Asia Jackson Celebrated in New Book ‘Fearless Filipinas’
March with Fearless Filipinas
As part of women’s history month, Asia Jackson is celebrated in a new book about modern Pinay heroes, Fearless Filipinas: 12 Women Who Dared to be Different.
Filipino history has a pantheon of great Filipina leaders, such as Gabriela Silang and Melchora Aquino. In addition to these historical heroes, there are many modern Filipino women that have succeeded spectacularly in their respective fields, broken the glass ceiling, and still strive to give back to their communities.
These Filipinas deserve to have their stories documented at length, so that other women can gain inspiration from not only what they achieved, but how they overcame the many obstacles that once stood in their way. Such was the spirit behind the new book, Fearless Filipinas: 12 Women Who Dared to be Different, which features the story of none other than Asia Jackson.
Known of course as a Filipina American actress, Jackson was one of only twelve women featured in the book, and notably the only Hollywood actress. Asia shared her story beginning as a young woman still struggling to gain acceptance for her darker skin, all the way up to the present day, where she has started the #MagandangMorenx movement to combat colorism in the Filipino community.
The book opens with a foreword from Vice President Leni Robredo, who noted that stories like Jackson’s can be a catalyst for readers.
“While all of the women featured here hail from different fields, they are all united in their demonstration of ‘fearlessness’ in the face of adversity, prejudice, or even the status quo. Celebrating their lives—and indeed, their individual moments of fearlessness—should serve as a rallying cry to all women: We are all capable of the courage it takes to achieve unprecedented greatness,” wrote VP Robredo.
The women featured in Fearless Filipinas indeed span a broad range of fields, including entertainment, sports, academe, arts, business, and more. According to the book’s editorial team, Jackson was chosen to represent entertainment because of the movement she started.
“While there are many successful Filipinas in entertainment, Jackson started a movement much bigger than herself. The call to embrace #MagandangMorenx does not apply to only women with darker skin. The movement should serve as a reminder that—in a digital era where it’s often difficult to keep up with appearances—we must make it a point to love ourselves,” said Kyle Nate, the deputy editorial director of Bookshelf PH, the publisher behind the book.
The other eleven women featured in the book include:
Angel Locsin, the prominent TV and film actress and philanthropist;
Dr. Reina Reyes, the Princeton PhD who confirmed Einstein’s theory of relativity;
Kim Lato, the founder and CEO of Kimstore, one of the pioneering e-commerce retailers in the Philippines;
Elda Rotor, the Vice President and Publisher of Penguin Classics who brought Filipino authors like Nick Joaquin to a global audience;
Kaizen Dela Serna, a Southeast Asian Games gold medalist in the burgeoning sport of obstacle course racing (OCR);
Erika Legara, a physicist who founded the Asian Institute of Management’s Master of Science in Data Science program;
Stella Abrera, the first Filipina American Principal Dancer of the American Ballet Theatre, playing roles such as Juliet, Giselle, and Princess Aurora;
Jessica Cox, a motivational speaker and the world’s first licensed armless pilot and blackbelt in the American Taekwondo Association;
Jessie Sincioco, the President of The Manna Cuisine Corporation and the chef who served Pope Francis on his visit to the Philippines in 2015
Dzi Gervacio, co-founder of the Beach Volleyball Republic (BVR) and a SEA Games beach volleyball bronze medalist;
Merlee Jayme, the “chairmom” and chief creative officer of Dentsu Jayme Syfu.
Fearless Filipinas was written by Monica Padillo, Pancho Dizon, and Mica Magsanoc; edited by Kyle Nate; and illustrated by Chloe Gaw.
Fearless Filipinas is slated for release at the end of March, and is available for digital pre-order on Amazon (link pending), and Bookshelf PH for readers in the Philippines (https://bookshelf.com.ph/shop/ols/products/fearless-filipinas).
ABOUT BOOKSHELF PH
Bookshelf PH aims to promote great Filipino books in fiction and non-fiction. The goal is to produce a rich literature that will contribute to individual empowerment, and in the aggregate, nation-building. At the core of these aspirations is the belief that the surest and simplest path to personal and professional growth is through reading.
