22-year-old Amado Khaya Canham Rodriguez’s death last August 4 comes two years after moving to the Philippines from the United States to pursue his advocacy further.

Born and raised in Oakland, California, Amado had roots in the Philippines and South Africa.

At some point in his childhood, he briefly lived in both countries before moving to New Jersey and then returning to the city of his birth, Oakland.

Studying at California High School, his status as a biracial Black student “seemed to marginalize him,” which impassioned him to reactivate the Black Student Union with the birth of Black Lives Matter in response to the 2012 killing of Tayvon Martin.

Amado decided to move to the Philippines when he was 20. Before that, he had already stayed in the country for an extended time after high school to work directly with marginalized people.

He died doing the work of literally building homes for the poorest of the poor in the Philippines.