boston progress radio

Boston has been hit hard by inclement weather these past few days. Rain on Saturday, rain today. Must mean that summer is turning to fall. And it also means that another month has come and gone. And it also means another East Meets Words open mic sponsored by Boston Progress Arts Collective.

This month’s feature is Emily Lawsin.

Emily P. Lawsin is a second-generation Pinay originally from “She-attle”, Washington, who believes in sharing history and HERstory through OURstories. She “plants rice” in Motown, teaching Filipino American history and literature, Asian Pacific American Women, Oral History Methods, Spoken Word Poetry, and Community Service-Learning courses in the Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies Program, Program in American Culture, and the Women’s Studies Department at the University of Michigan. She joined the UofM faculty in 2000, after she completed her Master of Arts degree in Asian American Studies at UCLA. From 1994-2000, she taught Filipino American Studies at UCLA, and Asian American Studies at California State University, Northridge. She serves on the Board of Trustees of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS), is a co-founder of the Detroit Asian Youth Project, and started the Filipino Youth Initiative (FYI) classes at the Paaralang Pilipino Language & Cultural School.

Prof. Lawsin/”Até”/”Auntie Emily’s” poetry and essays on war brides, students, and writers have been published in numerous journals, newspapers, and anthologies, including Flippin’: Filipinos on America; The FANHS Journal; Teaching Asian America; Words Matter; International Examiner; disOrient 9 journalzine; InvASIAN: Growing up Asian and Female in America;Going Home to a Landscape: Writings By Filipinas, and Teaching About Asian Pacific Americans. An award-winning professor, oral historian, motivational speaker, and spoken word performance poet since 1990, she has performed on radio and stage throughout the United States and Manila.

As always, this event is open to all ages. Bring $3. Come early to sign up for the open mic or just come to listen.

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Tags: Boston Progress, Open Mic, spoken word.