Ging Hernandez
Born(1943-12-27)December 27, 1943
Philippines
DiedDecember 6, 2011(2011-12-06) (aged 67)
Toronto, Canada
NationalityCanadian
Occupationactivist

Carmencita "Ging" Hernandez (December 27, 1943 - December 6, 2011) was a Philippine-born activist most notable in her part in the anti-Marcos movement[1] and women's rights movement in Canada.

Biography

Carmencita Rocha Hernandez came to Canada in 1975, with a Masters of Science degree in finance from University of Minnesota.[2]

In the 1970s, as the Philippines struggled under the Marcos dictatorship, Hernandez was one of the few activist leaders who led the Second Propaganda Movement against the Marcos dictatorship and formed the Toronto chapter of the Coalition Against the Marcos Dictatorship/Philippine Solidarity Network.[1] She became the spokesperson of the Canadian Campaign for the United Opposition in the Philippines.[3]

She co-founded the Kababayan Multicultural Centre,[4] a settlement agency advocating for the rights of Filipino people in Toronto, where she served as a board member[1] together with fellow anti-Marcos activists Ruben Cusipag, Tessie Jew, Voltaire de Leon, and Helen Mascardo in 1977.[5] She was instrumental in setting up Kababayan's programs for the youth and women which took flight during her incumbency as president of Kababayan.[1]

In 1978, she co-founded Balita, one of the first Filipino newspapers in Canada,[1] and became its contributing editor.[2]

She helped establish the Carlos Bulosan Cultural Workshop (now Carlos Bulosan Theatre), a Toronto theatre group which debuted in 1982 with Carding, a play about Filipino immigrants in Canada.

As a women's rights advocate, served various functions in women's committees and coalitions. She served on the board of INTERCEDE, an organization that worked for the welfare of foreign domestic workers, advocating for their right to remain in Canada at the end of their contracts.[6] She was one of the founders of the Coalition of Visible Minority Women (Ontario),[2][7] which advocated for the rights of immigrant women in Canada.

In 1986, Hernandez was among the attendees of the inaugural meeting of the National Organization of Immigrant and Visible Minority Women of Canada,[8] an umbrella national organization with a vision of creating equality for all women. She was elected the NOIVMWC Regional Vice President representing Ontario through which she organized with the Canadian Ethnocultural Council Women's Issues Committee.[9] She spoke at events as a representative of a member organization of the national Coalition for a Just Refugee and Immigration Policy[10] and as a panelist at various community, labour and feminist events.

Among Filipino organizations, she served as the chair of the Women's Committee of the National Council of Canadian-Filipino Associations[11][12] (formerly United Council of Filipino Associations in Canada or UCFAC), a non-profit federal organization representing member associates across Canada formed in 1963 and incorporated in 1990. Being the regional representative of Greater Toronto Area. In 1992, Hernandez helped organize the first Filipino Canadian National Conference on Wife Abuse and Violence Against Women held in Montreal.[2]

She was also a member of the Philippines-Canada Development Forum and Philippine Historical Society.[2]

She died on December 6, 2011, at Toronto Western Hospital, three days after she suffered a massive stroke.[1]

Selected publications

Legacy

In 1987, the City of Toronto gave her its Constance E. Hamilton award, which recognizes efforts to secure fair treatment for women. Two years later, the Toronto Star named her Woman of the Year.[2]

In 1990 she received a YWCA Women of Distinction Award in community service.[2]

in 1993 she was honoured with the prestigious BANAAG Award, given by the Philippine government to overseas Filipinos with extraordinary achievements or humanitarian work.[13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Caluen, Ricardo Jorge (December 17, 2011). "Carmencita R. Hernandez: Scholar of Humanity". Balita, Filipino Canadian community newspaper. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Carmencita 'Ging' Hernandez, community activist, writes 30". Archived from the original on 2012-01-27. Retrieved 2022-03-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ↑ Walmsley, Ann; Driedger, Sharon (March 10, 1986). "Looking Homeward". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help). Maclean's. March 10, 1986
  4. ↑ Kababayan Multicultural Centre
  5. ↑ Cusipag, Ruben; Buenafe, Maria Corazon (1993). Portrait of Filipino Canadians in Ontario (1960-1990). Kalayaan Media. p. 64.
  6. ↑ Wallis, Maria; Giles, Wenona; Hernandez, Carmencita (1988). "Defining the issues on our terms: Gender, race and state—Interviews with racial minority women". Resources for Feminist Research. 17 (3): 43–48.
  7. ↑ Nestel, Sheryl (January 1, 2007). Obstructed Labour: Race and Gender in the Re-Emergence of Midwifery. UBC Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0774812207.
  8. ↑ Pierson, Ruth; Cohen, Marjorie; Bourne, Paula; Masters, Philinda (January 1, 1993). Canadian Women's Issues: Volume I: Strong Voices. Lorimer. p. 205.
  9. ↑ "Nanny Rule Will Have Racist Outcome". Globe and Mail. February 15, 1992.
  10. ↑ "Refugees and Immigrants Public Forum (scanned poster)". Alternative Toronto. October 1, 1987. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  11. ↑ Carmencita Hernandez, Regional vice-president of the NCCFA (August 20, 1991). "Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Ontario.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  12. ↑ Anderson, Michelle (April 1993). "A License to Abuse: The Impact of Conditional Status on Female Immigrants". The Yale Law Journal. Yale Law Journal Co., Inc. 102 (6): 1401–1430. doi:10.2307/796973. JSTOR 796973.
  13. ↑ "Awardees – Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas".
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