Video: Educator Webinar: Religious Literacy and Nurses' Stories in the Age of COVID and Anti-Asian Hate

July 24, 2023

On May 8, 2023, Religion and Public Life program at Harvard Divinity School hosted a conversation with Professor Aprilfaye Manalang of Norfolk State University to learn about her ongoing research on religious identity, grief, and COVID with Filipina-American nurses, as well as Jeanne Shin-Cooper of Buffalo Grove High School in Illinois whose students are taking part in this critical interview project. Prof. Manalang discussed her pedagogical practice of promoting Asian-American understanding at a Historically Black University, and the process of communicating this research to a public audience via podcast.

Speakers

Aprilfaye Manalang is an Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Norfolk State University, a Historically Black College/University in Virginia. She trained in the Social Sciences (University of Chicago, MA) and the Humanities (Bowling Green State University, PhD). She ranked as a top 10 finalist for the National Hiett Prize in the Humanities, an “annual award aimed at identifying candidates who are in the early stages of careers devoted to the humanities and whose work shows extraordinary promise and has a significant public component related to contemporary culture.” Most recently, Manalang secured the competitive Sabbatical Grant for Researchers from the Louisville Institute for her project, “Filipino American Nurses: Faith and Professional Communities in the Age of COVID and Anti-Asian Hate.” Moreover, the Asian American Center, University North Carolina-Chapel Hill; and Religion, Race, and Democracy Project, University of Virginia, appointed her as a fellow.

Jeanne Shin-Cooper is a social science teacher at Buffalo Grove High School in Illinois and teaches Human Geography and College World Religions. She believes in the importance of exploring issues of social justice with youth and is grateful for the opportunity to be a Fellow in Education. As an undergraduate, she majored in history at the University of Michigan. Currently, she is a National Board Certified Teacher and holds a Masters in Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University as well as a Masters in Geography at the University of Oregon. One of her most professionally fulfilling experiences was completing her Religious Studies and Education Certificate through the Harvard Extension School.

Audrey Ro is a high school senior attending Buffalo Grove High School in Illinois. She is the co-founder of the school’s Asian Student Association and participates in both the chamber orchestra on the viola and in Soribeat, a Korean performing arts team in Chicago. As a student at BG, she has taken multiple exploratory classes, such as College World Religions, where she has realized a strong passion for social justice and fostering inclusive communities. She hopes to study sociology and politics as she continues her educational career at a four-year university. Audrey looks forward to learning more about Filipino American nurses as her class assists Professor Manalang in her studies.

FULL TRANSCRIPT

[SOFT MUSIC]

SPEAKER: Harvard Divinity School.

SPEAKER: Religious literacy and nurse's stories in the age of COVID and anti-Asian hate. May 8, 2023.

ANNA MUDD: So welcome. It is so lovely to have folks with us this afternoon. My name is Anna Mudd. I'm a Program Specialist here at Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity School where our mission is to promote the public understanding of religion in service of just world at peace.

And here at the RPL I have the privilege of working with educators in pursuit of that goal, developing resources and professional development programming to enhance religious literacy in the classroom. And it is my distinct privilege, honor and pleasure to welcome three guests with us this afternoon. Scholars, educators, and students whose work has intersected in some really lovely and moving ways this past spring. And are here with us today to discuss Filipino nurses stories in the age of COVID and anti-Asian hate.

As stated in the webinar's description, as we look back on the first three years of the pandemic, increasingly complex stories are emerging. And here at our RPL we're really interested in how the lens of religious literacy and also justice and racial justice can help inform how we're thinking about which of those stories we are seeking out, telling, analyzing in our classrooms and with our students.

So we're going to hear from each of these wonderful guests on that question as we tell the story of how that collaboration evolved. But I'm going to introduce each of them now.

So Dr. Aprilfaye Manalang is an Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Norfolk State University, a historically Black college and university in Virginia. She's trained in the social sciences, and most recently modeling secured the competitive sabbatical grant for researchers from the Louisville Institute for her project Filipino-American nurses, faith and professional communities in the age of COVID and anti-Asian hate. Additionally, the Asian-American Center University in North Carolina Chapel Hill and religion, race, and democracy project University of Virginia appointed her as a fellow. And I believe this is hot off the press's news, but her research is additionally funded from the-- secured funding from the Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life at Columbia University and the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. So Congratulations. Thank you, by the way.

Jeanne Shin-Copper is a Social Science Teacher at Buffalo Grove High School in Illinois. And teaches human geography and college world religions where she believes in the importance of exploring issues of social justice with youth. She's a national board certified teacher, and holds a master's in education and social policy at Northwestern University, as well as a master's in geography at the University of Oregon.One of her most professionally fulfilling experiences was completing her religious studies and education certificate through the Harvard Extension School. And I think we'll hear a little bit more about that later on.

And Audrey Ro is a high school senior attending Buffalo Grove High School in Illinois. She is the co-founder of the school's Asian Student Association, and participates in both the Chamber Orchestra on the Viola and in SoriBeat, a Korean performing arts team in Chicago. As a student in BG, she has taken multiple exploratory classes such as college world religions where she has realized a strong passion for social justice and fostering inclusive communities. She hopes to study sociology and politics as she continues her educational career at a four year university. Audrey looks forward to learning more about Filipino-American nurses as her class assist Professor Manalang in her studies. So welcome, everyone.

So we're going to hear from everyone. But I'm going to start with you April. Again, welcome. And I would love to start by just having you tell us briefly a little bit about what brought you to this project, this research project of highlighting the stories and voices of Filipino nurses, particularly during the pandemic, through your work at MSU.

APRILFAYE MANALANG: Well, thank you for the very warm welcome. And I'm really excited to be here. And for me, this really-- as I shared with Anna previously-- this really started out as a personal experience within my own community. I come from one of the largest community-- Filipino communities in the Southeast in Virginia Beach Hempton, Roads, Virginia.

And being from one of the largest Filipino communities in the East Coast and in the South, all of us experienced the pandemic. And it was such a traumatic event. And in my community and also globally, nurses are very prominent. And they were such heroes.

And I'm not sure if any of you were aware of it or you may have heard it, but that one out of three of the nurses that all died during the pandemic were of Filipino descent. And when I first heard that, I thought, well, maybe that's just an exaggeration or maybe that's-- I don't know, maybe I was in denial because that was shocking for me to hear. But as I watched the news, I didn't really see much about it. I saw that it was factually documented, but I just didn't really see it being covered on the news much.

And to this day, there's really not that much coverage. And so there was that going on. And then seeing at the same time with that like, during this period of time, anti-Asian hate spiked. And it like-- and it really became very intense in 2020. Like it jumped up to 145% spike.

So here you have one out of three nurses who are Filipino who are dying. And I'm personally witnessing it in my own community. Feeling it's very personal impact. And then at the same time, the anti-Asians hate. And so that really struck me. And also just like to be really personal, at the time I had just gotten married. Like, I signed the paperwork, and then had a baby. So just feeling even more vulnerable about just the whole situation.

And then some of the nurses-- because being in a small community, we all know each other. And so some of the nurses reached out to me and they said-- they were calling me and said, April, do they care? Do they see us? And it really struck me. And I said, well, what can I do to help? And they said, is there a way that you can make that happen? And I said, well, I'm not a nurse-- I'm not an expert in public health, but we can maybe share your stories. And that's how it started.

And so since then we've been conducting in-depth interviews in my hometown in Virginia Beach. And now with the generous funding of the multiple universities that Anna shared, we're going to expand it internationally. And thankfully with the help of Ms Cooper and her amazing students, we're going to have a Chicago site, a New York City site, a site in Europe, possibly Germany, and then a site in Asia to really not only just look at Filipino nurses in the United States, but across the diaspora.

And really think about questions about resilience, immigration, identity, burnout. And how the role of God may play in coping with those aspects because, really, central to this project, which came out naturally on its own through these conversations within the community. I said, how did you survive? How did you manage? Because I don't know how I would.

And they said it was their deep faith in God. And that intersection really fascinated me and pulled me in. And so we were really all grateful for you to be here today and to be part of our project. And in illuminating my community and our stories.

ANNA MUDD: Thank you so much for that really moving background in your own positionality and situatedness, as we call it, that brought you to these questions. And we're going to hear a little bit more, I think, about your teaching context later on as we circle back.

But let's hear a little bit from these nurses. So we're going to play some clips. Before then as the three of you know, and we'll talk about a little bit more, a key part of our religious literacy methodology is this analysis around power, peace, and violence.

And this triangle of direct, structural, and cultural peace and violence. And how those structural, institutional, and cultural embedded dimensions can lead to the more visible forms of violence that you are talking about, April. So do you want to give a little bit-- before we cue in to those clips-- a little bit of historical background that will help to situate them for us.

APRILFAYE MANALANG: Yes, I'm happy to briefly share just a little bit about that background. And so a lot of people have been asking me-- which are really great questions-- like, well, why did so many of the nurses die? How come it was so many Filipino ones? And it's not a coincidence.

And so when we think about the colonial history in the context of the Philippines, the Philippines is the only major country that the United States clearly colonized, like the first-- the only Asian country. And so with that colonial historical relationship that had already pre-existed, what had happened was during the early 20th century of colonial rule, the United States had experienced a shortage in the American hospitals. So there was that shortage during that period of time in the early 20th century.

And according to expert Catherine Ceniza Choy, a sociologist at Berkeley, she said that the United States had, at that period of time, begun to recruit and seek out nurses across the world, but particularly in the Philippines. But because of the colonial rule, Filipinos had already spoken English, there was already a Christian kind of colonization in their background. So it was in some ways easier to recruit from the Philippines.

And it was out of that relationship that the Philippines in turn developed a lot of nursing schooling. And to this day, that is why, according to the United Nations, one out of 20 nurses in the world-- in the entire world-- are of Filipino descent, because the United States-- because the United States first really promoted that and then the Philippines in turn developed the schooling for that. And so with that colonial rule, for a lot of Filipinos and especially the nurses, that was in their mind their pathway towards American citizenship.

Filipinos are the largest immigrant nursing population in the United States. And, again, one out of 20 nurses in the world are Filipino. And so these Filipino nurses, this is there a way of providing for their families. They usually send home what's called remittance, so funds or balikbayan boxes or care boxes, and they bring-- and so it's a circular exchange. And they send back things like spam. I don't know if any-- I grew up eating spam. I don't know if any of you know spam. But so spam, toothbrushes, shampoo, like hair products.

And so this is really a strong relationship to this day. And it's also called-- what sociologists call like a labor brokerage state where you have this economic transaction that was really deeply rooted in the colonial context and that history.

And the last piece I'd like to share with that is that there is this added layer of religion that really is part of that colonial context that doesn't really get discussed broadly in the scholarly literature, which is that because over 80% of Filipinos are Catholic, because of that former colonial rule with not only the United States but previously much longer Spain, that a lot of the Filipinos-- and even in the research today report that they feel like they're-- being a nurse is a calling from God, number one.

And then number two, a lot of the nurses that I've interviewed have said that they feel like their American citizenship is a blessing from God. And I'm going to write that down because that's something that's going to really ring throughout the entire, I guess, day is like the blessing from God about that American citizenship.

So what that means, essentially, is the reason-- so circling back like a hobbit, why did so many Filipino nurses die? Well, there were more of them, number one. But number two, because they-- in my-- so my theory, at least based on my research is because these Filipinos felt like their citizenship is a blessing from God, they felt like that if they complain, if they complain, that they're being ungrateful.

And because I asked them, did you complain? Did you let HR know that you're like the first one and the last one out? And there was that hesitancy. And so my theory from my work is that because of their deep faith in God, on one hand it helped them cope with the pandemic, which was great. On the other hand, again, religion is so complicated.

It also held them back or hindered them from complaining or politically mobilizing because they said, it's a blessing from God. I should be grateful. And so that's really that colonial aspect and the power dynamics that really complicate this research and give it more nuance as well.

ANNA MUDD: Thank you so much for that really critical history. Again, hearkening back to that typology of power peace and violence, one of the things we often say is that cultural violence is what makes structural and direct violence invisible or particularly structural violence.

And I think the stories that you're telling are such often unknown or unheard stories that becomes invisible. That becomes a form of cultural violence when those stories aren't told and that context isn't known. Thank you so much for that. So let's hear a couple of these clips now. So Rochelle, why don't you cue up-- and actually, April, do you want to just really quickly say the theme or the topic of the two clips?

APRILFAYE MANALANG: So in these clips you're just going to get to know these Filipino nurses in my hometown. It was really important when they cried to me about, does anyone see or anyone care that-- I didn't just write some irrelevant article, scholarly article that only one or two people would read.

No offense to other scholars. It's just-- I mean, that's the truth. Usually only a few people read it. And so part of the work that I've been doing is to craft a podcast. So it's in the draft stages, but now we're going to hear their voices and their very important perspectives. On top of the pandemic, anti-Asian hate spiked 145% in 2020. I asked the nurses if they faced any of this discrimination themselves. And a majority did. Here's what they had to say.

SPEAKER: Seeing a lot of the news about anti-Asian hate crimes, and particularly that elderly person that was assaulted in front of a condominium on her way to a church to pray. And, of course, that other Filipino whose face was slashed.

APRILFAYE MANALANG: And actually somebody got mugged and close to the Philines, a Filipino. It was around Asian hate. And sometimes is it because now that they don't know who you are, what you are, all they know is you're Asian. They don't know you're Filipino.

SPEAKER: Yeah. I've been told by a patient, go back to where you came from.

APRILFAYE MANALANG: Awful.

SPEAKER: I felt like, wow, you know, I'm a professional nurse and I've been a nurse for 30 years. And how dare you say something to me like that.

SPEAKER: Yeah, it has happened to me. I came to the United States as a young adult. I was 21 when I came here. My first hospital was in Texas, a small town, a small, sleepy town in Texas. It was a retirement community. So we had a lot of patients who were in Vietnam, so you can just imagine some of the criticisms that was directed to me.

SPEAKER: They questioned me as a nurse and they said, because of the education from the Philippines. And I said, yeah, I was educated in the Philippines. I was Bachelor of Arts and Economics in the Philippines when I came in here. I don't want to work in the bank. So I went to school here, I went to Hempton University and got my bachelor's degree. And so they stopped the complaining.

SPEAKER: I remember being called by an older, I guess, he was a veteran at that time from Vietnam. And he called me Viet Cong. Yes, I-- yeah, that was one of those. I mean, not just with patients. I remember a physician. I was doing my chart and then he told me to stand up, he needs that spot. Nowadays you cannot do that. Or at the early part of my career a physician throwing the chart on the floor-- color or my race. But people do talk down to minorities.

APRILFAYE MANALANG: I couldn't help but be struck by these deeply moving and personal interviews. I wondered, with over 80% of Filipinos identifying as Catholic, what role did faith play in coping with anti-Asian hate and the pandemic?

SPEAKER: I believe that I am here on a mission, mission by God. That every track I take is because of him.

SPEAKER: I think faith is central to everyone, at least for me growing up in the Philippines, being raised as a Catholic, faith has always been part of our day to day practice.

SPEAKER: I think my relationship with God has always been a steady one. And I think it's always been-- I never forgot that God was always there for me. And I think that's just part because of my upbringing, because my parents-- my mother especially, she'd always go, D, did you go to church? Or did you pray to God? She taught me how to do the rosaries.

SPEAKER: And then I think with what was going on with COVID at the time, faith has been really the one that connected a lot of us because you can see the number of nurses, the joy in the rosary prayers every night.

SPEAKER: I think prayers kind of kept the positivity going. As well as not just for me, but praying for those that needed or wanted the prayers if they were sick or-- because some people were far more affected by COVID than I was.

SPEAKER: I do the Our Father, three Hail Marys. I have a set of prayers that I do. And it's like it's automatic because by the time that I arrived to the parking lot of my hospital, I'm done.

SPEAKER: Oh my God, and I pray for them. And I pray that it will be controlled. I pray that it will not affect my families, affect me. It will not affect me, my coworkers. I do a prayer for them. And then after that, when that new patient comes, new assignment comes, I have to face the real thing again. In reality, I have to be there for him in reality, for this patient and this patient that I have. It's just-- it's there-- it was painful.

ANNA MUDD: The conclusion of that up there we can hear how powerful those are. In that first set I was thinking about, I think, a colleague of Jeanne's and perhaps Jeanne as well uses the iceberg visual metaphor for thinking about direct and structural violence. And I was struck by those really disturbing experiences with direct violence, and just the sense of how much that history, those structural dimensions are informing those experiences.

So I'm wondering if you can say a word, now that we've heard some of those voices, just a little more about surprises that you heard at a key takeaways from some of these initial interviews. Anything that surprised you. Again, coming back to that theme of how religions surface. We'll talk a little bit more about the religious literacy dimensions. But what are some of your initial findings or surprises at this point?

APRILFAYE MANALANG: I mean, at this point I think what shocked me the most was how emotional it would be. Like even just hearing it now, I get a little teary eyed because I didn't realize that this was the first time that a lot of these nurses actually talked about any of it, about any of it. That they had all-- they had bottled it all up inside.

And they clearly didn't tell human resources, they didn't complain because they felt like they're just being an American citizen or being in the US is a blessing from God. So they just felt like they were even lucky to be here.

And so for them to have an opportunity to be seen and heard was really cathartic for them. And you can hear their voice quivering because there's a part of them that's also a little bit afraid. But they still came forward and shared their really meaningful stories. So that really struck me.

And then the second thing that struck me, and it's just been playing in my mind over and over again. And this is like the main takeaway from for me in terms of what was really striking out at me is just like when you think about the arc of the pandemic and what we all experienced, and we thought when it all happened and people were saying, oh, these are heroes. Look at all these heroes. They're really risking their lives in the hospitals. How amazing are these people?

So there's that huge narrative. And that was on the news. And that was very prominent. And I imagine all of us saw something on the clips about some kind of sweet story about a hero in the hospital, the nurses. That that was a trope that continuously played throughout the pandemic.

So there was that on one hand. But then just thinking about putting myself in the shoes of the Filipino nurses and being like, what the fudge, man. Like, there's all this positive media about being a hero, but then people are telling me to get the F out of here, get the fuck out of here and that I don't belong yet I'm trying to save their lives. And I'm still praying for them?

I'll be honest, I'm probably definitely-- well, not probably but definitely prettier than them. And not nearly as mature or graceful because I don't know if I would have been praying for the same patients who would have been insulting me and still wanting to treat them. Because I'd probably be like, nah, nah, I'm out. I'm out. Yet these nurses still consistently, they consistently prayed for their patients. They consistently showed up to work and helped these-- help people.

And I just-- I admire their deep faith and their strength because I'll be honest, I don't think-- if someone talked to me like that, I don't know, there might have been a fight. So that's the big takeaway for me, the irony of being the trope of the hero, being shared on the media and then their lived experience being very different. And that's the reality for them. So I hope that makes sense.

ANNA MUDD: Absolutely. Such a critical point. And as we've talked about, we're increasingly at RPL, especially in our work with educators, talking about this notion of deep story and these embedded narratives that often have religious dimensions. And that these very embedded stories, like the notion of the hero as applied to frontline workers, often they reveal certain things and they conceal certain things explicitly or implicitly. And often forms of violence.

So what are the forms of violence or structural inequity that were concealed by that hero narrative? And I think the overall story that you're showing in these very critical voices, individual stories are really serving to complexify one of those initial narratives that was so prominent in the early days of the pandemic.

APRILFAYE MANALANG: I mean, the last piece of this as we're talking is we think a lot about-- you know that term being thrown around a lot is like, oh, a model minority kind of stereotype. We hear that a lot, but we have not really seen much research or discussed about why that persists. And the role of religion in actually reinforcing that.

And this is a case study that shows that religion has very ambivalent effects. On one hand, it really helped these Filipino nurses cope. And they prayed to God and they felt a deep sense of security with God, and among their group to pray to God together.

On the other hand, because they felt that their blessing was truly of American citizenship was a blessing from God, they didn't feel like they should politically protest, that they should organize, that they should complain.

Because that they felt like if they're complaining against the United States or their human resources, then they're not being grateful to God or being grateful for the blessing of their American citizens-- their blessing of American citizenship.

Which in turn would actually reveal some of the structural violence involved with the model minority stereotype that-- and reveal how religion plays a role with that. I honestly haven't read much research about that, that connection. So that's another big takeaway that I'd like to explore as we continue further on in the project.

ANNA MUDD: Fantastic. Thank you so much for highlighting that really critical piece of complexity there. And we'll keep that thread going, I'm sure, but let's welcome Jeanne into the conversation now. And similarly, Jeanne, I'm going to ask you to start out just by first telling us a little bit about what brought you to this work.

So, actually, if I can ask you to talk a little bit about what brought you to the work of religious literacy, of embedding that in your classroom teaching. And then what led to you to reach out to April. And then we'll hear more about what happened after that.

JEANNE SHIN-COOPER: Sure. Well, I have to first say that the foundations for the college world religions course that's offered in district 214 here in Illinois Buffalo Grove as a part of that district was really led by one of my colleagues John Camardella who's been doing a lot of work with the RPL for several years.

And I knew I wanted to teach something new and dynamic. And when it was presented to me that I could take on this course, I kind of jumped at the chance. However, it required me to get a certificate in religious studies through the Harvard Extension School, which at the time I was a little reluctant to start a whole new graduate program because I felt like I had already done a ton of years of schooling.

But it was one of the best programs I have done in my educational career because I learned so much. Some of the things that you've mentioned, Anna, they-- just the structure of Galtung, and the idea of these narratives, these hidden narratives.

Galtung, I mean, I use it in my College World religious class, but I use it in all my classes. All the way from my sheltered course for human GO and also with my AB human geography students. I just feel like it's such a valuable tool to have my students understand inequities.

So, anyway, I was in a focus group with Professor Manalang just doing some work for the RPL. And although I didn't understand the entire scope of her work, in her voice I heard that she was trying to disrupt narratives and promote that internal diversity within religion.

And being an Asian-American woman, I just immediately-- like something clicked inside of me where I was like, I need to get her email and follow up with her. And Professor Manalang was just absolutely open doors about it. She was so receiving. And I eventually asked her to be a guest speaker in my world religions class.

I'm sort of at the point in my career where if I hear anybody say something that sparks interest, I'm like, OK, can I have your email? And will you be a guest speaker now? And more often than not, people say yes. And so I asked her. Our unit on Christianity, we spend a lot of time focusing on the formation of the United States and being a Christian nation.

But within that, I wanted my students to be exposed to internal diversity with Christianity. And understand how religion is culturally embedded. Like everything that Professor Manalang was talking about the intersection of religion with colonialism, with history, with immigration, with the workplace, with COVID.

I mean, all of that just shows how religion can be so embedded. And then having my students understand how to break down and see all the layers that-- again, like you mentioned-- may not be at the surface level.

ANNA MUDD: Fantastic. Thank you so much for that. And I know there's been multiple dimensions for this partnership so I'll ask you both to talk a little bit more about that. But Professor Manalang, maybe I'll ask you to add on there. And I wanted to say in some of our initial conversations together, a theme I noted that kept coming up between the two of you is we can tell different stories.

Not only amongst these really critical historical narratives, the sort of internal diversity that Jeanne was talking about, but even amongst the conversations that were happening with students. So Professor Manalang, maybe you can say a little bit about your experience connecting with Jeanne, talking to these students, and some of those other different or disruptive narratives that came up.

APRILFAYE MANALANG: When Jeanne reached out to me, I was just so enthralled. And it's truly an honor and a privilege to reach out and connect with her students. They're amazing. And she's a phenomenal teacher. And just to see how much they care about social justice and bringing marginalized voices to the center, and how they can engage in social justice through research.

Because they said as soon as they heard the story about the Filipino nurses they said, how can we help? What can we do? And I said, well, let's continue to uplift their voices. Can you or are you interested in uplifting their voices and doing interviews where you are in your hometown, in your area? And miraculously they said yes.

And so we're working on that now and very actively. I mean, we just had the ethical training this morning and went over the interview guide, the consent forms. And so it's just very exciting to see the students so deeply invested.

And it was really neat just during the session, just to be able to have a conversation with some of them because they shared that they really didn't learn much about Asian-Americans growing up or within their community. Or that that just wasn't something that was discussed so just to hear that someone out there in the world was studying a local community and that it mattered and it was a personal connection first, that I think that really excited them.

And so everyone's excited, they're excited. I'm excited. And we're going to launch this in Chicago this month. And it's with Jeannie's amazing leadership. And so that's just been so inspirational. And then the second thing for me is just like-- I don't know, it just sounds kind of cheesy. But we were talking about, they had it too, just like how when we were all growing up, we didn't really see that much diversity. Thinking about, I guess, the stereotype of Professor. And how when they saw me, they look surprised I think.

And it was cool because it's like disrupting the narrative of how a Professor dresses and looks and acts. And that I can be me and do me and still do the meaningful research that matters the most. And that's connected to my local community. And the local knowledge is that we can produce, and that's meaningful.

And so being the first in my family to go to college, coming from parents who were plantation worker farmers back in the Philippines, first generation college graduate and so forth, like, some of these students can personally identify with that.

And I think it was really cool that I felt like I could see myself in them when they were younger wishing that I knew somebody who was kind of out there. And that I can be there somebody, I hope. Even though my mental age is a little low, still, it was really cool to connect.

ANNA MUDD: And, yeah, I just want to say it was all about the representation. And even for me just thinking, like, I was a history major in school but I never had an Asian history professor. And my students definitely saw themselves in you. About a third of my class is Asian. And April connected with one of my Filipina students. And her-- like she is so excited about this project because she feels represented in it.

And I really have to say thank you to April for being so welcoming of my high school students because I could easily imagine people in academia and professors, you are also busy with your own schedule. But you literally carve time for my students in my class. You've zoomed with us for two blocks now. You carve time out to make room for them to help you with this. So I think it's-- I know you were commending me, but I am commending you because that was really special and such a great gift for us.

APRILFAYE MANALANG: Well, it's an honor and a privilege. And we both thank Anna because without this Harvard program, we would have never been able to connect. And so it's just been such an amazing opportunity to grow intellectually, personally, and across community in ways that would not have been possible otherwise.

ANNA MUDD: Incredibly moving to hear. We often say the most important thing we can do is just put educators in touch with one another, to connect with one another. You all have the brilliance. You all are the experts in your field. And just holding that space is the most valuable thing we can do so much of the time.

Just a small note April that you mentioned, another disruption that I just wanted to note because it wasn't on my radar at all was that a key-- critical element of GD students now becoming involved in this public interview-- public scholarship and interview project was the concentration of research on the coasts of Asian-American stories and the relative lack in the Midwest. Can you say a word about that?

APRILFAYE MANALANG: Yeah. So as somebody who has been doing this work for over the course of the past 20 years, I can only mention a handful that I'm aware of of research that really explores Asian-Americans in the Midwest. Most of the work generalizes from the experiences of the West Coast and then some on the East Coast. And that's because Berkeley was-- is on the West Coast and their ethnic studies department really propelled a lot of that research on different ethnic communities on the West Coast.

So you've got this bicoastal phenomena where a lot of-- I mean, just generally speaking, immigration studies are drawn from that experience. But we really don't know much or as much as we should about the Midwest. And so Jeanne, again, I have to give it up to you. Thank you for the opportunity to work with your students and with you because we're illuminating another dimension that just wasn't accessible before.

ANNA MUDD: So wonderful. And, again, in part, I mean, such a fascinating dimension of this, and I mentioned it in part. We talk a lot about the critical component of recognizing the ones that we call situated in this positionality and the partial perspective that affords. And that a growing awareness of that partiality, those gaps, that can happen in part through personal introspection and through that work. But it really has to happen in community.

That was just one example of a blind spot I didn't even know I had, as is the case for so many of these stories. I didn't know that I didn't know because I didn't know these stories existed. So last but certainly not least, we want to bring Audrey into this conversation. Our student, a senior who is so generous with her time at this end of the school year of her last year in high school.

So, Audrey, we just love to hear from you a little bit about your experience similar to what I asked Professor Manalang and-- I say Jeanne, I can say Ms Cooper. Tell us first a little bit just about what this was like for you, what was surprising. And then I'd love once more to hear from you and Jeanne about were these tools of religious literacy helpful. Like, what did they help you to understand about April's research? Welcome.

AUDREY RO: So initially I was very, very excited, I know not just myself but a lot of my peers in the classroom. Like Ms Shin-Copper said, she's probably one of the only Asian-American teachers that I know of especially in the social science realm.

And seeing this representation with Ms Shin-Copper and Professor Manalang when she came to speak with us, it was really exciting and uplifting as a Korean-American myself. And witnessing, seeing how these powerful women are engaging in these conversations and uplifting those who don't have the ability to.

So as Professor Manalang came into our classroom through Zoom and explained her project, it was very uplifting and exciting to see the work that she was doing. Myself and a friend and I, we worked with the Stop AAPI Hate Youth campaign.

They're centered in California, but we did an online internship over the summer and there we learned about ethnic studies and uplifting the Asian-American voices, especially after the rise in AAPI hate crime specifically. And how we can advocate for these individuals.

And relating that experience to Professor Manalang's studies, it was really just overall exciting to see how we're able to connect that and, again, with our world religions class. And how the things that we're learning about how religion is embedded in our culture, how it changes over time, and just everything colliding all at once is really, really interesting.

ANNA MUDD: Thank you so much for those lovely reflections, Audrey. And you have multiple forms of leadership now in your school and community, right? Yeah, do you want to say a little bit more about what you've been working on?

AUDREY RO: Yeah. So Ms Shin-Copper is actually our school's Asian Student Association sponsor. So my friend and I, we came up to her one day asking her if she could help us in creating the Korean club because we wanted a place where people can gather to share the love of culture that we had ourselves.

And having a safe and inclusive community was something that we thought was really, really important and was lacking in our school community. Especially as Professor Manalang said, in our school we couldn't really see people celebrating that aspect of being Asian-American. And we wanted to create a space where people can come and gather.

And whether you're Asian-American or not, learning and always being educated in the sense of what's going on around us, I think that was a very big aspect of when we created the club. And from the Korean club, we were able to expand to the Asian Student Association which we are today. And creating that more inclusive space of celebrating others and uplifting others.

And not just the AAPI community, but everyone else, all the other minorities. And making sure that everyone is represented, that everyone is heard in that we recently had our showcase back in March. One thing I said was that it's not just this one day that AAPI or any other minority should be represented and celebrated, but every day.

We're here and we're present. And it's just a very important thing and which is very admirable of what Professor Manalang is doing in her work of uplifting these Filipino nurses and their voices and what's been going on.

ANNA MUDD: Well, thank you so much, Audrey, for your leadership. And congratulations. As you also know and hopefully it's been a theme that the idea of really highlighting and showcasing the agency, that all of us, and particularly young people have is also so critical to the work that we're hoping to do.

And it's incredibly moving to hear about you connecting so deeply with your own agency within your community and the leadership that you're showing. I'm wondering, Jeanne, is there anything else you want to say on that? On Audrey's work and how it's connecting with other students in the school?

JEANNE SHIN-COOPER: I think quite simply, I mean, some of these students really understand that in order to change the narrative, you have to change the structures. And that's exactly what Audrey and Audrey Ro and the other Audrey Kim did as well. But there are other leaders in that senior class that were doing the same thing. Like this year for the first time we-- the students created the Muslim Student Association.

So, yeah, I think-- I am very inspired by these students. And I think that's part of the reason why I love being a high school teacher, because you hear things in the news and it's very difficult as an adult to process some of these things happening in the news. But when you're working with teens and you're working with youth and they just have so much promise and so much fire, and they want to look forward to a brighter future, and they're trying to change the structures. And I think that is just really uplifting.

ANNA MUDD: Absolutely. And just to pull on that really Critical articulation and this theme of stories are really important. A very powerful essay we draw on a lot by Freire and Macedo talks about reading the world and writing the world.

So when we talk about being able to recognize these deep stories as exactly as you're just saying, Jeanne, it's not only that skill to be able to critically read and recognize them. It's that agency's peace of being able to reimagine, rewrite, re-author those stories as you are all doing in these really important ways.

So we have a couple questions in the chat box. So I want to get to those for Dr. Manalang. And then I'm hoping we can have a little bit of time if there's any questions that you all want to ask of each other. And then we're going to have time for one more opportunity to hear directly from the voices of these nurses.

So our first question is, Dr. Manalang, thank you so much for your important research in these powerful heartbreaking firsthand accounts. Wow. My question, how do you think these Filipino-American nurses experiences were affected or compounded by their proximity to military communities since many of them mentioned that?

APRILFAYE MANALANG: That's a great question. And so some of you might be aware that the largest Naval base in the world is in Norfolk, Virginia, which is in my hometown, in that area of Virginia Beach, Virginia. That's 15 minutes away.

And so that colonial history is also-- while I talk about the Filipino nurses, it also connects to the Filipino men. And so a large number of Filipino men came to the United States by way of the US Navy, which would include my dad. So before-- after he was a plantation worker, he was able to pass a test and become part of the US Navy.

And so that's also why we have one of the largest Filipino-American communities on the Southeast, is because of the Naval base. And then also the co-occurring phenomena of the Filipino nurses who often marry each other.

So that's really the reason why we have so many. And then in terms of the experiences, I mean, it just-- to put it plainly, it really reverberated throughout our entire community. I mean, it just defected everyone. And then just on a sociological level, like to put things in perspective, I can safely say that if you meet a Filipino in the United States, if they are not a nurse, then for sure they have a relative, whether a brother, sister, aunt, uncle or someone in the family who is a nurse.

And they might not even be in the United States. They might be in Israel or Japan or somewhere abroad or even Italy. And so it really just not only affected our community deeply as a whole, but just thinking about it transnationally. So not only were we worried about family within the United States, but our transnational family members too. And so it-- I would say it was like a double compounding factor.

ANNA MUDD: For the second question, in the testimonies, did any of the nurses mention why-- pardon me-- why the use of their faith became constrained to survival in their workplace? Were they always unquestioning or did it become that way? And how did that change happen if it did?

APRILFAYE MANALANG: Ooh, that's a complicated question that's going to take some time to unpack, and I don't even know if I'll ever really be able to fully answer that. I can just say what I shared earlier is that my theory is that because of their deep faith in God and saying that their citizenship is a blessing from God and that they literally just don't want to take it for granted or bite the hand that feeds them-- and then when I do quotes, it's things that it's words that they've said.

That they just-- because of that, I think it helped-- my theory is it held them back from complaining and from saying, no, I'm not staying over time. I'm not doing this. I'm not going to be the first one in and the last one out over and over again.

And so I think that there is that complicated notion of how religion plays a role. And then as Anna was saying, the structural violence, it's-- I mean, religion can conceal it, it can reveal it. And the cultural aspect of feeling that way religiously has very ambivalent effects. I mean, I'm not saying it's good or bad. I'm saying what happened and what I observed.

ANNA MUDD: Yeah. That reminds me of, well, as a key intervention we often try and have is that there's a lot of discourse that's stuck in this binary conversation about is religion a force for violence? Is religion a force for peace? And we say religion is a powerful force. It's not a binary. And that entering into that reality and asking the questions about what are the structural and contextual factors that lead that force to have both often simultaneously, right?

APRILFAYE MANALANG: Absolutely.

ANNA MUDD: Constructive and sometimes deeply critical impacts is critical. So thank you for highlighting that there. I also want-- this is going to be a third question for Dr. Manalang. But I want to make sure that you have a minute to talk about a dimension of your work, again, related really much to space, place, and context.

And the fact that you're teaching at an HBCU, and that you've been writing about that context. And what engaging another set of students in this interview project has brought. So I do-- let's take a minute to talk about that dimension of your work, and then we'll see if you all have questions for one another.

APRILFAYE MANALANG: Well, I'll be really brief because I don't-- realize the time. And so just thinking about going back to the time of COVID that we were all embodying that time and space, and overlapping with all this going on, George Floyd murder, the Black Lives Matter protests were happening. And my students who are like over 90% of them at my school who are Black Americans really felt the effects of that.

And so that was co-occurring at the same time. And so thinking about that and really broadening that out and being about just different communities of color, and so I had mentioned what I had been going through in my journey and thinking about it within our local community. And they said, I didn't know that there are Filipinos in the community. I thought it was just you Doctor A. Or, oh, I thought Asians are like Buddhist.

And it's not to say that they're ignorant, and, again, it's just like blind spots. Like, how would if you didn't know. And I was like, yeah, actually, we have one of the largest Filipino communities in our own hometown. And it was on their own interest and volition being sensitive to the social injustice happening. They said, well, what can we do to be supportive and be an ally? And it was on their own that they said that.

And so we talked about that, how can we think about that more deeply? And so that's been really gratifying because they didn't know that they didn't know. And I'll be honest, I didn't know that they didn't. It was my blind spot too. And it came up through the stories of the Filipino nurses. And so now my students are deeply involved as well and developing ways of allyship that are meaningful. And then uplifting social justice and bringing marginalized stories to the center, and bringing it to light.

ANNA MUDD: Fantastic. So we are closing in on five minutes left. We want to have a little bit of time for that last clip. And Jeannie and Audrey, I just wanted to turn it back to you once more and say what's next. There's something you're looking forward to to learn more here. Yeah, and are there any questions you would like to ask of anyone else and any of our guests today?

JEANNE SHIN-COOPER: So what's next for us is we are going to start the interview. So as Professor Manalang mentioned, she met with us today to give us training on how to conduct these interviews. And so we have our first one lined up Wednesday. And I'm really looking forward to hearing some of these stories. And it's just cool to see that it's happening now. It's finally happening. Audrey, how about you, how are you feeling about it at all?

AUDREY RO: Yeah. My friends and I, we were actually talking about it last night. We were all sitting together and talking about it. But I think all of us are really, really excited about conducting the interviews and getting to hear these personal stories. I know a couple of us are pairing up within the class to go to these interviews-- or they're online but conduct these interviews and getting to hear these Filipino-American voices.

ANNA MUDD: Fantastic. April, how about you? And we have a late breaking question in the chat which is, how can we get involved as viewers?

APRILFAYE MANALANG: Oh, wow, I mean, this is an open and ongoing project so I'm always open to different possibilities. So you're welcome to contact me. Anna has my contact information. And we can always continue the conversation.

And what's next is, well, Penn State University contacted me last week, and they are interested in making a comic book based on the Filipino nurses story. So I'm in talks with them. And knock on wood or hopefully something will work out with that. I'll keep you posted in it. I think it would be really cool if that worked out.

ANNA MUDD: That's exciting. I don't know if I've told you but one of my past deep interests is the intersection of graphic novels and religious literacy. And we actually just had a graduate student here at RPL who did her capstone project looking at Persepolis, graphic narratives, and religious literacy. So we will definitely have that.

APRILFAYE MANALANG: OK. Got to connect with you then. That's really exciting. Thanks for sharing.

ANNA MUDD: Absolutely. And also just for folks in the audience, I want to give a little pitch that thank you so much GD for highlighting the certificate program, which is a really fantastic opportunity. I also want to say that we have free accessible online opportunities for training as well.

So we have an introduction to religious literacy for educators, as well as three topic-based modules on art and imagination, on climate justice, and on local knowledges. So you can find those on our website and also reach out to me for more information that can maybe put some information in the chat box.

We are going to close out with one last clip from these nurses. But I just want to extend such deep gratitude to each and every one of you for your powerful work, your commitment to justice, the work that you're doing in education as educators, as students for connecting and modeling that agency. And it was just such an honor to have you with us today.

APRILFAYE MANALANG: Thank you.

JEANNE SHIN-COOPER: Thank you so much.

AUDREY RO: Thank you.

ANNA MUDD: All right, Rochelle, do you want to close our last clip?

APRILFAYE MANALANG: Before wrapping up, I asked what they would want the world to know.

SPEAKER: I think the public has, sort of, like stereotyped the Filipino-American community as a silent minority. And I think they have to recognize that from a cultural perspective, we have suffered a lot of social, political trauma coming from a country that has been under a dictatorship for many, many years. So people need to understand the history before they can actually judge the why.

SPEAKER: Filipinos are mostly in the medical field. And they're not well recognized. That's how I see it. And I don't know why. I don't know why.

SPEAKER: Everyone needs to know that we all exist as a community. And we're united no matter what color you are, no matter what your background is, no matter what your profession is. That we all have the same need and that our health is very important. And that it doesn't matter what race you are, that we're all here together. And that as a Filipino community, together we can make differences in people's lives.

SPEAKER: I hope that all the people out there understand that 4% of the nurses in the United States are Filipino Americans. And out of the 4% of those Filipino nurses, 31% died of COVID because they were fighting during the COVID pandemic and still are in the front line.

So that is a sad statistic because it just shows that we as Filipino Americans are the ones out there ready to give its all, including our lives and whatever it takes to make sure that we are compassionate and caring towards the patients. And since those are the responsibilities that we're given, and we take profession very seriously.

SPEAKER: From our end, I think we can do more in trying to articulate who we are as a Filipino American community, and what we can do to promote empowerment within our own community. And that's what being AA has been all about since its inception in 1979. That is OK to speak up. And it's OK to acknowledge that even though we are a silent minority, we have done great strides in promoting ourselves and contributing to a large part to the health care industry here in America.

SPEAKER: We are not seen as just workers. And we're not dispensable in a sense. We do our jobs. We do it to the best of our abilities. And I just would hope that people would take into account that we're here to help them. A lot of us as nurses, we do have caring hearts and we also have families that we're taking care of as well. So I think grace and kindness go around for everybody.

SPEAKER: Usually whenever you go--

ANNA MUDD: Thank you so much to everyone for joining us today.

SPEAKER: Sponsor, Religion and Public Life.