uncommon for a mainstream hip-hop band. Bebot quickly became Filipino Americans’ anthem.
As a nod to Apl de Ap’s Filipino heritage, the Peas privately funded the “Bebot” video and used Stockton’s Little Manila circa 1938 as a backdrop. In a report published on MTV.com in July 2006, Apl stated, “It’s not just about doing a video,” Apl said proudly. “Filipino culture is like a community movement, and it feels good to represent my culture and to be embraced by my people.”
The Little Manila Foundation was invited to participate as an advisor for the video’s historical treatment because of their dedication to preserve Stockton’s Little Manila historic site and their knowledge of Filipino American history. The foundation brought authenticity to the video, as Stockton was once home to the largest population of Filipinos outside of the Philippines. “Our collaboration with the Black Eyed Peas has brought our preservation efforts to another level. The youth community, more than ever, are aware,” said foundation Executive Director Dillon Delvo.
The preservation foundation began distributing the awards to raise more awareness of preservation efforts involving the state’s cultural and historic resources in the popular media, according to an email message sent by California Preservation Foundation Executive Director Cindy Heitzman to the Little Manila Foundation. “We couldn’t be more pleased to award the Little Manila Foundation…we were impressed with the sensitive representation of Stockton’s Filipino community in the Black Eyed Peas video…” continues Heitzman. The Little Manila Foundation, Ginelsa, and the Black Eyed Peas are the second recipients of the annual President’s Award for Excellence.
The Little Manila Foundation was formed in 2001 to remember and reclaim Stockton’s Little Manila neighborhood, promote Filipino American history in California’s Central Valley and preserve the historic neighborhood’s last three remaining buildings: Mariposa Hotel; the Rizal Social Club, the first Filipino-owned social hall in Stockton and the Emerald Restaurant building, formerly the home of a Filipino labor union and social club. Guided tours of Stockton’s Little Manila are available by contacting the foundation at info@littlemanila.net. The foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization to which tax-deductible donations can be contributed.
