THis is for Christine Balmes --
I write this because I care about Fil Am/Canadian scholars who would like to pursue an academic career but are  conflicted by what is perceived as issues of oppression and marginalization within the academe. Additionally, they lament the disconnect between scholars and the community leading to missed opportunities to affect social transformation.

This is also for Therese who is contemplating whether to pursue a phd in ethnic studies to study decolonization and indigenization or practice as a public interest lawyer serving the Fil Am community.

Both of these young women have told me that they see my scholarship and community work as a model of what they want to do. They have read my books and they resonate deeply with my writing and respect and admire the community advocacy that I have been doing.

But do you know?:
- that I have an Ed.D. and not a Ph.D.  Most academics with the latter look down on the former. They think that theory (phd) matters more than praxis (edd).
- that my writings have been published in peer-reviewed journals, in book chapters, ezines, community media but my books were published in the Philippines because publishers in the US didn't know how to categorize my work?
- that some Fil Am scholars (with PhDs) do not take my work seriously and have not engaged it in their own scholarship?
- that i have received tenure and rank of full professor because I have built a body of work that is referenced by scholars, educators, cultural workers, community workers?

I used to tell folks that one shouldn't have to get a phd or an edd to decolonize.

But, in hindsight, I know now that my doctoral fellowship, my mentors, my search for community rounded out the journey that started as a lonely search for answers to my sense of alienation, non-belonging. Assimilation didn't work for me so I strayed off the path that usually ensnares immigrants.

So what about young aspiring scholars. Where does one go to do a phd in Philippine Studies? If back to UP, does the program there sufficiently address the issues and concerns of diasporic Filipinos? If there is no similar program in the US, is there a phd in Ethnic Studies program with potential Fil Am mentors who are interested in decolonization and indigenization?