BJ Alisago - Community Activist/Artist

The first post for bakitwhy.com is reserved for BJ Alisago. He is one of my best friends who passed away just over 2 years ago - and he is the inspiration for making this site happen. His life was spent making things happen by following his heart. Hope this inspires you on your life's path as it has for many of his kasamas.

Fondly known as BJ and Bitoy, he was a culture keeper and political activist who will always be remembered for his entertaining antics, gorgeous voice, and graceful gift for dance.

In 1993, BJ moved to Sacramento to attend Sac State where he became a local hero with the Sinag-Tala cultural group and the Ebó Okókan Afro-Caribbean Drum and Dance Ensemble. He appeared in his first Sinag-Tala Theatrical Revue in 1994 and was a soloist in many subsequent shows and touring ensemble engagements. For two years B.J. served as the principal male dancer for Ebó Okókan, performing various styles of Afro-Cuban dance.

In 1997, he moved to San Francisco and got involved with Teatrong-Tanan (TNT), a local theater group dedicated to promoting a greater understanding of the Filipino community and its contribution to the diversity of the U.S. He worked on nearly every TNT production -- on stage or backstage --as actor, singer, musician, dancer, and technician. He also performed with the Interactive Asian Contemporary Theater (InterACT) and Tongue in a Mood.

In 1998 BJ went on the Venceremos Brigade to Cuba, a trip which inspired him to integrate his art with international solidarity work. There he learned Afro-Cuban dance and music directly from the people and was inspired by the advanced healthcare system which provided universal care for all Cubans. BJ extended this onsite learning to his own homeland through the Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (CHRP). In 2002 he organized and attended the now annual “Cordillera Day” delegation, where he learned indigenous instruments, songs and dances from Igorot people in the Northern Philippines and shared his singing and dancing at various venues throughout the islands.

BJ expanded his folkloric and musical theater chops. As frontman for ‘Diskarte Namin’ -- a San-Francisco based band dedicated to advancing the welfare of the Filipino community and all working-class families through music -- BJ educated adoring audiences about the struggles of our community -- from the Manongs to overseas contract workers (OCWs) to the indigenous people of the Cordilleras through song.

He was an inspiring cultural worker who touched the lives of countless people from the California valley to the Philippine mountains. Towards the end of his all-too-short life, BJ was planning for a career in health care. Inspired by Cuba's system and his experience with revolutionary health care in the Philippines, BJ studied to be an EMT and volunteered at San Francisco General Hospital. He dreamed of going back to the Philippines to bring health care to neglected communities.

There is a BJ Alisago Memorial Fund that set up to help the San Francisco community. One way to continue to share in BJ's vision of community is to buy a product from his store on cafepress - The BJ Alisago Fund Shop.