A Time To Rise: Collective Memoirs Of Th Union Of Democratic Filipinos (KDP)

“An intimate and highly inspiring account of the extraordinary efforts that a revolutionary group of Filipino immigrants and Americans of Filipino ancestry exerted to help overthrow the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines while simultaneously fighting for democratic rights in the United States.”
—Risa Hontiveros, Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party Chairperson and Member, Senate of the Philippines

“A major contribution to the study of social justice movements and the interwoven landscapes of US, Philippine, and Filipino American history.”
—Catherine Ceniza Choy, author of Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History

“An incredibly provocative and much-awaited book, A Time to Rise is a collective of voices bound together by struggles that spanned two nations.”
—Rick Bonus, author of Locating Filipino Americans: Ethnicity and the Cultural Politics of Space

In the politically turbulent 1970s and ’80s, a revolutionary organization emerged in the Filipino American community. Overcoming cultural and class differences, the Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP) joined in a single national organization to mobilize for civil rights in the United States and for democracy and national liberation in the Philippines.

A Time to Rise collects forty-three personal accounts by participants in the struggle, providing a full and multifaceted picture of KDP recruitment, organizing, and training, including women’s central role in the organization and its leadership. Many stories involve the long road to justice for murdered KDP and union leaders Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes, culminating in the 1989 landmark victory in the federal civil suit against Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos and their codefendants. These memoirs offer political insights and stirring examples of courage that resonate today.