Filipino American youth who say they never had the opportunity to learn their own history are celebrating the signing of a bill mandating that the role of Filipino Americans in the farm labor movement be taught in California, reports the Asian Journal.
Under AB 123 authored by Filipino American Assemblyman Rob Bonta, the roles of such Filipino Americans as Philip Vera Cruz and Larry Itliong will be taught.
“Growing up in Delano, I never heard about Larry Itliong or the other manongs. Even in my US History class I took in high school, my teacher told my peers and I that there were Filipinos in farm labor movements, but nothing more. He didn’t tell us that the Filipinos of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee started the farm labor movement with the Grape Strike of 1965 or that Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz were the vice presidents of the UFW during the movement. It wasn’t until I took a class, History of Asian Americans, at UCLA that I learned more about the contributions of the manongs in the farm labor movement. After my class in UCLA, I personally felt that students especially the ones back in Delano should be able to learn the complete history of the farm labor movement because I didn’t have the chance to,” shared Kevin Riambon, a UCLA student and member of Anakbayan Los Angeles and the AB123 Southern California Coalition.
Students formed coalitions in both Northern and Southern California to get the bill passed. You can read more about their successful efforts in the Asian Journal.