A host of Filipino celebrities including Apl.de.Ap of the Black Eyed Peas and Tony winner Lea Salonga joined together to stop AAPI hate.
They sang the tune You Got to be Carefully Taught from the Broadway musical South Pacific to original lyrics speaking out against the bigotry felt by Asians around the world due to the pandemic.
Tony winning playwright David Henry Hwang helped Asia Society Hong Kong to secure the rights of the Rodgers and Hammerstein song for this Asia Society Philippines project.
“You got to learn not to be afraid,” the song goes.
“Of people whose eyes are differently made .
“And people whose skin is of a different shade.
“You’ve got to be carefully taught.”
Other celebrities participating include performance artist Cris Villonco, actor and recording artist Daniel Padilla, musical director Mon Faustino and singers Gary Valenciano, Jaya, Jed Madela, Martin Nievera, Martin Nievera, and Sam Concepcion.
“Hating another human being just because of the color of their skin or the shape of their eye is really in this day and age, it really isn’t just politically incorrect, it is outdated, it is inhuman,” said Filipino broadcast journalist Korina Sanchez said to introduce the video.
“To all our kababayans, Filipino Americans experiencing Asian hate, people telling you you don’t belong there, you don’t deserve to be there, go back home. Well, you know what? You deserve to be there. You belong there,” said fellow journalist Karen Davilla.
The video will be distributed across the globe with subtitles in Hindi, French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Chinese.
The videos can also be seen on the Asia Society Philippines’ Youtube and Facebook pages.
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Awesome , Mabuhay 😇😍🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭