Back in the 60s, while still a child, you worked in the vineyards in Delano, California. What was life like for you?

My father was Filipino, and my mother was Mexican. They met in southern Texas while working in the fields, and my father learned Spanish so he could communicate with my mother, who didn’t speak English. They married, moved to and settled in Delano, picking grapes. I and four of my siblings were born in the labor camp. The local doctor didn’t arrive until our heads popped out; that’s what happens to poor families without medical insurance.

Delano was split by railroad tracks. The whites lived on the east side, and the Mexicans and Filipinos on the west side. But our camp was on the east side, a half-mile out, so I went to school with the white kids. One Sunday in church, the priest spoke about how Catholics should be responsible for the poor. His message was meant for the growers — but I thought he was talking to me! I took it to heart, helping the poor became my life’s mission.

I married early and had three kids by the time I was 18. You couldn't go to school if you were pregnant back then, so I only finished 8th grade.

When did Filipinos arrive in the US and begin working as farm laborers? Did they work alongside Mexican migrants?

Filipino farm workers were the first to go on strike. Way down in Southern California, in Coachella, it gets very hot, up to 115 degrees. Because of the heat, the grapes rot quickly, and there were only 4 weeks to pick them. The Filipinos asked for a raise, and — because of the time crunch — the growers agreed.

So, the idea moved to Delano. But there, the workforce was huge, and the growers refused to raise wages. The Filipinos formed the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC). Its leaders were Larry Itliong, Pete Velasco, Philip Vera Cruz, and Andy Imutan. Itliong wasn’t a worker himself; he was a labor contractor who got Filipino workers hired at specific farms. Foremen and community people also joined the workers because, no matter their position, they identified with the situation of their fellow Filipinos.

On September 8, 1965, AWOC’s 2000 members walked out of the fields, and the historic Delano Grape Strike began!

AWOC leaders knew they couldn’t win the strike; many Mexicans crossed the picket lines. They went to César Chávez, who had founded the National Farm Workers Association, and asked him to join the strike. César asked the members to join, but some Mexican workers said no. So César said, “OK, I’ll quit, and I will join the Filipinos.” Quickly, the members changed their minds.

4 leaders of the newly formed UFW: Photo: Nima Réja 

When the Filipinos and Mexicans joined together, it was a healing moment for me personally — Filipinos didn’t think I was Filipino enough, and Mexicans didn’t think I was Mexican enough! But that unity was also crucial to the strike, and that’s how the United Farm Workers union was born. In 1966, the Filipino and Mexican organizations merged. César Chávez was president; Larry Itliong was vice president; Philip Vera Cruz and Dolores Huerta were board members.

Was life particularly hard for the older generation of Filipino workers?

We call them “manongs,” or “older brothers.” The manongs had no families. At the time, anti-miscegenation laws prevented Filipinos from marrying white women, and no single Filipina women lived in the area, except prostitutes. The manongs lived in shacks in the camps in miserable conditions; some didn’t speak English and didn’t know how to use a bank. Then, after the strike started in 1965, the growers kicked the manongs out of the camps. Regardless, the manongs were on the picket lines every day, forming the backbone of the strike.

But in 1973, after the boycott ended, the United Farm Workers built the Agbayani Retirement Village to give the manongs a comfortable home for their final years. Many volunteers from all over California came to help build the village, including farmworkers and Filipino college students who came on weekends and in the summer, and it was an education for those young folks! Hearing the stories, many had tears in their eyes, and many later became advocates. For example, they won the addition of Filipino history to the state high school curriculum.

Agbayani had 62 units, a community dining room, a Filipino cook, a vegetable garden and a nearby clinic. Other residents became family in this safe and beautiful place. I was the manager of Agbayani for the first year after it opened. But then, in 1976, I became a union organizer.

All the Manongs have died now, and Agbayani Village is a National Park Historical landmark. We'll have a big 50th anniversary celebration there on October 19, 2024.

Manongs at Agbayani Village who participated with AWOC and the UFW, Photo: WelgaArchive - Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies/Lorraine Agtang collection

What an amazing life you’ve had! What are the lessons you leave with the farmworker kids in the youth programs you ran for 30 years?

The importance of worker unity. If the Filipinos and Mexican workers hadn’t joined together, they wouldn’t have won. I want Filipino students, male and female, to know the crucial role Filipinos played in the movement and in the creation of the UFW. While César is well known as its founder, the Filipinos who were also founders have often been forgotten. Their stories must be included, or the significance of the Mexican-Filipino alliance will be lost.

For me personally, the union gave me tenacity: you can demand what you want and need, you can’t give up. As a Hispanic Filipina woman, I learned from César that you are equal to anyone. Never feel like you are lesser.