This morning, I was in the final stretch of recruiting applicants for the YP4 Fellowship Program. I discussed my own Blueprints for Social Justice, a pilot program that addresses heart disease and diabetes in the Filipino community in the Bay Area with a focus on nutrition and exercise.

A lot of issues dealing with Native Americans have been and are still being overlooked by the general population. And it's because a lot of people haven't heard about what goes on with the Native American population, culture, history and struggles. Or maybe people have heard a little bit about Natives but don't really understand the background of what has happend to the people. For instance a lot of people don't know about how Lincoln, the same day he signed the emancipation proclamation to free the slaves, he also signed for 38 Dakota warriors to be hanged. All 38 were hanged at once in a massive hanging. Or that the united states has massacred Native American peoples in different parts of the country. My tribe being a victim of such a massacre, along with people who were around the Sand Creek area. The Sand Creek massacre was horrible because after the unarmed women, children, and men were killed, the women had their breasts and genitals cut off. It is a travesty that goes un-noticed.