BOB SANTOS

When one considers geography as a core concept in the development of flavors - especially in describing Filipino cuisine - we can sometimes default to trying to describe it as the child of Spanish, Chinese, and endemic methods of cooking. At the broadest level, perhaps that is what cuisine can be interpreted as. At Archipelago, we dare to ask questions and invert the process so instead we ask questions to develop recipes at the most granular level. What happens when a Filipino-American activists builds multi-racial solidarity in the name of place? 

What are the implications for a constellation of food, twisting and bending at the borders it uses to define itself? Hum Bows, not Hot Dogs. 

During his time with the Seattle "Gang of Four” a multi-ethnic organizing coalition and in his time as an activist disrupted the construction of several projects in the CID. Notably, his work blocked the construction of the Kingdome and his further activism helped generate affordable housing. For this course, we feature a Hum Bao to commemorate that signage and the role of food as instrumental to how one remembers a neighborhood - in a way as significant as a streetcorner. 

Santos was a member of the “Gang of Four", with other individuals Bernie Whitebear, Roberto Maestas, and Larry Gossett who founded the Black Student Union as a student at the University of Washington. Their activism in the late 1960s was marked distinctly by their cross-racial solidarity and support for each other's communities' causes. Friendship and a recognition of similar marginalization occurring through Seattle's redlining communities of color specifically in areas of Seattle like the Beacon Hill, the Central District, and Rainier Valley brought forth new political consciousness. 

Santos' contributions to Seattle's CID (Chinatown International District) have preserved it as a community hub for Pan Asian Americans. Notably, his work blocked the construction of the Kingdome and his further activism helped generate affordable housing. With communities also threatened by processes of gentrification and displacement, Santos' work rings forward as a model that communities should continue to self-determine. For his activism and work building (metaphorical) bridges across communities, Santos served as the regional director of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1994 - 2001.