Kayla Jane Usison grew up steeped in Filipino culture even though she was raised more than 7,000 miles away from the Philippines. Born to immigrants in Hayward, California, Usison attended mass at a predominantly Filipino parish, played with Filipino neighbors, and lived in an area rich with Filipino restaurants and businesses.
San Francisco has the second largest Filipino population in the country, per data from Pew Research Center. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey, about 10.7% of Hayward residents identified as Filipino. Now, for the first time ever, members of the Filipino diaspora in the Bay Area had someone represent them on the Miss Universe Philippines stage.
But despite Usison’s deep pride in her Filipino heritage, she often felt she wasn’t Filipino enough.
A journey home
The 26-year-old recalled a jarring memory from one childhood trip to the Philippines. She spoke Tagalog — the most spoken language of more than 100 languages spoken in the Philippines — but stumbled over her words while speaking with friends…