Free Narcisco and Perez rally, San Francisco, c.1975. Two Filipina nurses in Michigan were finally acquitted after a long legal battle arising from charges that they had murdered patients. The case drew national support from Filipinos, even as the community simultaneously fought against martial law in the Philippines. In this context, Cecile Caguingin Ochoa's words about incessant struggle and a love that knows no boundaries point out a significant truth (see text below).
Photo from KDP Archives/Helen Toribio.

Touching the Fire: An Introduction to Three Essays from Filipina American Activists

By Cecile Caguingin Ochoa

If Filipino activists are viewed as tenacious and organized, it is perhaps because their struggles endured the test of time; many survived true bloodshed, not just battles over slogans. Their aspirations are woven by a common thread that reflects the multiple hues of a dream that ebbs and flows, in rivers of unfamiliar surroundings. Their new dawn is spawned by the incessant struggle for recognition of their value as human beings, by their quest for a meaningful place in this world.

It is all about love that knows no boundary of geography or country; it is simply a generation's commitment to what service to humanity is all about.

[01 Transforming Ourselves]     [02 Not Without Struggle]     [03 Serve the People]
[04 Listening to the Small Voice]     [05 The Big Picture]     [06 Revolution]
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