Onstage, Kevin Nadal sings and dances and performs perfectly
timed riffs about his family, karaoke, being gay, and being Filipino
American. Offstage, he’s an assistant professor of psychology at John
Jay College of Criminal Justice, having earned his Ph.D from Columbia
and conducted research into LGBT issues, Filipino-American issues, and
“microaggressions,” which he defines as “brief and commonplace daily,
verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities … toward members of
oppressed groups.”
Nadal’s first one-man show, Pinoy, toured nationally for
three years. His second, Single, toured nationally as well. Two
years ago, Nadal premiered Psychotherapy: A Cabaret Show, in
which he pondered relationships and sang tunes made famous by Whitney
Houston and Britney Spears. He’s a man with many careers, and he’s
engaging in all of them at once.
“Balancing the various aspects of my life has been a little hectic,
but it is also very exciting,” says the Fremont native, who was named
one of People magazine’s “hottest bachelors of 2006” and will be
at the Fremont Main Library (2400 Stevenson Blvd., Fremont) on
Monday, August 24. “Everything that I am involved in is something that
I am passionate about.”
At the library, he will discuss his new book Filipino American
Psychology: A Handbook of Theory, Research, and Clinical Practice.
“I think that a lot of Filipino Americans are unaware of the health
disparities that our community faces, in terms of physical health and
mental health,” Nadal says. “Filipino Americans have among the highest
prevalence of obesity, cardiovascular disease, tobacco use, substance
use, and diabetes out of all Asian-American groups, yet our community
seems to be fairly unaware of these issues, and there are few outreach
or prevention programs that address this.”
His work, whether behind the microphone or behind the lectern, is
never very far from his activism. During Single, he recited some
lines that he says he wrote “during my angry college-student days, when
I was 21.” It’s an indictment indeed: “You called me a monkey when I
came to your country. … You spat on my brothers for courting your
women. You beat on my sisters for not giving it up. You lynched and you
killed and you never said sorry. … You beat my brown ass and left me
for dead.” A key line in this passage is, “You can’t tell me I’m
invisible because I know I’m not alone.” Onstage and off, Nadal is
troubled by the specter of invisibility — in which Filipinos and
their accomplishments are ignored among the general population and even
among the “model minority” Asian-American population.
“There are very few research studies that focus on Filipinos. …
There needs to be more research and literature written on all
Asian-American groups, and specifically Asian-American groups that are
often overlooked or ignored,” Nadal explains. “But in order for that to
happen, more Filipino Americans have to get their Ph.Ds and/or to
continue to fight to give voice to our community.”
Too many Americans, he laments, “are unaware of the history and
experiences of Filipino Americans in the US. Many don’t realize that
Filipinos were the first Asians to land in the US — they
landed in 1587, which is thirty-plus years before the Pilgrims landed
on Plymouth Rock. People are also unaware that Filipino Americans are
projected to become the largest Asian-American population in the 2010
Census.” If enough voices are raised, he says, “I hope that … people
will know that Filipino Americans are more than just hip-hop dancing,
Imelda Marcos, or lumpia.” 7 p.m., free. ACLibrary.org
