AFIRE strives to connect various resources available in the Chicagoland area with Filipinx/a/o community members, including COVID-19 health resources, community wellness providers, legal aid, and professional development workshops.
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Browse our extensive list of COVID-19 resources available throughout the greater Chicagoland area.
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Browse our directory of community resources, organizations, legal aid, and help lines.
Please send additional resources to contact@afirechicago.org, with the Subject Heading, “Please Add to Community Directory”. Thank you!
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A substantial number of Filipinx/a/o who immigrate to the U.S. engage in domestic work, including caregiving for youth and elders, housekeeping, and driving, among other tasks. Domestic workers are exploited every day. As a member of the Illinois Domestic Worker (ILDW) Coalition and the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), AFIRE advocates for full implementation of the National Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, which provides rights and protections for domestic workers, such as paid time off and health and safety protections.
Chicago Paid Leave Ordinance
AFIRE joined Arise Chicago, the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, and several other partners from the Illinois Domestic Workers Coalition to ensure the passage of the Chicago Paid Leave Ordinance in November 2023.
Access to paid time off is critical to workers and their families who are struggling to make ends meet in a challenging economy. It gives workers time to spend with their families and care for their health. Paid time off also affords workers the ability to stay home when they are sick, preventing their colleagues from getting sick and missing work and ultimately supporting Chicago’s public health. Access to paid time off also improves worker retention, which reduces employer turnover costs.
The new law was put into effect on January 1, 2024 and applies to all employers within Chicago.
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Everyone in the United States, including undocumented immigrants, has guaranteed rights under the U.S. Constitution. It is important to know and understand those rights and create a safety plan for yourself and your family and loved ones. The information below can help if you encounter immigration agents. It is available as a card through AFIRE. Please email us at contact@afirechicago.org to request a card. Or download in English or Tagalog.
If you need support, call AFIRE: (773) 580-1025
If it is an emergency, call the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) hotline: 855-435-7693
For your safety, remember:
NO warrant: DO NOT open the door
DO NOT sign documents you do not understand
REMAIN SILENT
Always carry the Know Your Rights card in case of emergency
REPORT IT: call AFIRE to report any incidents
English:
STOP! I know my rights.
I am giving you this card because I do not wish to speak to you or have any further contact with you.
I choose to exercise my right to remain silent and to refuse to answer any questions
If you arrest me, I will continue to exercise my right to remain silent and to refuse to answer your questions.
I want to speak to a lawyer before answering your questions
Remember:
NO warrant—DO NOT open the door
DO NOT sign documents you do not understand
REMAIN SILENT
Always carry the card in case of emergency
REPORT IT: call AFIRE to report any incidents
Tagalog:
STOP! I know my rights.
Binibigyan ko kayo ng card na ito dahil hindi ko nais na makipag-usap o kahit na makipag-ugnayan sa iyo.
Pinipili kong ipatupad ang aking karapatan na hindi magsalita o sumagot ng alin man sa iyong katanungan.
Kung ako ay iyong aarestuhin, pinipili ko pa ring ipagpatuloy na ipatupad ang aking karapatan na hindi magsalita o sumagot ng alin man sa iyong mga katanungan.
Gusto kong makipag-usap sa isang abogado bago ko sagutin ang alin man sa iyong mga katanungan.
Paalala:
Kung walang warrant, huwag buksan ang pinto
Huwag pumirma ng kahit anong papeles kung hindi ninyo nauunawaan ang nilalaman nito
Manatiling huwag magsalita
Laging maghanda at magplano: dalhin ang card na ito kahit saan kayo pumunta
Tumawag kayo sa amin kung nais ninyong ipagbigay-alam ang nangyari sa inyo
Call AFIRE for Support: 773-580-1025
Emergencies call Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights: 855-435-7693
References:
RESOURCE: Timeline of Queer and Trans
Filipinx/a/o Organizing in Chicago
1980–90s
Gay Asian Pacific Islanders of Chicago (GAPIC)
The creation of GAPIC was inspired by organizations in New York City that welcomed gay men of Asian and Pacific Islander descent, providing a space for both social gatherings and raising social awareness and activism. By the late 1990s, GAPIC members argued for more gender-inclusive spaces, and some of its members, notably Karl Kimpo, would go on to form Invisible to Invincible (i2i), Chicago’s first queer group for Asian and Pacific Islanders that embraced all gender identities and expressions under one roof.
September 1992
Pintig Cultural Group Produces the Play “America is in the Heart”
Playwright and director Chris Millado adapted the novel from Filipino poet and writer Carlos Bulosan (1913–56) into the very first play produced by Pintig Cultural Group, which would eventually grow into the arts organization CIRCA Pintig. This photo depicts not only a primarily Filipino cast, but an ensemble that has mostly identified as LGBTQ+.
1994
The Founding of Asian American AIDS Foundation (AAAF)
In 1990, Roberto Alfajora founded AAAF with the goal of increasing the visibility of AIDS within Chicago’s Asian communities, fundraising to support those with AIDS, and bridging the gap between gay and non-gay Asian communities in Chicago. Roberto served on the host committee for the 1994 Gay Men of Color AIDS Institute, a summit hosted by the National Task Force on AIDS Prevention.
August 1997
Wa Etching! The First Queer Play by Pintig Cultural Group (later CIRCA Pintig)
Wa Etching (“nothing but the truth” in Tagalog gay slang), written by Jaime Almonte and directed by Allan A. Sargan, was the first play from Pintig Cultural Group that centered on gay themes. The play sought to give a voice to closeted gay Filipinos and celebrate those who are open. Sargan’s intentions were to make audiences more understanding of and sympathetic to gay people.
2002–09
Mango Tribe
Mango Tribe, a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, and multi-disciplinary ensemble, was an Asian and Pacific Islander women’s performance collective founded on the belief that collective creation can be the most powerful form of art. Mango Tribe sought to encourage artistic activism through education, mentorship, and advocacy. Their work was often in support of queer women and gender nonconforming artists. Members included poet Kay Barrett and Lani Montreal.
“There was also a lot of gender non-conforming people in there. But it was during the time when a lot of those words were still being figured out.”
—Mango Tribe member E Armea
July 2005
Invisible to Invincible (i2i) is Founded
After GAPIC dissolved in the early 2000s, former member Karl Kimpo helped found i2i as a more gender-inclusive alternative for social gatherings. i2i is a community-based organization that celebrates and affirms Asians & Pacific Islanders who identify as LGBTQ+ in the Chicago area. Currently, i2i organizes progressive educational programming, support spaces, and social events like potlucks. i2i focuses on community activism, primarily around queer, trans, racial, and immigrant justice.
October 2006
AFIRE is Founded
AFIRE was founded in 2006 to oppose the criminalization of immigrants based on their immigration status. AFIRE is a community organization that creates a political home with and for Filipinx/a/os* to confidently organize toward the liberation of immigrants, workers, domestic workers, queer and trans people, and oppressed peoples everywhere.
March 2013
Dyke March Hosts Immigration Forum
The Chicago Dyke March was in its second year of being hosted by the Uptown-Argyle neighborhood, which is home to a significant Asian and Asian-American population and several Asian-American businesses and social service organizations. To reflect issues close to the community’s history and present, Dyke March organizers hosted a panel discussion titled, “Connecting the Dots: Immigration, Race, Sexuality and Community.”
Kristina Tendilla described their organizing around issues like poverty and race. They also spoke of their personal understanding of the immigration sponsorship backlog: their father’s sponsorship of his siblings took over twenty years, and one of their uncles died during the process.
2014
The Queer Asian Archive at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is formed
The Queer Asian American Collection documents the rich and vibrant stories of the diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, asexual, intersex, and gender non-conforming Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and South Asian communities in Chicago. The collection contains materials gathered by the Queer Asian American Archive, founded in 2014 by Dr. Laura Sachiko Fugikawa and liz thomson. The Queer Asian American Archive is a collaboration between the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Global Asian Studies academic program and i2i.
Included in the collection are twenty-six oral history interviews conducted by the Queer Asian American Archive project, of which fourteen are from Filipinx/a/os. The digital collection holds audio recordings, related transcripts, and supplementary materials provided by the interviewees and interviewers. In the interviewees, participants were invited to discuss their ethnic, racial, gender, and sexual identification and their personal queer experiences. Interviewees also drew personal spatial pathway maps that indicated significant neighborhoods and places in the city, and they contributed personal descriptive identity words.
August 6–9, 2015
Chicago Hosts the NQAPIA National Conference
The National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) held its national conference, with the theme of “Thriving Together” in Chicago. NQAPIA is a national federation of 75 organizations that seeks to build the organizational capacity of local LGBTQ+ Asian and Pacific Islander organizations, enhance grassroots organizing, expand collaborations with allied organizations, and promote social justice values by challenging underlying causes such as homophobia, sexism, racism, and xenophobia that adversely impact our communities.
i2i and Trikone Chicago, a South Asian LGBTQ organization, served as the host organizations, and the planning committee boasted seven LGBTQ+ Filipinx/a/os among their members.
January 2018
Filipino Kitchen
Filipino Kitchen launches an event series, Usapang Pagkain, reclaiming a Filipinx notion of wellness and fostering intergenerational dialogue on Filipino food and health in the community.
July 18, 2018
Luya Poetry’s First Show
Luya, which translates into "ginger", was officially launched on July 18, 2018 in the Axis Lab space in Argyle, Chicago. Founded by Chris Aldana and Czaerra Ucol, Luya Poetry is a monthly show that focuses primarily on performers of color.
Luya Poetry has five guidelines that keep disabled, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ artists centered, safe, and at the mic:
At Luya, we respect the mic.
Luya, we respect the space.
At Luya, the crowd creates the vibe.
At Luya, we understand that anything can be a trigger.
At Luya, we do not tolerate fuckery.
October 2019
AFIRE Launches The ALON Project
ALON was a year-long community photo campaign through AFIRE’s Healing Justice Program. Through an editorial photoshoot and interviews, the campaign acted as a catalyst and platform for the Chicagoland Filipinx/a/o community to talk about their experiences with mental health.
The project sought to create a platform for storytelling, self-expression, and community dialogue to fight mental health stigma and increase media visibility of our community’s experiences. The project featured portraits and short video stories of community members’ real experiences with mental health. Twelve community were interviewed, of which several identified as LGBTQ+
July 30, 2022
Blasian March Chicago is founded
On July 30, 2022, then student Kait Venturina (she/they) led Blasian March Chicago, a spinoff of Blasian March, which was founded in 2020 by former Chicago resident Rohan Zhou-Lee (they/siya/elle/祂), to build Black-Asian-Blasian solidarity through education and celebration.
www.blasianmarch.org
www.hellocupkait.com
www.diaryofafirebird.com
August 2023
Malaya Chicago
Malaya Chicago presented its first art exhibition, Makabayang Sining Para sa Inang Bayan, featuring works by Filipinx/a/o-American artists and linking issues of injustice such as the “comfort women,” unsafe labor practices, and forced migration to the group’s core objective: fighting for sovereignty, democracy, and human rights in the Philippines.
June 8, 2024
The Great Baklaan
The Great Baklaan is a community-driven, collaborative effort between AFIRE, Luya, Blasian March, i2i, and local community organizers to reimagine opportunities that showcase the Filipinx/a/o LGBTQ+ community with panels, networking, and performances. This symposium is the first of its kind for LGBTQ Filipinx/a/os in the history of Chicago.
Timeline Sources:
CIRCA Pintig, circapintig.org
Salcedo, Naomi. 2018. “Explore Wellness With Filipino Cuisine: AFIRE And Filipino Kitchen Launch Six Mo.” AFIRE Chicago. January 8, 2018. https://www.afirechicago.org/single-post/2018/01/08/explore-wellness-with-filipino-cuisine-afire-and-filipino-kitchen-launch.
Malaya Chicago-MW, https://www.facebook.com/MalayaChicagoMW
“Asian American and Pacific Islander Timeline · Timeline: Asian American and Pacific Islander LGBTQ History, 1873-2022 · OutHistory.” n.d. Outhistory.org. Accessed May 30, 2024. http://outhistory.org/exhibits/show/asam-timeline/timeline?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2-7H1VfPuRgbQdIm31LlVP6LmTn_mGvEwk81yFXBYjfArkBaoGnNz1aaY_aem_AVgUtBldz405Kaz8H2Rx3-HgUVqL91Q89Cn6nbutu_JS_-OfvuS3TrE3nms5YkRLmSNdvjU07AZrCk1ZTXXfJzyT.
“Feeling Safe While Taking up Space: The Forefront of Luya Poetry’s Open Mics.” Sixty Inches from Center. October 1, 2022. https://sixtyinchesfromcenter.org/feeling-safe-while-taking-up-space-the-forefront-of-luya-poetrys-open-mics.
UIC Queer Asian Collection, https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/uic_qaa
Nair, Yasmin. 2013. “Chicago Dyke March Collective Hosts Immigration Forum.” Windy City Times. June 5, 2013. https://windycitytimes.com/2013/06/05/chicago-dyke-march-collective-hosts-immigration-forum/.
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance, www.nqapia.org/.
Hayford, Justin. 1997. “Wa Etching!” Chicago Reader. August 28, 1997. https://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/wa-etching/.