Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    Momo and Okarun share a close moment in Dandadan

    Momo And Okarun: The Gold Standard For Shonen Romance

    07/03/2025
    Ironheart Episodes 4 6 But Why Tho 1

    ‘Ironheart’ Explained: Explore MCU’s Bold New Chapter

    07/01/2025
    Buck in 9-1-1

    ‘9-1-1’ Has To Let Buck Say Bisexual

    06/29/2025
    Nintendo Welcome Tour promotional image of the maraca mini-game

    The One “Game” That Justifies The Nintendo Switch 2 Purchase

    06/25/2025
    Destiel Confession in Supernatural - Castiel (Misha Collins) and Dean (Jensen Ackles)

    The Destiel Confession: The Lasting Importance Of Supernatural’s Greatest Ship

    06/22/2025
  • Squid Game
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Switch 2 Games
  • Summer Game Fest
But Why Tho?
Home » Features » Island Woman Rise: Ruby Ibarra and the Power of ‘Us’

Island Woman Rise: Ruby Ibarra and the Power of ‘Us’

Maia RoseBy Maia Rose03/08/20183 Mins ReadUpdated:11/13/2021
Isang bagsak
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

Island Woman

Isang Bagsak. One Fall. It’s a unity clap meant to say we fall together and we rise together. Ruby Ibarra, a first-generation Filipina-American rapper, features it heavily in her powerful anthem ‘Us’ off her 2017 album Circa91.  For International Women’s Day she released the video featuring so so many Filipinas of all different ages, shades and sizes celebrating and it’s such a powerful reminder that the story of immigrants, the story of marginalized people, is so much more than our pain.

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Imagery is powerful. Representation is everything. I hope young Pinays who watch/will watch #US will see the video and think, “she looks like me” or “she is the same shade as me.” Mestiza, morena— both are equally beautiful and deserve representation. #fuckcolorism

— RUBY IBARRA (@rubyibarra) March 8, 2018

Island woman rise, we are never going to stop. Brown woman rise, know your roots. Hearing those words, seeing all of the Filipinas in the video, knowing our story started long before us and will continue long after us but that it’s all connected and we are all connected, it’s such a powerful thing. I couldn’t hold back my tears and I immediately sent the video to my mom and my sister and shared it on all of the social media because this song, these images, are so important.

Island woman rise, walang makakatigil
Brown, brown woman, rise, alamin ang yung ugat
They got nothin’ on us (aye!)
Nothin’ on us (aye!)
Nothin’ on us (aye!)
Isang bagsak !

I honestly can’t believe I’m just discovering Ruby Ibarra because it feels like I’ve been a fan for ages. I saw her call for Filipinas to be in this music video a few weeks ago and was curious about her music. I mean Pinoys Supporting Pinoys is a motto I will be forever behind so how could I not? I ended up putting Circa91 on repeat and going for a 5 hour walk just letting the words and rhythm sink into me. The experiences I so deeply related to. The successes. The frustration. Being questioned about my identity. Being told to not get too brown (and being sent papaya soap from relatives because they saw pictures of my and felt I was too dark). The pressure to be “more American.” I felt this album in my bones. I’ve spoken some about my experience as a Filipina-American here and it’s of course different from Ruby’s. I’m second-gen and my mom came to the US as a teenager, my dad is white, I grew up in the midwest, but as Ruby say’s in this interview:

“I’m not here to say that my experience, especially in the album, is the definitive Filipino-American experience,” Ibarra said. “It’s just one lens, one glimpse of the story. And that’s why I hope that other artists or other voices out there speak their stories. There needs to be more visibility and representation. If people want to call this activism, then so be it. At the end of the day I just want to speak music that’s real and that’s true.”

We all have our own experiences and people will try to focus on the differences to try to pit us against each other as we see with the conversations about “Black Panther” and “Wrinkle In Time” when what should be happening is celebrating how we are connected, how we can all succeed together, how there is room for everyone.

If you are interested in more you can listen to the entire album on spotify or bandcamp and watch the ‘making of’ documentary on Iberra’s website.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleFairy Tales from Marginalization: The Importance of Guillermo del Toro’s Genre Films
Next Article REVIEW: ‘Let Them Come: To Die!’ (PS4)
Maia Rose

A queer FilAm SFF, hockey, food and beer loving geeky Chicago denizen who spends too much time on the internets. Good thing none of you can judge. On twitter as semirose spouting nonsense 20/7

Related Posts

Momo and Okarun share a close moment in Dandadan

Momo And Okarun: The Gold Standard For Shonen Romance

07/03/2025
Ironheart Episodes 4 6 But Why Tho 1

‘Ironheart’ Explained: Explore MCU’s Bold New Chapter

07/01/2025
Buck in 9-1-1

‘9-1-1’ Has To Let Buck Say Bisexual

06/29/2025
Nintendo Welcome Tour promotional image of the maraca mini-game

The One “Game” That Justifies The Nintendo Switch 2 Purchase

06/25/2025
Destiel Confession in Supernatural - Castiel (Misha Collins) and Dean (Jensen Ackles)

The Destiel Confession: The Lasting Importance Of Supernatural’s Greatest Ship

06/22/2025
Bisexuality in television

The Ongoing Need For Bisexuality Onscreen

06/21/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
Alice In Borderland Season 3 promotional key image News

Netflix Announces Alice in Borderland Season 3 for September 25 Premiere

By But Why Tho?07/08/2025

Netflix has announced that the highly anticipated Alice in Borderland Season 3 will premiere on…

Taecyeon and Seohyun in The First Night With The Duke Episodes 7-8
7.5
TV

REVIEW: ‘The First Night With The Duke’ Episodes 7-8

By Sarah Musnicky07/03/2025

The First Night With The Duke Episodes 7-8 spends welcome time in pre-domestic bliss before new developments stir up trouble.

Superman Saves a Kid in Superman (2025)
7.0
Film

REVIEW: ‘Superman (2025)’ Is Wonderful And Flawed, Just Like He Is

By Jason Flatt07/08/2025Updated:07/08/2025

Superman (2025) is wonderful and flawed, just like the Man of Steel himself, as Lex Luthor devises a convoluted plot to kill Superman.

Nintendo Switch 2 product keyart
8.5
Product Review

PRODUCT REVIEW: A Month With The Switch 2 And It’s Still The Best Console Nintendo Has Released

By Kate Sánchez07/08/2025Updated:07/08/2025

After a month with the Nintendo Switch 2, the Joy-Con 2 is a standout, and the accessibility I found, even unintentional means a lot.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here