SF State Professor Dan Begonia - A Well Earned Retirement

It is with great joy that I write about a man I am honored to call a mentor, but also a mentor to those who he has changed lives, Professor Danilo Begonia.

To the students he has taught and to many campus employees, he is a legend of our great university, the College of Ethnic Studies, and the Asian American Studies department. Some on the campus see him as some sort of outcast or a figure of being too old fashioned, but when you ask his former students about what they have learned from him and how much he has changed their lives, nobody really cares about him being different than the rest of the faculty.

Being that this is his last month of employment on our campus, he will finally earn the title he has waited for his entire life, Professor Emeritus of Asian American Studies, and nobody can ever take away that title of respect he will earn on May 18th when the Provost and President of the University gives him that honor.

When I enrolled in his class: "Psyche and Behavior of Pilipinos," it was because I need a Pilipino American course in order to advance towards my baccalaureate degree in Asian American Studies. When he first came in, I was shocked, and unprepared for what is going on. I initially thought he was some kind of prick. I was worried if I can survive this class with all the extra homework and projects requiring my team to visit places and do projects outside of the classroom and the campus. It wasn't until my teammates supported me and pulled me through the most difficult parts that I learned to appreciate Dan's passionate work. He taught me to be a confident person, be outspoken, demand perfection, and defend those who feel they cannot succeed.

I'm not a Pilipino American, and while a very high majority of the students are, I was never segregated from my class and my team. They came to accept me, I learned and understood about Pilipino culture, and shared my cultural experiences as a Japanese and Chinese American to them as well. I admit to making a few mistakes here and there, including "Pilipino time" where I arrived to a birthday party early, and the rest of them didn't arrive until 15 minutes after the published time.

Once all the stressful parts of the course was done, the class was like a family. We'd still get our lectures from Dan, but we were also more relaxed, fun, and playful too. One of my favorite moments was learning the drums in preparation for FilGrad, a graduation event for Pilipino American students of our campus. Our classwould go to the very bottom level of the SF State parking garage to practice, and while our hands were hurting, I was enjoying myself, even to the point where I was practicing my drumming at my workplace on the counter.

It was also an honor to be asked to join his teaching assistant crew. I say it's an honor because he only hand picks the best and brightest of his past students to join his exclusive team. Being his TA was a great way for me to end my last semester as an undergraduate student at SF State.

The lessons he taught me also helped me be an accomplished employee of this university, and it was reflected when my previous supervisor asked me if I wanted to be her [student] administrative assistant while I was in preparation to start my career as a graduate student. She learned about my confidence and unflinching loyalty to the department in my previous role as a front desk receptionist, and the new position earned me one of the highest wage jobs a student can receive. Today as a professional employee of the campus, I still believe in Dan's teachings, especially perfection; I place high expectations on the quality of work I put out, and expect the same from my co-workers in order for the department to show itself in its best light.

Not long ago, I told a group of about 70 students who will be working for our campus department in the coming months about being part of our department's family: we work together, celebrate together, cry together, and support each other through the good times and bad, and whether they decide to continue working for us for the following years, or decide to pursue other things, they will never be forgotten as part of the family. Dan taught this to our class, and after all these years, we are all still a family; some are out working, others in graduate school, and some even have babies to care for.

"Tito Dan," I'm proud of you. You have taught at SF State for over 30 years and changed so many lives. Have a great retirement and I hope you will enjoy all kinds of great activities, especially that kick ass Harley I see you ride on campus. Now I'm all teary eyed.

To learn more about Professor Dan Begonia, read this great article from the Golden Gate [X]press.

Why do people insult Ethnic Studies?

40 years ago, San Francisco State University was home to the longest student led strike in American history, and this created the school (now college) of Ethnic Studies, and is the only such "College" in the entire United States.

I respect that, regardless of the insane violence, police clashes, and everything else. SFSU is home to something really special.

Even for me, I thought I would go into a career of being an English teacher for the public high schools, but my new love came to Asian American Studies. I knew I had a great background way before college because of my deep connections to the Japanese American community (Japantown) in San Francisco, and the respect of the members of the community who believe my late grandmother is the hero of the community for being one of the major leaders of the Japanese American redress movement.

The 40th anniversary is a proud moment for SFSU, and it's not just history. The classes offered today provide a wide opportunity to learn about ethnic cultures (other than white/European American), and especially amazing is you can learn about one specific ethnicity in three different courses including history, psychology, and literature. Even more is that the interdisciplinary courses discover things like the film industry, how it relates to today's modern U.S. government, and even mixed heritage studies. And whether or not you realize it, some popular local celebrities were also part of our family, including Malou Nubla who attended Professor Dan Gonzales' class and also was head of PACE (Pilipino American Collegiate Endeavor), and comedian Rex Nevarrette who respects the college for giving him a career in comedy.

And I'm proud to be part of this wonderful group, not just a B.A. degree holder in Asian American Studies, but also I'm close to earning my M.A. in the same topic too.

Yet... out of all this great news and pride, comes the sour part to all of this. I recently posted a comment on the SFGate comment boards noting my appreciation for the College and its programs, but soon later got pelted by others saying that Ethnic Studies is an insult. Including one literally pointing out that I won't have any kind of career (stating that I will be working at some fast food joint).

It almost seems that Ethnic Studies in college today has to be defended every single day in this country.

So here's my arguments/defense towards those insults:

• Yes, I do have a career. I work part-time as an Administrative Assistant while I work on my Master's degree. My knowledge in ethnic studies earns a high degree of respect in my field because of the uniqueness and very diverse population of people we work with.
• James Hirabayashi was the first dean of the school of Ethnic Studies at SFSU, and he stated that as students and graduates of the Ethnic Studies program, it becomes our responsibilities to use the knowledge we received and apply that to our communities. So therefore, there is a career for people like me!
  
• Elementary through high school teaches the Eurocentric point of view, and people rarely learn about the other views of so called "American history." Ethnic Studies gives that other view of history. Ethnic Studies also tells about the history that the Eurocentric view would never talk about, for example the International Hotel controversy in San Francisco's Manilatown, and why San Francisco's Chinatown looks "Oriental" when rebuilt after the huge fire after the 1906 earthquake.
• Without Ethnic Studies, ethnic communities in the SF Bay Area would lack the leadership and proper knowledge about the history of the ethnic group(s) they represent. The Japantown community has leaders who are well versed in the topic of Japanese American culture, with many who have taken ethnic studies or have teached Asian American Studies to other students.
• Without Ethnic Studies, who will teach their children (or future children) about their ethnic background(s)? I don't have a child, but if he/she asked me about their ethnic heritage, I would tell them the whole story about my Japanese and Chinese heritage, thanks to the folks of Ethnic Studies.
• A particular example of passing on Ethnic Studies to the young is a program known as PEP. Volunteer students from SFSU teaches young Pilipino students in High School about their culture through a very unique teaching style that is being recognized nationally as a way to teach ethnic studies to people who are not of college age.
  
• Research about ethnic groups (other than whites) is absolutely necessary today. The birth of Asian American Studies has spurred a lot of research in just the last forty years, investigating issues from Chinese Americans involved with Christianity, and how ethnic beauty pageants can be controversial.
• Without an Asian American Studies background, I would have not been able to lead and defend Japantown in 2006 when major properties were put up for sale, equaling about 1/3 (one-third) of the entire community. Without my vast knowledge about Japanese Americans, I could not have started a petition drive that received over 16,000 signatures, and write empassioned messages to other ethnic communities asking for their help. For example: I contacted a bunch of my Pilipino American friends and explained to them that losing Japantown is just like losing the I-Hotel, and Japanese Americans were there when the I-Hotel was under attack by riot cops trying to evict the tenants.
  
• Ethnic Studies is not a waste of a college's/university's money. It demonstrates that educational institutions needs to teach about other views of American history. One example: Eurocentric American history might just seldom mention about the Japanese American Internment Camps and a brief history about how they won redress. Asian American Studies focusing on Japanese American Studies gives their take to the whole camp and redress experiences through many readings and since it's specific to Japanese American history, can really focus on what makes this topic so important. Try asking detailed questions to a Eurocentric American history teacher... they might say "go see an Ethnic Studies professor for help" (then, they'd get fired for lack of knowledge).

There's my main points to this. If you still feel that Ethnic Studies is a waste of college resources and an insult to Universities, then come see me, and I'll drag your butt to people I know who will whip you into shape. I used a similar defense during the time when Japantown's festivals were recently threatened and noted that those people who wrote those mean spirited letters should come see me, and I'd let them meet the people in-person, the hard working volunteers that gets paid nothing other than seeing their community thrive and be proud. Some of them have been active in the Japantown community for over 40 years, now that's real respect and pride right there.

There's a reason why I quote Professor Dan Begonia on the bottom of my blog, I respect that guy for giving me the power to be a proud Asian American, and to continue on the tradition of promoting Ethnic Studies by leading our ethnic communities to a bright future.

(Photograph from left to right: Jon, Melissa, and myself. The three of us are part of the Master's program in Asian American Studies at SFSU.)