
Columbia Kappa Phi Lambda celebrates the beginning of Women's History Month. On March 1st 2007, the Columbia sisters welcomed Sabrina Margarita Alcantara-Tan to campus to speak about her experience as an Asian American woman. Both students and administration attended the event, which included a catered dinner, speeches from the school's Women's History Month Committee as well as one of Kappa Phi Lambda's co-cultural chairs Esther Eng.
As a bicultural woman who is also active in the LGBTQ community, Margarita's life exemplifies active participation in a society that is constantly questioning its own identity. Her zine Bamboo Girl explores issues of racism, sexism, and homophobia and has given a voice to those who are constantly silenced. Margarita founded Bamboo Girl in 1995 as a tool to explore her identity as a mixed blood Filipina. She is also a performance artist, a community activist within the Filipino, Asian Pacific Islander, feminist and lesbian gay communities, videomaker, and a full-time student of Traditional Chinese Medicine at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine-NY. She co-founded of the Campaign for Safer Subway Stations, which was, launched in response to the rape and robbery of an Asian American woman, as well numerous other activist organizations.
Alcantara-Tan spoke about the connection between art, building alliances, speaking the silences, and examining power and privilege as experienced by her personally and culturally. The night was truly inspiring as Alacantara-Tan moved the audience with anecdotes of her own life and powerful spoken word performances. Her life has given motivation to many who are perpetually silenced by society. The sisters were honored to have brought her come to campus.
