Evolve Magazin: Der lange Körper
(Interview with Leny Mendoza Strobel in Evolve Magazin.)
Evolve: The process of decolonization has become your life's work. How did you come to the realization, how important is that for yourself, for the Filipino people, but also on a global scale?
Strobel: I was 30 years old when I married my husband and came to the US. I had a corporate career in Human Resources and basically a neocolonial education that was American-patterned. So, when I came here, I thought that my adjustment would be easy. But when I started encountering people's responses to me, I began to wonder why they would look at me and say: “How come you know how to speak English? Did he pick you out of a catalog?” I asked myself: don't they know anything about Filipino American history? And I realized that they didn't…
Esquire: 10 Filipino Female Authors to Read This Women's Month
Strobel explores the Philippines' glorious culture before the colonizers arrived. In pre-colonial Philippines, gender fluidity wasn't taboo and Babaylans were the epitome of glory.
Vogue: 10 Books On The Filipino Experience
There has been a growing awareness over the past few years not to neglect the rich history of our pre-colonial past. This increasing interest in our indigenous cultures is discussed in rich detail in the book Babaylan, edited by Leny Mendoza Strobel, which offers insight into beliefs around healing spirits, Kapwa psychology, and non-conforming gender.