Weekend Readings: Teaching Itliong, thumping Trump and time with Kamala

It's Indian Summer in my neck of the woods. Temps are in the low 80s but it feels cooler. The sun filters through the leafy branches of my mulberry tree. The sky glows with that special light that brightens the hills and makes the water sprinkler throw sparkling diamonds over thirsty patch of lawn.

In the days before the chill in the air makes it too cool to sit on the ol' deck, I try to ignore the depressing news of the day. But, I can't. This election is so damn important.

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ANDRE SIBAYAN

Larry Itliong is drawn by Andre Sibayan whose work is featured in 'Journey for Justice: The Life of Larry Itliong.'

The month of October is Filipino American History Month so its appropriate that Smithsonian.com features an article by Gayle Romasanta, "Why It Is Important to Know the Story of Filipino American Larry Itliong."

Romasanta co-authored the children’s book called Journey for Justice: The Life of Larry Itliong, written with the late historian Dawn Mabalon.

Why a children's book? Why Larry Itliong? 

Just a reminder, Itliong was the labor leader whose union of Filipino American farmworkers launched one of the great labor movements of the 20th Century, the Grape Strike and Boycott. The Filipinos were later joined by the union made up primarily of Mexican American farmworkers led by the late Cesar Chavez. Together, they formed the United Farmworkers. And the rest - as they say - is history.

Unfortunately, Itliong's critical role -- co-equal to Chavez -- is often overlooked and this is the marginalized history that needs to be told, especially to young Filipino American students who need to know that their people play important roles in this country's history.

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Scary stuff: Filipino American attorney George Conway writes a must-read and damning article for The Atlantic, about the deteriorating mental health of Donald Trump.

"You don’t need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, and you don’t need to be a mental-health professional to see that something’s very seriously off with Trump—particularly after nearly three years of watching his erratic and abnormal behavior in the White House. Questions about Trump’s psychological stability have mounted throughout his presidency. But those questions have been coming even more frequently amid a recent escalation in Trump’s bizarre behavior, as the pressures of his upcoming reelection campaign, a possibly deteriorating economy, and now a full-blown impeachment inquiry have mounted. And the questioners have included those who have worked most closely with him."

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Time Magazine's cover story of Kamala Harris is one of the best articles written about the Democrat seeking the presidency. It gives a better picture of who the Indian American politician is, a question most voters are still seeking an answer to.

It isn't a puff piece and includes some of her past actions as San Francisco's District Attorney and as California's Attorney General that has haunted her campaign.

Although her campaign has faltered over the summer after she scored major points in the first debate of the Democratic candidates, she is still in the hunt if any of the frontrunners falter. She remains an intriguing prospect to voters who are still undecided who to vote for.

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