Candidate for Director:
Joey Badua
My name is Joey Badua (they, them, and theirs). I was born and immigrated from Luzon, Philippines, and continue to speak my native languages, Ilocano and Tagalog. I am living on the land of Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco, Bay Area.
I graduated with a B.S. in Entrepreneurship at Hawaii Pacific University, and received my J.D. with honors at Golden Gate University (GGU) law school. I took courses to learn about European and Indigenous cosmologies, U.S. history and genocide, and understanding capitalism. I have done, and continue to do, the work to “know history, to know my self.”
I received FBANC’s Raymond L. Ocampo, Jr. Family Scholarship. I have participated in clinics, drafted statements and volunteered for FBANC events, including the Know Your Rights Webinar on Tenants Rights during COVID-19. I am currently planning with the collective to host the Pinay Powerhouse 4 virtual conference on March 19-21, 2021 called, “Roots to Rise.”
I am honored to declare my intention to run for the FBANC Community Outreach Director Position. I recognize the great responsibility to be a bridge between FBANC and community partners in San Francisco and the Greater Bay Area. I also am empowered by FBANC’s principles to know its roots and to continue to serve historically disenfranchised communities, even during a global pandemic.
My vision for this role includes continuing FBANC’s mission in building and maintaining trust with organizations aware of the needs of the Filipino community, as well as in developing authentic allyship and mutual aid with other communities of concern in an attempt to correct what James Baldwin called “generations of bad faith and cruelty.”
I come to the table with a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion, equal access to justice, and success in both what we do and how we do it. My experience at the San Francisco and Hawai’i public defenders’ offices, Hawai’i trial and Supreme Courts, Legal Aid at Work, Homeless Advocacy Project, GGU Women’s Employment Rights Clinic, FilVetRep and API Legal Outreach where I currently practice as a housing rights attorney provides me insight and understanding to the needs of achieving racial, economic and social justice.
As a community lawyer and FBANC Community Outreach Director, I would like to fill in some gaps by using strategies our manongs and manangs used in the past: good, old tambayan meetings.
When I was in the Philippines, the plaza was a vibrant place to eat banana-que, talk-story, and be with family and neighbors. Even in America, I would see the lolos and lolas at McDonalds for hours, drinking coffee and discussing each other’s challenges in obtaining public benefits for World War II veterans, for example. The conversations were organic.
In addition to virtual clinics, workshops and Know Your Rights informational presentations, I would like to propose a weekly space for Zoom tambayan made available to community leaders, social workers and the general public to drop by and join in the conversation.
There would safeguards to preserve openness and respect in the space with trained moderators, an agreement signed by the attendees and technological facilitation. The attendees would then plan on covering a subject matter to be discussed at the next meeting.
This platform allows for input on strategies addressing community needs such as housing instability, helping small businesses, changing immigration policies, voter-protection, trends in guardianship, and policing and law enforcement in our communities. We would also provide space for attorneys from different organizations to generally inform us of new laws that are passed, new programs available and
upcoming workshops hosted by their respective organizations. By having a steady time, we are able to leverage on the challenges of the global pandemic to be a strength: by listening to each other, providing support and getting to know each other, we can better serve the needs of our community.
The limitations to accessibility like access to individuals experiencing technological and cultural challenges, could be met with simultaneous interpretation, physical flyers and word-of-mouth. One other project I hope would matriculate from these meetings includes a phone tree of resources within our communities, both legal and social services-related. A triage of pro-bono and low-bono Fil-Am attorneys and offices who have language, subject-matter expertise and quick-access capacities for intakes will benefit service workers who get calls about a wide-range of problems.
Lastly, I hope to work collaboratively directly with the committee, and on projects with other committees and across FBANC. Thank you.