Filipino/American National Historical Society Museum opens in Stockton

FANHS photo

Some of the panels telling the history of Filipino Americans are from the Smithsonian.

By Louis Chan
REPRINTED FROM ASAM NEWS

THE NATION'S FIRST MUSEUM dedicated to the history of Filipino/Americans will officially open on Saturday (Oct. 8) in Stockton, California.

The California city was chosen as the site of the Filipino American National Historical Society Museum due to its large Filipino/American population and its historical significance to the Filipino community.

It was the home to many Filipino migrant farmworkers and at one point such historical figures as Larry Itliong, Carlos Bulosan, Philip Vera Cruz, Chris Mensalvas, Ernesto Mangaoang and Andy Imutan all worked in the city.

The idea of a museum was first approved by the board of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) in 1994.

“We feel that getting the history of Filipino/Americans out to the public has been a long time coming and now there is a place that they can go to and learn all about it – even school children can come by on their field trips if they wanted to,”said Terri Torres, Treasurer/Secretary of FANHS said to AsAmNews.

RELATED:

• 1946 - A pivotal year in Fil-Am history
• Legacy of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair
• Filipino veterans: Shameful anniversary for U.S. Congress
• Larry Itliong Day passed by the California Assembly
• 50th Anniversary of the Grape Strike
• Unsung heroes on Memorial Day

“A lot of work had to be done to raise funds, to figure out where, to learn how to run a Museum / business, etc. We are just a historical society and our main activity is to collect the history of Filipino Americans across the US, record it, save it, and disseminate it – so building a Museum was a huge learning curve for us.”

Exhibits include a timeline of Filipinos in America starting in 1587 when the first Filipino and Asian Americans arrived in what is now the United States – 33 years before the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock.

Many of the panels come from a traveling exhibition sponsored by the Smithsonian which ended in 2012.

Other highlights include a section on Filipino boxers and martial artists, contemporary motorcyclists and early local Filipino churches.

There is 1,000 square feet of space for the exhibits. A free open house will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. The Museum is located at 337 E Weber Ave – inside the old Newberry Building in Stockton.

“Hopefully they (visitors) will remember the history and the contributions that the Filipino Americans have made to make this country great,” said Torres.

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DNC: Asian/Americans help shape the Democratic Platform

THE 2016 DEMOCRATIC PARTY Platform may have made history. For perhaps the first time, an Asian/American was specifically mentioned in the Platform of any major American political party.

Filipino/American labor organizer Larry Itliong was included among the other labor  and civil right leaders in the recognition that race "still plays a significant role" in determining equity and opportunity.

UFW co-founder Larry Itliong

The specific paragraph reads:

"And we know that our nation’s long struggle with race is far from over. More than half a century after Rosa Parks sat and Dr. King marched and John Lewis bled, more than half a century after César Chávez, Dolores Huerta, and Larry Itliong organized, race still plays a significant role in determining who gets ahead in America and who gets left behind. We must face that reality and we must fix it." 

“There is no question that this platform is the most inclusive of the AAPI community in history,” said Christopher Kang, National Council of Asian Pacific Americans national director.

Last month, the National Council of NCAPA testified before the Democratic National Convention Platform Drafting Committee, providing recommendations for how the Democratic party platform could address the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.  Yesterday (July 25) the 2016 Democratic Party Platform was ratified, and it adopts many recommendations from NCAPA and its member organizations.

 “It adopts our overarching priorities that would resonate throughout government: a theme of inclusion; an understanding that data should be disaggregated to fully address AAPI needs; and a belief that government services should be culturally and linguistically appropriate.”

“This platform does even more than adopt dozens of our recommendations that would significantly improve the lives of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders,” Kang continued.  

“As the Preamble recognizes Larry Itliong’s contribution to the labor movement and struggle for racial justice, it gives voice to our story and our history. From top to bottom, this platform demonstrates that AAPIs have been and always will be woven into the fabric of our nation.”

Additional recommendations made by NCAPA and its member organizations that were adopted include:

• Ending systemic racism and condemning divisive rhetoric and hate speech;
• Ending discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, language, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability;
• Ending racial profiling that targets individuals solely on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin;
• Pushing for comprehensive immigration reform and fixing family immigration backlogs;
• Restoring the Voting Rights Act, ensuring that election officials comply with provisions mandating bilingual materials and voter assistance, and supporting early voting and same day voter registration;
• Preserving and enhancing the integrity and accuracy of the Census and the American Community Survey;
• Ensuring that all Americans have access to quality health care—regardless of immigration status, expanding Community Health Centers, and recognizing the importance of treating mental health;
• Securing reproductive justice;
• Supporting self-governance and self-determination of Native Hawaiians, honoring the people of the territories, and addressing unique Pacific Islander health care challenges;
• Supporting a higher minimum wage, pay equity, and workers’ right to organize and join unions;
• Closing the racial wealth gap, including for certain AAPI subgroups;
• Expanding programs to prevent the displacement of existing residents, especially in communities of color, reforming the tax code to be more equitable for all, and supporting small businesses, including improved access to capital;
• Reforming the criminal justice system, including the discriminatory treatment of AAPIs; and
• Supporting stronger gun control

(As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, NCAPA does not support or oppose political candidates or parties. It works with both political parties to educate them about issues of importance to the Asian/American and Pacific Islander community.)

First U.S. school named after Filipino/American heroes

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Gym class at Alvarado Middlle School reflects the school's diversity.

WHEN LABOR LEADERS Larry Itliong and Phillip Vera Cruz instigated the 1965 Grape Strike in California, more than likely, they never envisioned that one day, a school would be named after them.

This Friday, Dec. 18, Union City's Alvarado Middle School will officially transition to its new name of Itliong-Vera Cruz Middle School in honor of the history-making Filipino/American heroic figures.

The New Haven Unified School District in the eastern side of San Francisco Bay will have the distinction of being the first district in the country to recognize the efforts and contributions of Filipino/Americans by naming a school in their honor. This historic change highlights the work of the labor movement and the spirit of the United Farm Workers.

It is fitting in that the district’s other middle school is named in honor of Cesar Chavez. Cesar Chavez, Larry Itliong, and Phillip Vera Cruz, together, worked in collaboration to radically change this country’s labor policies when they formed the United Farm Workers and worked for improved working conditions for farmworkers.

The name change did happen without a struggle. Honoring the labor leaders was first proposed in 1992. The neighborhood surrounding the school is predominantly Filipino/American.

Members of the Latino community protested the name change since the school was named after Juan Bautista Alvarado was a 19th-century Mexican governor when California was part of Mexico.

Supporters of the Itliong-Vera Cruz name pointed out that there was already an elementary school, two streets, a neighborhood and a park named after Alvarado.
Among the speakers on behalf of the name change was Erica Viray-Santos, a San Leandro teacher and former New Haven teacher: “We are not just trying to rename a facility, we are trying to instill a strong sense of self … This is not just Filipino history, it’s American history.”

“This renaming does not divide us but unites us," said a student from James Logan High, where the middle school's students go for 9th grade. "This is history in the making. We are part of this history. I say ‘we’ even though I am not Filipino. I am the people. I am Itliong, I am Vera Cruz.”

The school district finally agreed to the name change but said proponents had to pay the $60,000 cost even though when Chavez was similarly honored the school district footed the bill.

Local political representatives, led by Alameda County Supervisor Richard Valle, along with donations from state Sen. Bob Wieckowski and Assemblymembers Bill Quirk and Rob Bonta came up with the funds to pay for the name change.

The dedication ceremony will be held in the school’s gymnasium at 31604 Alvarado Boulevard, starting at 1 p.m. The program will include performances from the school’s Ballet Folklórico dance group, band and choir, Alvarado Elementary School’s Anak Ng Bayan dance group. Members of the Itliong and Vera Cruz families are expected to speak as well as Assemblymember Bonta, a Filipino/American and who sponsored a bill last year declaring every Oct. 25 as Larry Itliong Day in California.

In anticipation of a large community turn out, off-site parking has been arranged in the lot of St. Anne’s Church located at 32223 Cabello St. According to a district press release, a shuttle will transport community members between the parking lot and the school site starting at 12:15 pm with the final shuttle to the ceremony leaving the lot at 1:05 p.m. Shuttles will also be transporting attendees back to the lot after the ceremony.

The ceremony will also be broadcast live, on-line at go.mynhusd.org/icvmsceremony

Visitors are invited to a small celebration after the ceremony in the school’s Multipurpose Room.

The district asks that community members not arrive on site in anticipation of the ceremony before 12:15 pm as school will still be in session.

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FIL-AM HISTORY MONTH: Drive to name a street after Filipino/American labor hero Larry Itliong

Cesar Chavez, left, and Larry Itliong merged their respective unions to form the United Farm Workers.

• SUNDAY, Oct. 25, 2015 is a date that will be etched into the memories of Filipino/Americans and hopefully, all Americans, as the first Larry Itliong Day observed in the United States.
  
  
  California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill to make Oct. 25, Itliong's birthday, as a day to remember the union leader's contributions to the state and the labor movement.
  
  
  Itliong spurred his union to launch the 1965 Grape Strike, convinced Cesar Chavez to join the Filipino striking farmworkers, and together formed the United Farm Workers (UFW) ito spearhead one of the greatest labor movements in the country.
  
  
  This year, the 50th anniversary of the Grape Strike, Itliong's role in the formation of the UFW has been brought to light (and perhaps spurred by the movie about Cesar Chavez released last year which neglected to give Itliong's historic role any mention).

  RELATED: Filipinos, Cesar Chavez & Hollywood

  The Little Manila Foundation, based in Itliong's hometown of Stockton, California, has launched a petition drive to have a street named after the forgotten labor leader and hometown hero.
  
  
  Up to now, there is a school named after Itliong in Union City, California where there is a large Filipno/American community, a San Diego overpass bears his name, an affordable housing project in Los Angeles has been named in his honor and the City of Carson, California designated a day in his honor years before Brown signed the bill, authored by Filipino/American Assemblyman Rob Bonta.
  
  
  But in his hometown - nothing.
  
  
  The petition calls for the renaming of South Hunter Street, between the Crosstown Freeway and East Hazelton Avenue, to Larry Itliong Street. The three-block stretch was the heart of Little Manila, a place Itliong called home, and includes residences, a Buddhist temple and some small businesses.

"Larry is a hero of Stockton,” said Dillon Delvo, co-founder of the Little Manila Foundation. “He helped begin one of the greatest justice movements we’ve ever seen.”

The deadline for the petition has passed and it is uncertain that all the names have been certified or even if there are enough signatures to launch the street renaming process. 

Even if the petition is not enough, supporters of the name change can still make arguments  to the City Council to begin the planning process, which could mean more public hearings, and the bureaucratic red tape will certainly take months to wade through People who want to weigh in on the proposal to rename the street can still write letters of support by writing or emailing the individual Stockton city council members, the Stockton Community Development Department and/or members of the Stockton Planning Commission. 

Meanwhile, on Oct. 25, Itliong's contributions to our nation's history will be observed in Delano, where the grape strike began, Stockton, Carson and San Diego. There have already been some ceremonies in Oakland and Sacramento, Los Angeles' multi-day observance ends today. More cities will join in as Larry Itlioing Day takes root in California schools and cities.

OCT. 25 in STOCKTON: In honor of the first Larry Itliong Day, there will be a free showing the documentary, Delano Manongs at the Little Manila Center, 521 East Main Street, Stockton at 2 p.m.

“It’s great that in our hometown we know about Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez,” says Stockton resident Dawn Mabalon, history professor at San Francisco State University. “But we don’t know about this person who lived among us, went to Trinity Presbyterian Church, whose children went to Stockton schools. (He’s) all but forgotten in Stockton.”

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Grape strike anniversary: Delano '"is our Selma."

Cesar Chavez, left, and Larry Itliong united two rival unions to launch the Grape Strike and Boycott..

FIFTY YEARS AGO, today, Sept. 7, Filipino farmworkers in Delano, Calif. voted to go on strike: Leave the grapes on the vine, walk out on their livelihood, suffer the consequences of no paycheck.

To Delano resident Roger Gadiano, the nondescript Filipino Hall in town is a shrine. “This is our Mecca,” he says. “I guess it’s our Selma. This is it!” Because in this building, on the night of Sept. 7, 1965, farmworkers voted to go on strike the next day. They were almost all Filipino.

You have to remember, back then, farm workers didn't even have portapotties in the fields, no water breaks, no shade for breaks. They had to use the short-handed hoe to cut  asparagus and strawberries, requiring workers to stay in a bent-over position all day and they worked for minimum wage, which was a little more than a dollar an hour.

Journalist Lisa Morehouse recently visited Delano, where the strike began, and did a podcast for KQED that's pretty good.

I remember, growing up in California, when the strike started Filipinos and sympathizers everywhere rallied around the farm workers. Table grapes disappeared from our dining room table. 

My dad and his friends, though not farm workers,  would buy groceries from the commissary at the Oakland Army Base. He loaded them in the trunk of his old Buick and then haul them over to Stockton and Delano for the farm workers.

To this day, I still avoid certain wine products because the grapes were grown by the worst growers.

RELATED: Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Grape Strike 

Delano's chapter of the Filipino American National History Society along with other groups planned a series of activities to commemorate the anniversary this weekend. 

Assemblyman Rob Bonta, the only Filipino American serving in the California legislature and the son of union organizers, sponsored and passed a bill requiring this chapter  of California history be taught in school and a day was set aside in October to honor Larry Itliong, who spearheaded the strike.

"It's really on us. It's our story," said the late historian Dawn Mabalon. "It's our story,"

If you can't make it to Delano today, this Labor Day, it is appropriate that we remember this seminal moment in labor history, in Filipino/American history - hell - American history.

Listen, remember, honor - then act.

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CONTINUE THE CELEBRATION!

The Labor Day celebration launches a year of observances. The next event will be on Sept. 26 at Agbayani Village, the retirement home for farm workers.

The United Farm Workers will have an all-day celebration at the historic site, from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, outside Delano at the farm workers’ “Forty Acres” complex, now a National Historic Landmark.

Click here to register!

For more information about the event or to tell others where they can go to attend, visit http://delanograpestrike.org.

DETAILS:
What: 50th anniversary of the Delano Grape Strike
When: Saturday, September 26, from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Where: Forty Acres
             30168 Garces Highway
             Delano, CA 93215

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Celebration of the 50th anniversary of Delano grape strike this Labor Day weekend.

Filipino/American labor leader Larry Itliong, left, and Cesar Chavez, right, joined forces.

THE MOMENTOUS SIGNIFICANCE OF THE Grape Strike of 1965 cannot be underestimated. It is important not only in the annals of Filipino American history, but in the history of the United States. Appropriately, the event will be observed and celebrated this Labor Day Weekend in Delano, California, where the strike began.

The newly formed Delano chapter and its parent organization, the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS), will host a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Delano Grape Strike with a series of events this Sept. 5 and 6, in Delano with most of the activities centering around the Filipino Community Hall where the historic vote to strike and launch the grape boycott took place.

Dubbed “Bold Step,” the weekend will focus on that momentous decision to strike, and celebrate the strike’s legacy in the Filipino American community in Delano and across the nation. 

The weekend’s events will kick off on Saturday, Sept. 5 at the Filipino Community Hall, the historic building where the strike vote was taken and the headquarters of the first years of the Grape Strike. The program will include presentations by strike veterans, scholars, community activists, and local community leaders. A highlight of the weekend will be a screening of the Emmy-award winning documentary, Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the United Farm Workers. New York-based filmmaker Marissa Aroy, whose family roots are in Delano, will be present. The weekend will also include bus tours of local historic sites.

Click here for a complete schedule of events marking this anniversary.

The Delano Grape Strike began on September 8, 1965, when thousands of mostly Filipino American grape workers walked off of the vineyards in Delano, California. According to the AmerAsia Journal, it was a pivotal moment in which Filipino/Americans made their largest and most significant imprint on the American labor history. That bold step taken by these Filipino workers — most of whom were senior citizens in the twilight of their lives — inspired labor movements and movements for civil rights and social justice amongst Filipino Americans and Americans of all backgrounds.

The Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee union (AWOC, AFL-CIO), led by labor leaders such as Larry Itliong, Pete Velasco, Andy Imutan and Philip Vera Cruz, forced the larger union made up mostly of Mexican American workers and led by Cesar Chavez, to join the boycott. The merger of the two unions led to the formation of the one of the most significant social justice movements in American history. From the strike came the multiethnic farm laborer’s union, the United Farm Workers.

In 1965, Filipino/American farm workers took the bold step to strike and launch a boycott of table grapes.

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Two Filipino Americans vie for same Emmy; "Delano Manongs" nominated

Darren Criss also had an acting role in Glee.

IT IS NOT OFTEN that Asian Americans get nominated for the 67th Emmy awards but this year, two were nominated in the same category of Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. 

In addition, a documentary about the Filipino labor movement, Delano Manongs, was nominated in the Cultural/Historical category. The documentary is directed by Marisa Aroy and focuses on the unsung role that labor leaders Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz played in the 1965 farm workers' strike that led to the creation of the United Farm Workers.

Robert and Kristen Lopez won Oscars in
2014 for "Let It Go" from Frozen.

Asian American nominees were sprinkled throughout, mostly for their technical expertise in  sound, editing and lighting - you know - behind the camera. 

Minority actors fared better in the Emmy nominations than they did for this year's Oscars where all the nominees were white. Overall, television has done a better job than the movies in terms of diversity although there is still plenty of room for television for improvement in order to look more like America. Several African American and Latino Americans were nominated in the acting categories. No Asian Americans were singled out for acting.

Many thought that Constance Wu would get a nomination as best supporting actor in a comedy series for her role Fresh Off the Boat. Alas, not this year.

Filipino/American Robert Lopez and his wife, Kristen Anderson Lopez, have two songs nominated this year: "Kiss An Old Man" for the show "The Comedians", and for "Moving Pictures" the opening song that they wrote for the Oscars award show.Ironically, for the category Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics, Lopez goes up against another Filipino/American, Darren Criss, who wrote the final song of Glee finale, "This Time" and performed by Lea Michele. Listen to the nominated songs:

California governor signs Assemblyman Bonta's bill for Larry Itliong Day

Larry Itliong

ON OCT. 25, California's school children will hear about Filipino American labor leader Larry Itliong.

California's Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB7 into law July 1. AB7, introduced by Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland). The bill requires the governor to proclaim Oct. 25 as "Larry Itliong Day," and would encouraged public schools to teach about Itliong's historic role in organizing farm workers.

“Larry Itliong is a hero not only to Filipino Americans and Filipinos in the diaspora, not only to all Californians and Americans who fight for socioeconomic and racial justice, but also to his surviving family,” said Johnny Itliong, one of Larry Itliong’s children and director of the Larry Itliong Foundation for Education, in a statement. 

“I’ve spent many years asking when people would recognize what the manongs have done….This means a lot to the countless immigrant youth who know first-hand the meaning not only of struggle but also the value of self-advocacy.”

Itliong was one of the leaders of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), a union fighting for the rights of farmworkers. Led by Itliong, AWOC, primarily composed of Filipino field workers, was the first union to strike for improved wages and working conditions in Delano in 1965, launching the California farm labor movement. 

AWOC's strike pushed the larger and Mexican-dominated National Farm Workers Association into action. Led by Cesar Chávez and Dolores Huerta, the NFW and the Itliong-led AWOC to form the United Farm Workers of America. The UFW launched boycotts against grapes and lettuce that were successful in forcing growers to negotiate a contract for better wages and working conditions.

RELATED: California Assembly unanimously passes bill for Larry Itliong Day

“While the farm labor movement is often seen predominantly as a Latino movement, the movement encompassed much more than just one ethnic group. Filipino American and Latino labor leaders built a beautiful collaborative relationship to create the farm worker movement in California, and Larry Itliong played a critical leadership role in that movement. I’m grateful to have this opportunity to recognize his contributions to California and am thrilled that Governor Brown understands the important role Itliong played in California history,” said Bonta.

The recent fmotion picture Cesar, about Cesar Chavez and the UFW, omitted, or downplayed, any mention of the part played by Filipino Americans in the labor movement. That glaring omission was roundly criticized by historians and the Filipino American community. In the credits, you could see Filipinos playing the role of real Filipino individuals but their names or their contributions were not mentioned in the movie. Mainly, they stood in the background.

As the first and only Filipino American ever elected to the California State Assembly in the history of the state, Bonta is committed to ensuring that the Filipino American experience is accurately reflected in California history. Bonta's parents were farm workers and were active in union organizing.

One of his first acts after winning election to the Assembly was to introduce AB123 to provide students with a more complete account of California's farm labor movement and ensure that Filipino American leaders are remembered by future generations of Californians. 

"I was thrilled that Governor Brown signed my AB123 during my first year in the Assembly. The incredible and transformative contributions of Filipino Americans to our state have been missing from our history books for too long, and it's encouraging that this more complete story will now be told in our classrooms," said Bonta. "Now, with the addition of AB7, I am confident that within the next few years, these contributions will be more commonly known as a critical part of the rich and vibrant collective history of our state." 

Larry Itliong (in sunglasses) and Cesar Chavez (right of Itliong) led the California farm laborer's unions. 

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Larry Itliong Day passed by California Assembly

Larry Itliong, an unsung hero of the labor movement, described himself: "I'm a mean son of a bitch."

ONE OF THE UNSUNG heroes of the American labor movement is finally getting some recognition for his union organizing in California's farm fields. Oct. 25, the hero's birthday, is the day chosen when Calfiornia's school children may one day learn about Larry Itliong and the struggle of Filipino migrant workers.

Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) introduced a bill last winter to recognize the labor leader and have his story incorporated into the state's history textbooks and lesson plans. Assembly Bill 7 was passed by the Assembly on April 10 this year with no opposition. For the full text of AB7, click here.

“Larry Itliong was one of the greatest labor organizers and leaders in California history,” explained Bonta, who is the son of Filipino American farmworkers. “He was a hero not only to the Filipino American community, but to all Californians and Americans who fought and continue to fight for socioeconomic and racial justice in our state and nation. AB 7 properly honors his life’s work and legacy of fighting for justice, opportunity, and equity.”

Growing up in a trailer just a few hundred yards from César Chávez’s home, Bonta watched closely as his parents organized Filipino and Mexican American farm workers, infusing his formative years with first-hand experience of one of the greatest peaceful social, racial, and economic justice movements of all time.

Itliong led the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee which consisted of a majority of Filipino American farm workers. Itliong and many other Filipino American farm workers like Andy Imutan, Philip Vera Cruz, and several others spearheaded the Delano Grape Strike of 1965 in Delano, California, and organized protests against unfair conditions and wages.

As a result of the 1965 grape strike, the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee and the National Farm Workers Association led by Cesar Chavez merged and became known as the United Farm Workers.

After working alongside Chavez with the UFW movement, Itliong shifted his focus to fight for Filipino American retired farm workers' rights and was instrumental in finding funding for Delano's Agbayani (Heroes') Village, a retirement home for farmworkers. He died

In 2010, the City of Carson, Calfiornia became the first city in the U.S. to officially establish Larry Itliong Day. Other municipalities that have recognized Larry Itliong Day include Elk Grove and Los Angeles County.

Honoring Itliong highlights the collaborative efforts between the Latino and Filipino American communities that continues to this day in the fight for immigration reform.

AAPI Civil Rights Heroes - Larry Itliong from Advancing Justice - ALC on Vimeo.

The growing numbers of Mexican farm workers shifted the attention to Chavez, but there would be no UFW if not for Itliong and the Filipinos.

As veteran California labor writer Dick Meister wrote:

Chavez felt that his group, then called the National Farm Workers Association, wasn't ready to strike itself, but would honor the picket lines of the striking Filipinos. Yet if they were to honor the picket lines of Itliong's group, Chavez' members asked, Why not strike themselves? Why not? And so they did. That became the grape strike of 1965 that drew worldwide attention and support and ultimately led to the unionization, at long last, of California's farm workers. It was Larry Itliong and his Filipino members who started it all, and who played an indispensable role throughout the struggle.

Without them there could not have been a strike. Without them, there could not have been the victory of unionization, without them no right for the incredibly oppressed farm workers to bargain with their employers.

The two labor leaders complemented each other. Chavez was charming and charismatic, but Itliong was from the streets. Often seen chomping on his signature cigar, he lost three fingers in a cannery accident and gained the nickname "7 fingers."

"I have the ability to make that white man know I am just as mean as anybody in this world," he says on the tape to students in 1976, a year before he died at age 63. "I could make him think, and I could make them recognize that I'm a mean son of a bitch in terms of my direction fighting for the rights of Filipinos in this country. Because I feel we are just as good as any of them. I feel we have the same rights as any of them. Because in that Constitution, it said that everybody has equal rights and justice. You've got to make that come about. They are not going to give it to you."

RELATED: Larry Itliong's son honors his father 
A new generation of Filipino American politicians

Today in history: Why were Selma marchers wearing Hawaiian leis?

Civil rights struggle linked Asians and African Americans

The picture above is a famous one published in history books and recollections of this weekend 50 years ago when a band of protestors marched arm-in-arm across the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama resulting in a day of notoriety that became known as "Bloody Sunday."

On this occasion, speeches and reenactments recalled that day. President Obama walked across the bridge with some of the original marchers, his family and dozens of other politicians.

I've always wondered what the deal was with Hawaiian leis worn by Martin Luther King and others in the front ranks. Now I know the rest of the story thanks to an article in the Daily Beast. 

The Asian American community is often the forgotten factor when discussing the Civil Rights Movement. Now we know that the community was not just sitting around wondering if the civil rights people were dying and bleeding for also included them. 

Now we know. The leis are a visible link between the broader Civil Rights Movement and the Asian Americans. We were there, in spirit and in body.

The actions of the marchers and protestors in the South influenced the actions of people across the nation, including the Latino and Filipino farmworkers who in 1965 were fighting for their rights for better working conditions.

While the struggles in the California farm fields didn't receive the national attention of the protests in the South, they were all part of the same movement. Leaders like Larry Itliong, Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez saw it all part of the same movement; the struggle for justice and human rights.

So - my nephews and nieces and anyone else reading this - Asian Americans were not silent at that time, they were not bystanders when black protestors were getting their heads bashed in and sprayed with water hoses - Filipinos were also getting beat up and threatened with the loss of their jobs. They were activists, fighters for the right to be treated like human beings. 

RELATED: 

President Obama: 'There are places, and moments in America where this nation's destiny has been decided ... Selma is such a place.'

Who was Grace Lee Boggs and what was her role in the civil rights struggle?

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