NVM Gonzalez was my very first writing mentor. I shared my angst about a white Caucasian academic who was trying to revise the legacy of Pardo de Tavera, responsible for many Filipinos to erase their native language and an advocate for the foreign colonizers. NVM sensed my passion and encouraged me to write 10 to 15 pages, double spaced, and handed me a book by Lucilla Hosillos on embracing one’s native tongue. He told me to spend time in the research library at UCLA. I was taking a class taught by him, Philippine Literature in English. That was the compelling initiative and the result is a published essay on Amerasia Journal. He gave me the title: “The Man in the Outhouse: How Western Colonization Silenced the Filipino Imagination” Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz Pages 157-168 | Published online: 13 Feb 2019
