FAHM - Filipino American History Month

FAHM CULVER CITY KAPWA

Finding Our Kapwa in Culver City

At our recent Culver City Kapwa Filipino American History Month potluck, I met people I had never seen before who live right here in our city.

Culver City isn’t that big. But we’re all busy working, taking care of our families, and trying to build a good life. We can live near each other and still feel disconnected. Then we gather like this and realize how many neighbors we haven’t had the chance to know.

That’s one of the reasons these events matter to me. We get to recognize each other, make connections, and find new friends we didn’t expect. We see each other as kapwa. As kababayan.

For me, kapwa is a shared sense of identity. I see myself in you, and you see yourself in me. We recognize something of ourselves in one another. That connection can give us a deeper sense of belonging.

Culver City has a rich cultural life and many community events. I appreciate being part of that. Gathering as Filipino Americans also gives us a space to connect through our own culture and experiences. We share food, but we also point each other toward cultural resources, discover people and organizations doing work in our community, and find ways to support one another.

Those connections can continue long after the potluck is over.

One of the things I loved was that people brought food to share. That was the reason for making it a potluck. We wanted to emphasize bayanihan as a core value of our culture and express it together as a community.

Everyone had something to contribute. Some brought food. Others gave their time and helped us get everything ready. I especially appreciated the college students who helped with setup. It means a lot to see young people participating. They are the next generation of kapwa, and they are already helping bring our community together.

I want to give a special thank-you to Culver City Unified School District board member Stephanie Loredo and her family for their support, and to everyone at Culver City Kapwa who helped make this gathering possible. Creating opportunities for people to come together takes time and effort, and I’m grateful to the people who gave both.

Pamana Kali was proud to support the event as one of its three major sponsors, alongside Big Frog Custom T-Shirts & More and Saint Michael Chicharon. Thank you to our fellow sponsors for helping make the celebration possible.

We also want to thank the community groups who participated and supported the gathering: Pilipino Workers Center, Samahang Pilipino, Anakbayan UCLA, Tinig Choral, and Kabataan Alliance SoCal. Your presence and contributions were part of what brought this day together.

I’d like us to keep making room for gatherings like this. There are still neighbors we haven’t met, friendships we haven’t made, and ways we can help each other that we haven’t discovered yet.

Maraming salamat to everyone who brought food, lent a hand, and spent time with us. I hope we keep getting to know one another.

Guro Alvin Catacutan
Founder and Chief Instructor
Pamana Kali