San Jose will likely get a new park named after the Filipino agricultural workers who launched the 1965 Grape Strike that led to the creation of the United Farm Workers.
If approved by the city council, a neighborhood park will be named the “Delano Manongs Park, to honor the Filipino farm workers who struck against grape growers for better pay and working conditions. The park would be the city's first physical acknowledgement of the local Filipino American community since there is no Little Manila or Filipino district.
“There’s a huge population of Filipino Americans in San Jose. And we’re never represented anywhere,” said Ann Reginio, a community organizer with the Santa Clara Valley chapter Filipino American National Historical Society.
Filipino activists who lobbied for the park's name say the honor is a long time coming, considering San Jose’s sizable Filipino community — 5.5% of the city’s 2 million residents and 13.6% of the population in the park’s ZIP code, according to a city presentation.
According to city documents, over 70% of the neighborhood around the park who had a hand in the park's planning favors naming the park after the Filipino American labor heroes.
The half-acre park broke ground in September 2020 and is expected to be completed this summer. It will include a children’s playground, a gathering place, open green space and signage. The Planning Commission also approved for a Filipino-related monument at the park to honor the farmworkers.
“Manong,” is from the Ilocano dialect and translates to “older brother,” was used by college students as a term of endearment for the older Filipino farmworkers, most of whom immigrated to the US in the 1930s.
“They (the manongs) were an incredibly significant and often overlooked piece of what we now know as the movement that Cesar Chavez led in his lifetime,” said Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco, whose district includes the park, according to the San Jose Spotlight. “It will bring a sense of pride.”
“Manong,” is from the Ilocano dialect and translates to “older brother,” was used by college students as a term of endearment for the older Filipino farmworkers, most of whom immigrated to the US in the 1930s.
“They (the manongs) were an incredibly significant and often overlooked piece of what we now know as the movement that Cesar Chavez led in his lifetime,” said Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco, whose district includes the park, according to the San Jose Spotlight. “It will bring a sense of pride.”
The San Jose City Council must approved the Park Commission's recommendation. At this point, the item has not been placed on the council agenda.
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