Filipino and Mexican American farmworkers united in 1965 to strike against California grape growers, under the stewardship of Filipino labor leader Larry
FILE - United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez, left, who led the fight as head of the AFL-CIO union local, talks with Larry Itliong, leader of the Filipino Agriculture Workers Organizing Committee, in front of union headquarters at Delano, Calif.
, July 28, 1967. Filipino and Mexican American farmworkers united in 1965 to strike against California grape growers, under the stewardship of Filipino labor leader Larry Itliong and one of the founders of the National Farm Workers Association, César Chavez. It was a pivotal moment that has been highlighted in books, monuments and even a stage musical. In the wake of recent allegations that Chavez sexually abused young women and girls in the labor rights movement, Filipino Americans — including descendants of the striking workers — are navigating how to celebrate this historic chapter moving forward. Filipino groups have canceled plans to march on César Chavez Day, and advocates want to rename the March 31 celebration to focus on Filipino and Chicano farmworkers, particularly women, while acknowledging the survivors of Chavez’s abuse. “We really need to kind of center this trauma of women and sexual abuse,” said Dillon Delvo, executive director of Little Manila Rising, a longtime Filipino community hub in Stockton, California. “It’s definitely what the discussion needs to be.”When the U.S. exerted colonial rule over the Philippines from 1898 to 1946, many Filipinos studied English and were authorized to immigrate to America. From the 1920s to the ‘60s, tens of thousands of Filipinos joined the U.S. agricultural workforce, working on farms and in factories and canneries, primarily in the West. The first wave of men — who arrived from the Philippines’ Ilocano-speaking region — were known as “manong,” an affectionate term for older brother. Many Filipino farmworkers suffered discrimination in the form of inferior wages, shabby housing and poor working conditions, just so they could earn money to send home. They also weathered loneliness since few Filipino women immigrated and anti-miscegenation laws prohibited marrying outside their race. By the 1960s, Filipino farmworkers had formed the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee to plan labor strikes. “It came out of necessity and desperation to protect themselves, to try to live in dignity,” said Dennis Arguelles, Southern California director for the National Parks Conservation Association. The region Arguelles, who is Filipino, monitors includes monuments to Filipino farmworkers and Chavez.Itliong and fellow organizer Philip Vera Cruz led the Committee to vote on Sept. 8, 1965, to strike against grape growers in Delano, California. They demanded to be paid at least the federal minimum wage. Itliong, the more “fiery union leader,” called Chavez who — along with Dolores Huerta — headed the then-named National Farm Workers Association. “Chavez was hesitant to strike,” Arguelles said. “You didn’t feel like the National Farm Workers Association was ready to take on these powerful agribusiness interests. These business structures were very effective in pitting different ethnicities against each other to break strikes.” A week later, they officially joined forces as the United Farm Workers. The Delano grape strike lasted five years and rocked the industry, ending in collective bargaining agreements for thousands of laborers. The popular narrative around Itliong’s leadership has almost always been attached to Chavez, as they appear together in textbooks, historical exhibits and murals around California. The allegations against Chavez have sparked warnings against elevating — even deifying — historical figures. “There always seems to be a need to be like a main character,” Delvo said. “But the problem is that is not what a union is about.”“Maybe this is our opportunity to tell a more accurate and comprehensive narrative of what took place, Arguelles said “I see that as being a positive thing.” Last week, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors at a public meeting took steps to rename César Chavez Day as Farmworkers Day. Some suggested moving the holiday, which is Tuesday, to Sept. 8 to honor striking Filipino workers. Itliong’s 60-year-old son, Johnny, said Chavez had tried to “erase the history” of how the Delano strike began. “I’ve spent my whole life speaking up for my father and his generation of men and women who fed America,” Itliong said at the meeting.“Larry the Musical: An American Journey,” a musical about the Filipino farmworkers movement, refers to Chavez only once, in a scene when Itliong calls him. The producers also made sure the story included the women in Itliong’s life. Recent events have reaffirmed the importance of that creative decision. “From the beginning, we have always centered this musical on the women of the community as those who keep Larry and the community accountable, and the ones who pass on knowledge to the next generation,” co-producers Gayle Romasanta and Bryan Pangilinan said in a statement. Vernadette Gonzalez, an ethnic studies professor at University of California, Berkeley, said educators should seize the chance to herald the unsung heroes of the Filipino farmworkers movement. For example, Hispanic female members of the United Farm Workers were busy raising their families and preparing food for meetings. “Nobody’s crediting them in the minutes of the meeting,” Gonzalez said. “Who’s missing from the story? In the United Farmworkers movement, folks will say ‘It’s Larry Itliong and the Filipino farmworkers.’ But I would also say ‘Where are the women?’”Filipino and Mexican American farmworkers united in 1965 to strike against California grape growers, under the stewardship of Filipino labor leader Larry Itliong and one of the founders of the National Farm Workers Association, César Chavez. It was a pivotal moment that has been highlighted in books, monuments and even a stage musical. In the CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — It’s humanity’s first flight to the moon since 1972. In a throwback to Apollo, NASA’s Artemis II mission will send four astronauts on a lunar fly-around. They’ll hurtle several thousand miles beyond the moon, hang a U-turn and then come straight back. No circling around the moon, no stopping for PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — A U.S. Marine was detained at a California airport after Transportation Security Administration personnel found a live 25 mm explosive round in his checked baggage, police said. The round was found during the screening process of checked luggage at Palm Springs International Airport on Monday, the Palm Springs Police Department WASHINGTON — As the Iran war intensifies, President Donald Trump has prioritized efforts to calm the financial markets — trying to keep oil prices from exploding upward, stocks from cratering and interest rates from surging. When the markets have flashed danger, Trump has been quick with a social media post or a remark to NEW YORK — U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 as fuel prices continue to soar worldwide amid the Iran war. According to motor club AAA, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is now $4.02 — over a dollar more than HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — Sugar The Surfing Dog, the first canine inducted into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame, who spent her days outside the water comforting veterans as a dedicated therapy dog, died Monday after battling cancer. The 16-year-old rescue dog from Huntington Beach, California, who was a five-time dog surfing world champion, died WSECU Community Champion: Chrystal Ortega’s mission to feed Spokane Chrystal Ortega's tireless dedication recently earned her the WSECU Community Champions Award and a $1,000 grant to further the mission.When Shawn Tibbitts opened Tibbitts FernHill, he was just trying to survive. The small Tacoma restaurant has since earned culinary awards and praise.Wilcox Family Farms is continuing its cherished holiday tradition of giving back by donating nearly one million eggs to food banks across the South Sound region this season.Matthew Ballantyne has transformed that early awareness into action, embodying the organization's mission:"No Kid Sleeps On The Floor In Our Town."
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