October is Filipino American History Month

Filipinos have a long history in Hawaii and the United States.

In the first half of 1900s, around 125,000 Filipino migrant workers called “Sakadas” worked in Hawaii’s sugarcane field. Just like in Hawaii, Filipino migrant workers also came to California in early 1900s to work as agricultural laborers in California’s Central Valley.

Over time, these Filipino migrant workers would petition their families back home to live with them in the U.S.

According to the 2010 Census, there are 3.4 million Filipinos in America, making the Filipino community the second-largest Asian American group in the US with high populations in Hawaii, California and Texas. In Hawaii, the Filipino community is the second-largest ethnic population in the state.

To celebrate the culture, heritage and history of Filipinos in America, October is Filipino American History Month (FAHM).

Full article published on Hawaii Filipino Chronicle, a local English-language Filipino newspaper in Honolulu, Hawaii.