New national park proposed to honor Cesar Chavez, Filipino labor leaders and the UFW

The Cesar Chavez National Monument in La Paz, CA would become part of the proposed
national park honoring the agricultural workers movement.

A bill was introduced to Congress to create a new national historical park to mark the life of Cesar E. Chavez and the wider farmworker movement including the pivotal role of Filipino labor leaders on Thursday, June 9.

The bill submitted by California's Rep Raul Ruiz and Senator Alex Padilla would designate a Cesar Chavez and Farmworker Movement National Historical Park, is the result of more than a decade of work by community advocates, members of Congress, and a wide range of organizations, including the National Parks Conservation Association.

If passed, the bill would expand the existing Cesar E. Chavez National Monument in La Paz, CA. and create a new park with multiple sites in California and Arizona. 

In addition to exploring Cesar Chavez’s life and work, the park will celebrate and share other leaders and aspects of the farmworker movement including Larry Itliong and the Filipino farmworkers who were instrumental to the creation of the United Farm Workers (UFW) union. Without Itliong and the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee that he represented and made up mostly of Filipinos, there would be no UFW.

(EDITOR'S OPINION INSERTED HERE: Perhaps a more appropriate name for the proposed park would be the "Chavez-Itliong and Farmworker Movement National Historical Park.")

The park would also include “The 40 Acres” in Delano, California, which served as the first headquarters for the UFW and the site of Agbayani Village, a retirement home for farmworkers. It would also include the route of the 300-mile farmworker march to Sacramento in 1966, which generated national attention to their struggle for dignity, better working conditions, and fair wages.

The legislation follows recommendations finalized by the National Park Service in 2012 from its multi-year study of the life of Cesar Chavez and the history of the farmworker movement in California and the West.

“It is crucial that our national parks represent the diversity of America and respect the rich heritage of its people. Establishing this National Park would help fulfill this vision,” said Dr. Michelle Magalong, President of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation. 

“Establishing such a park is an opportunity to spread the legacy and vision of Chavez and other leaders in the farm labor movement to audiences around the country. We support honoring the legacy of many leaders of the farm labor movement and support legislation by Senator Padilla and Representative Ruiz to establish the Cesar E. Chavez and the Farmworker Movement National Historical Park,” said Magalong.

Larry Itliong, right, and Cesar Chavez, left, were co-leaders of the UFW.

NPCA has been involved in multiple aspects of the effort for more than a decade, including calling for and celebrating the establishment of the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument, supporting the Park Service in its multi-year study, facilitating conversations with key stakeholders and partners, and assisting the legislative offices now championing this effort in Congress.

“Only 8% of historic, cultural, and public land designations are based on Latino, Black, Indigenous and other communities of color histories and this offers an opportunity to expand our nation’s narrative to be inclusive of the histories and contributions of Latino communities in the United States.” said Shanna Edberg, Director of Conservation Programs for Hispanic Access Foundation. 

“Ten years after President Obama established the César E. Chávez National Monument, we call on Congress to build upon that foundation through a National Historical Park that will preserve the broader history of the Farmworker Movement – a movement that united heroic women and men who were seeking fairness and equality,” said Sehila Mota Casper, Executive Director of Latinos in Heritage Conservation. 

“We also recognize that the National Park Service must continue to improve upon its efforts to be America’s storyteller and thereby attract, educate, and serve America’s increasingly diverse population," Mota continued. "The César E. Chávez and the Farmworker Movement National Historical Park would interpret an important chapter in our nation’s history, celebrate our nation’s growing diversity, and strengthen the unity we must share today if we are to overcome the challenges of tomorrow.”

The NPCA played a similar role in the establishing the newest national park, the Amache National Historic Site in Colorado where thousands of Japanese Americans were unconstitutionally incarcerated during WWII. It gained national park status in March of this year.

“The new park will highlight Cesar Chavez’s life and work, as well as celebrate and share other leaders and aspects of the farmworker movement including Larry Itliong and the Filipino farmworkers, who were instrumental to the creation of the United Farm Workers," said Sally Garcia, Los Angeles Outreach Manager for the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA).  

"It will play an important role in our political and social discourse in immigration, civil and labor rights, and issues relevant to the Latinx community,” 

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Filipino American History Month: Celebrating Larry Itliong Day!

Maybe the reason Larry Itliong didn't get the glowing media attention as Cesar Chavez is because he was a bit blunter with his words. He didn't fit the stereotype of the quiet, unassertive Asian.

Where Chavez was media smart, Itliong was street smart. The labor leader was -- say we say, a little rough around the edges. His manner made White reporters a little uncomfortable.

RELATED: Why all Americans should know about Larry Itliong

California's Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed today (Oct. 25) Larry Itliong Day. The governor's  official Proclamation reads:

On this day in 1913, Larry Itliong was born in San Nicolas, Pangasinan – a province of the Philippines. At the age of 15, he left his homeland and arrived in the United States in 1929. While working as a migrant laborer in the fisheries and canneries of Alaska, Itliong helped found the Alaska Cannery Workers Union. Within a year of founding the union, Itliong fought for a contract that gave workers an eight-hour workday with overtime. 

Through this work, Itliong emerged as a leader in the Filipino-American community of “Manongs” – respected elder workers who were instrumental in shaping the farm labor movement. 

After serving his country in World War II, Itliong settled in Stockton, California and continued his work in the labor movement. He was involved in organizing the asparagus strike of 1948 – the first major agricultural strike after World War II and in 1956, Itliong founded the Filipino Farm Labor Union in Stockton. Itliong, Philip Vera Cruz and the Manong leaders helped create the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC). 

In Spring, 1965, Itliong fought alongside grape workers in the Coachella Valley for increased pay. After that victory, the Manongs voted in September 1965 to organize against grape growers in Delano who were exploiting workers toiling in their fields. A few days later, the Manongs joined forces with Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and the National Farmworkers Association, beginning a nationwide boycott of grapes that lasted five years and led to the first farmworker union contracts. 

Itliong and the Manongs continued to serve the Filipino-American community in the Central Valley by creating plans for the Paolo Agbayani Village, where retired Manongs could live out their lives in comfort and dignity. 

During the grape strike, Itliong negotiated with growers that a percentage of each grape box picked would support the retirement village. 

During Filipino American History month, we remember the Manongs’ message of “Isang Bagsak!” – That we are connected together in our fight for justice, we rise and fall together. We recognize the power of working across language and cultural barriers to fight for better working conditions for all. 

Today, on this 107th anniversary of his birth, we recognize the great contributions of Larry Itliong and the Manongs whose hard-fought battles helped advance farmworkers’ rights and social justice. The lasting relevance of their cause is underscored by the outsized burden borne by our farmworkers during the COVID-19 pandemic, whose essential role in securing our food supply puts them at greater risk. In redoubling our efforts to protect these workers, we honor an indelible legacy which continues to inspire the next generation of leaders across our state and nation. 

NOW THEREFORE I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim October 25, 2020, as “Larry Itliong Day.”

(Signed) Gavin Newsom

Governor of California

Larry Itliong, front left, and Cesar Chavez, front right, formed the United Farmworkers Union,
the first time Filipinos and Mexicans joined to fight for better working conditions.

The 1965 Grape Strike was overshadowed by Martin Luther King's crusade for Civil Rights happening in the South at the same time, but they were both part of the same movement fighting for equal rights, equal opportunities and recognition that these black and brown men and women were human beings and deserved to treated as human beings.

This legacy of fighting for human rights, for civil rights, for the downtrodden, the forgotten, the overlooked, the voiceless, is another reason why October is recognized as Filipino American History Month.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.

 

National Museum includes an Asian American perspective on U.S. history

IN THE WANING days of Asian American & Pacific American Month, visitors to Washington DC may be pleasantly surprised to see the displays at the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of American History. It tells the unvarnished history of our country that is usually excluded in high school history texts - warts and all.

Americans of Asian descent are included in the telling of our country's story: from the building of the transcontinental railroad, the longtime use of imported labor to harvest our crops, to the immigrants of today - the high-tech experts, the medical professionals, scientists and entrepreneurs.

The museum has devoted several rooms to the incarceration of Japanese/Americans during World War II, titled "Righting A Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II," a dark chapter in America's history that is usually glossed over and given only a couple of paragraphs at most in our schools' studies of American history.

Besides showing a reproduction of Executive Order 9066 which made it possible to round up all people of Japanese descent in the western U.S. and the heroics of the 442nd Regiment, the museum included a display explaining the little known resistance within the Japanese/American community against the illegality of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's executive order. The most notable member of the resisters was Fred Korematsu, whose case was revived in the 1960s that eventually led to an admission of 9066's unconstitutionality, a formal apology from President Ronald Reagan and reparations.

The exhibit consists mostly of document reproductions, photos and quotes. It could use a little more interactiveness, perhaps a recording or two by some of the former internees describing their horror at being detained and the losses they suffered by givng up their homes, farms and businesses.

It be great to simply press a button and hear the story of the late Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye who lost an arm during WWII. Press another button and listen to George Takei's story of being interned as a young child and how it led to creating the Broadway musical "Allegiance." (See how you can donate below.)

Unfortunately, unlike the rest of the museum that had students running to and fro, parents explaining to their kids what the exhibits meant, and lines of people waiting to see an exhibit close up, visitors to the Internment exhibit was relatively sparse. The same could be said of the African/American exhibit next door, that tells their story from the slave ships to their cultural prominence today. It appears that some Americans prefer to turn a blind eye to the real story of our country.

As America's story continues, museum visitors are told of the waves of immigrant workers who work in Hawaii's sugar cane fields and California's agricultural heartland: First the Chinese, then the Japanese, then the Filipinos followed by Mexican farm workers.

This leads to the creation of the United Farm Workers led by Cesar Chavez. Unfortunately, in this exhibit, little is mentioned of the multi-ethnic origins of the UFW initially led by Filipino/Americans Larry Itliong, Phillip Vera Cruz and Andy Imutan that forced Chavez to join forces with the Filipino workers.

Filipino farmworkers in California.

A Japanese/American family in their California strawberry field.

A diorama showing Chinese farmworkers doing the backbreaking work of the harvest

In more modern times, AAPI immigrants continue to contribute to the prosperity of the United States, students who come to study find employment here: medical professionals from the Philippines providing medical help in our hospitals, labs and universities, and the immigrants flocking to Silicon Valley. 

Newer immigrants contintue to contribute to America's welfare.

All in all, the Smithsonian should be applauded for their inclusion of AAPI stories in the telling the complete story of our country at the National Museum of American History. The stories are especially relevant this month, Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month. They could probably use more donations from AAPI individual donors and corporations to expand their work.

For a number of years, the Smithsonian has embarked on a strategy to diversify its story telling and exhibits. These exhibits are put together by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center. Among the exhibits are the A Day and Life of Asian Pacific America photo exhibit and the Beyond Bollywood exhibit, South Asian and Asian American artists are featured in H-1B, referring to the work visa for special occupations, plus staging events around the country.  

If the Smithsonian isn't careful, they might attract the attention of the Trump administration. Given the desire of Donald Trump and his followers to return to the good ol' days, they might not like facing the real facts of U.S. history. The gold ol' days were not good for everybody.

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