S1: It's time for Midday Edition on KPBS. On this episode , we commemorate Filipino American History Month. I'm Jade Hindman with conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and engaged. Larry Itliong day is coming up. We look at how he and other Filipino farmworkers revolutionized the labor movement.
S2: He knew that you needed cross-racial solidarity to ensure that a strike works , so that all wages could be lifted for all workers.
S1: Then how history and cultural norms affect the Filipino community today. Plus catching up with San Diego's Poet laureate. That's ahead on midday edition. This week , California celebrates Larry Itliong Day. He was an organizer and founding member of the United Farm Workers Union , where he worked alongside other famed labor leaders and civil rights activists like Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. We actually spoke with Huerta earlier this year. Here's what she had to say about what it was like to organize with Itliong and other Filipino farm workers in the 1970s.
S3: I had an organizer , a white organizer. I had a black organizer , I had a Latino organizer , but I needed a Filipino organizer. And since I had many Filipino friends , I would go to them and say , can you help me find a Filipino organizer for my work that I'm doing here for farmworkers ? And everybody gave me that one name Larry Itliong , Larry Itliong , Larry Itliong.
S1: Well , together they launched the Delano Grape Strike and revolutionized the labor movement in America. Here to discuss this part of history is Amanda Solomon Amaral. She is the director of the Asian American Pacific Islander Studies program at UC San Diego. Professor Solomon Amaral , welcome to midday. Hi.
S2: Hi. Thank you so much for having me.
S1: So glad you're here. Um , before we talk about Larry Itliong , I was wondering if you could set the scene for us. It all started in Delano. What kind of community was that ? Yeah.
S4:
S2: So those are predominantly agricultural community , as you can imagine. So what's really interesting is that farm workers at the time lived quite a migrant existence. So they would follow the cycles of crops up and down the West Coast. And Filipino agricultural workers in particular , had quite a migratory pattern. Uh , they would go as far south as Coachella Valley to pick grapes up towards Stockton. And asparagus , of course , grapes and Delano all the way up into the Alaskan canneries , where they'd work there during the salmon season. And so Delano is a predominantly agricultural space , quite migratory. And Filipino workers are agricultural workers at that period , in general , were living in segregated camps. So you would have Mexican workers living in one camp , Filipino workers living in another camp , and the grape growers and agricultural owners of that period. That was very purposeful , right , to keep workers from living in community with each other and recognizing that despite language and ethnic difference , they still shared a the same condition of working rights , um , as these migratory agricultural workers. So , you know , grape season is hot , dusty , dry. And so you have predominantly brown men right from Mexico and the Philippines engaging in this very lucrative harvest of grapes in Delano.
S1: And for those who don't know , remind us where Delano is. Yeah.
S2: Yeah. So we're talking about the Central Coast , right ? So if anyone's ever driven all the way from San Diego up to San Francisco , you likely went on the five and you pass through Delano. Um , and so it's , again , it's mostly fields , farmland. Um , at this period in time , um , agriculture is consolidating right into large productions and really reliant on , uh , migrant and immigrant labor to make , uh , California agricultural profitable.
S1: And these Filipino American workers were called Mannings or elders.
S2: So , you know , there are waves of Filipino immigration into the United States and at the time in which Itliong Veracruz and and these elderly Filipino men were organizing into what became the UFW , they had they had been in the United States since the early 1920s. Ma Nong is an Ilocano term , so it's a particular dialect in the Philippines of a particular region that also in the Philippines has deep , agricultural , transitory , actually agricultural roots. They also follow a migratory pattern for harvest and planting , uh , which translated into the skills right they brought with them into into the United States. Uh , but it was a particular generation of Ilocano men who because at that time the locust region suffered some agricultural disasters , actually floods and crop failures , they were pushed even more right out of the Philippines , out of the homeland to find opportunities , economic opportunities. And then when you have developing , uh , US agriculture both in Hawaii and the mainland , actively recruiting , right , cheap agricultural workers. That's why you have this preponderance of Ilocano , Ilocano men coming into the United States in the early half of the 1900s , and so they were known as the monarchs because they had just simply been here for for quite a long period of time. They weren't allowed. And also women and children were discouraged right from immigrating out of the Philippines. So you had this really literally mobile reserve army of men , right ? Filipino men just powering the whole development of corporate agriculture on the West Coast. And they would live in bachelor societies , right in Manila towns and Chinatowns and would refer to themselves as brothers , right , elder brothers , or really this again , close bachelor society. That was their survival mechanism as they were moving up and down doing the labor that they were they were doing.
S1: Filipino farm workers were actually the first to walk off the Delano vineyards , which started the famous grape strike. What sparked that ? What were their demands ? Yes.
S5:
S2: So it was really a walk. The Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee , which was an AFL-CIO supported union , and they had some early success , actually , in the Coachella Valley. So , you know , in the Southern California region , because Coachella grapes are the first grapes of the cycle to ripen. And at that time , most of the workers are Filipino and Mexican. And they recognized that they were being underpaid , right , in terms of the amount of labor they were putting into harvesting these grapes. What was also happening was wage differentials. Right ? So quote unquote , uh , citizen red , white , um , workers on in the agricultural enterprise , uh , were being paid higher wages for what was seen as less laborious work. And so the Mexican and Filipino workers came together and threatened to strike in Coachella Valley before the Delano grape strike. And because Coachella growers were under pressure to harvest first , they actually caved. And so at that time , It Leong had been recruited and hired by a rock to be a key organizer. And so he went from Coachella Valley to Delano. And using the lessons that he had learned in his long years of labor organizing , he knew that you needed cross-racial solidarity to to ensure that a strike works so that all wages could be lifted for all workers , because really , the the ethnic antagonism and the divide and conquer strategy on the part of growers was highly effective. Right ? Um , and so , you know , Itliong knew that this strike would only be successful if Chavez's at that time very young. Right. Just newly emerging union or at the National Farmworkers Association. It was only if awake , the predominantly Filipino organization awake and FHWa , which was again predominantly Chicano. It was only if they could support each other would a walk be able to actually raise wages across the board , right in Delano.
S1: So it sounds like strategy and unity really worked well together. Were the demands met ? Yes.
S5:
S2: So it was a long break. It was a long strike. It was a five year strike. And would really also increase the effectiveness of the strike was the national boycott , of which Larry Itliong was asked to be the chairperson of that national boycott. Right. So you have both the pressure of the withholding of the labor on one end , right ? So no grapes are being picked , and that's being achieved because of that practice of unity , right , between Chicano and Filipino farmworkers. And then on the other side is the pressure of the boycott. So not only are grapes not being picked , but then on the consumer side , grapes are not being bought , right ? In sympathy with the UFW push. Right. For for this as a justice and equity issue nationally. So it took five years and it was a very painful and violent right. And the growers resisted. The growers used violence to break the unity amongst UFW workers. But it it was successful. They were able in 70 to get the new contract signed. They were able to get UFW recognized as a union representing these two different bodies which had come together. And it was really held up. Right. As you , as you said , is a revolutionary moment in labor organizing in the United States. Right.
S6: Right.
S1:
S2: So as , as I had mentioned , you know , he was part of that migrant army of , of labor moving up and down the West Coast. He lost his three of his fingers jumping out of a railroad car to try to get to his stop. Right. His next stop in terms of the route of picking. And he was he was quite young. He it was still early in his immigration story when he lost his three fingers. His his father did not want him to go to America. His father had wanted him to stay in the Philippines , and his father had written him when he had heard about Larry's accident and said , you should come home , right ? Like you should come home. And Dawn , Madeleine and Gayle is beautiful. Children's book journey for justice , which is a fabulous telling of Larry Liang's work. Right ? As a labor organizer. There's this beautiful moment where it , you know , they talk about Itliong writing back to his father and saying , I made the choice to come here. I'm not returning with less than what I had. I'm going to , like , stick it out here and really do something with my life. And at that point , he was really already deeply invested in the labor movement. He was very proudly a militant labor organizer. He really believed that you needed to organize the people , and you needed to really name and have a deep and profound commitment to justice , right ? To to really make this , this happen. And , you know , he stuck with UFW for as long as he could. And he did leave the union in 1971. And his break with Chavez and UFW was because he was profoundly disappointed in the way that the Chicano Mexican majority of UFW seemed to forget the aging minority Filipino workers that earlier modern generation. So he was he was just he he was a warrior in his own way , right ? For for what he believed in.
S1: Yeah , exactly. Over the past few years , there's been more recognition of this important part of Filipino American history. California celebrates Itliong day on October 25th. There is also a Filipino-American highway right here in San Diego , but it still feels like this history isn't visible.
S2: So in the Bay area , there was a middle school called Alvarado Middle School , which was named after Juan Bautista Alvarado , who was a former governor of Alta California. And he was pro-independence of Alta California , from from Mexico. So it was a school named after this sort of revolutionary Mexican leader. But there had been advocacy for decades for naming something after Itliong and Veracruz right , to honor the contribution of Filipino workers to the UFW and the farmworkers movement. So Alvarado Middle School was was renamed Itliong Veracruz Middle School , and there was quite a bit of controversy over that because the Chicano Mexican community said , why are you taking away right from something that we have memorialized that we're commemorating in terms of Mexican revolutionary activity. And now it's going to become Itliong Veracruz. And I'm telling this story because I think why the contribution of Filipino Americans , Filipino farm workers to the formation of the UFW , to the Delano grape strikes through the history of , uh , labor organizing in general , right , in the United States. Why that's forgotten is because that tactics , the growers use of ethnic antagonism , of pitting ethnic communities against each other to fight for this piece of capitalist pie still lingers. Right ? And so even amongst these minoritized communities , even amongst communities like Filipinos and Mexicans , who have such a deep , joint , rich history of imperialism and resistance to imperialism , we forget that in the struggle for visibility and recognition , and we throw each other under the bus because we think that that's the only way right , for our communities to be elevated in our stories , to be told in our histories , to be told. And even though Itliong and then later Veracruz himself left the UFW , I still when I teach this history in my classes , I hold up to that moment , though , where when they're in the community hall in Delano , Filipino Community Hall and Delano and Itliong and Chavez and Huerta and Vera Cruz , they're standing up there at the hall , and they're asking each other to support one another and to recognize their shared humanity and their shared conditions , like , even though that moment wasn't , you know , permanent. The fact that that moment happened is still such a significant moment. Right. And so , like , what does it look like to try to continuously re invoke that spirit , even as we remember this history and not remembering it as a way of blaming or as if we're trying to take away from each other , but rather what ? What is possible when instead of playing that game of competition over that piece of pie , we just change the dinner entirely , right ? Like , what is it ? What does it mean to do that ? And so how how can we look at these historical examples , be inspired by them , learn from them , and then imagine differently ? Yeah.
S6:
S1:
S2: So , you know , I know that the impetus for our conversation today is it's Filipino American Heritage Month. And then , you know , October 25th is Itliong day. And , you know , I think I think the challenge for us is , you know , don't confine our exploration of these histories to one day or one month. Right. And so what does it mean to consistently be educating ourselves and learning these stories ? And , and , you know , I know not all of us can have the privilege of taking an ethnic studies course for example. But , you know , there's amazing programs like your own. Right ? And then in San Diego is incredibly rich and vibrant Filipino-American community. I mean , it's as simple as , you know , going to the Asian American Film Festival and watching films , right ? Or it's , you know , checking out the festivals that are happening weekly , even in our own community and making connections with all these folks who are trying to do this work to tell their stories and their histories. Um , and so I think that I'm biased because I'm a professor and I'm educator , but I think the first step is just to open our eyes and educate ourselves right about everything that we probably engage in day to day and to get curious about that. Oh , why ? Why is the 54 freeway name the film , you know , American Highway , right ? Like , what is that ? And that would lead you to a recognition of the the ways in which Filipino American communities have emerged in the South Bay for very specific reasons. Right. And so , like , okay , well , let your curiosity lead you in those directions. And just to start to notice , right , these dynamics that we see all around us that we just kind of take for granted , but that have deep histories , right , and deep impacts on communities today.
S1: Thank you so much for diving into this history with us. I've been speaking with Amanda Solomon Amaral , director of UCSD Asian American Pacific Islander Studies Program professor Solomon Amaral. It was great to have you on the show.
S2: Thank you. Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure.
S1: Coming up , one filmmaker unravels the Philippines history and how it impacts Filipino American identity and mental health.
S7: Today is about togetherness and empathy and self and other colonial mentality. Feels to me like the opposite of that here.
S1: More when KPBS Midday Edition returns. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. As Filipino American History Month continues , we want to talk about Filipino cultural values and the impact they can have on mental health. One film unravels an important cultural norm. It's called Kapha , or shared identity. The movie searching for capture follows Larry Larry on his quest to understand his roots and how the colonial history of the Philippines affects the diaspora today. Here's part of the trailer.
S8: I'm thinking about the American Dream and what it meant to them , and what it means to me.
UU:
S8: All I see is domination and white supremacy. But what it represented for them was a better life was hope.
S1: That was the voice of Larry. Larry. For the filmmaker , he is also a licensed marriage and family therapist. And he joins me now. Larry , welcome. Hi.
S6: Hi.
S1: Hey there. So glad to have you. Um , so the film premiered last year , but it's actually taken a long journey to get here.
S7: Um , I was in my 40s when I made the film , and I realized I knew more about other identities outside of my own. And , um , I was curious why that was. And a lot of that was embedded in , in , in colonialism in the colonial history of the , and the complicated history between the United States and the Philippines. And a lot of these stories get lost if they're not documented. So I wanted to partly document my parent's story , my family's story , but also some of the the people in the film that you'll see.
S6: Um , this.
S1:
S9:
S7: I think , translates to self and other. So Varela Enriquez , who was a , um , was a psychologist , a Filipino psychologist , came up with a theory , um , actually wrote a book called From Colonial to Liberation Psychology , and he really coined the term Coppola , but it's believed to be a pre-colonial belief , which is I am you , you or me. It's complicated to talk about because the only country I really know is the United States , which is an individualistic society. Coppola is based in a more collective Society , so I only really can can understand it through my lens , growing up in an individual society or an individualistic society. But the short is it's you or me , I am you , you know. In the film , the psychologist describes it as we're cut from the same cloth. For me , it's an awareness of that cloth. And I always knew Filipinos were very relational , but I couldn't really understand it. I didn't understand why. And in order for me to embody something , to feel it , I need to know why. And that's that's the journey that the film takes. Yeah.
S6: Yeah.
S1: Well , and that journey starts in San Diego. This is where you're originally from. And in the movie you talk about feeling like an outsider in your own community. How did your upbringing here really affect your sense of Filipino identity ? Yeah.
S7: Well , I yeah , I grew up in San Diego in a military town , and I was sort of the opposite. I was very , you know , I was a gay kid. I was into theater. I was not into the military at all. And at the time , I mean , I was I grew up in the 80s , so I was really into like new wave music and things that weren't that that were kind of maybe not what my classmates would be interested in. And so that alone made me feel different. And I went to school with a lot of other Filipino kids , but just little things. Like in the film , I talk about how , you know , my mom would cook me chicken adobo and I would bring it to school , and how I got such mixed messages around that and really almost negative messages around it smelled funny. You shouldn't bring that to to to school. We eat sandwiches at school and these are from other Filipino kids. So these aren't even from , um , white people. These are other Filipino kids that had , you know , probably similar struggles around their identity. But at the time I did not know that. I just knew I was different and that my culture was something that I mean , quite frankly , that sent the message that it was something to be ashamed of. Yeah.
S6: Yeah.
S1: And that really speaks to one thing that you explore in your film , which is colonial mentality. The movie really digs into the Philippines history with colonialism and specifically that phenomenon. Unpack that for us. What is colonial mentality and its relationship to Filipino culture ? Sure.
S7: So colonial mentality , as I understand it , is really this belief that the colonizer is superior and the colonized is inferior. And there's a lot of books written about this idea. The one that I was really inspired by was , um , doctor J.R. David , who has a book about colonial mentality , and he defines it as having four manifestations. Denigration of the Filipino body. Denigration of the Filipino other what we call colonial debt , which is really this indebtedness to the colonizer for quote unquote , saving us. And then the fourth is denigration of Filipino culture. So anything made in the Philippines is somehow inferior to to American or at that point , Spanish culture , because that's who we were first colonized by. So it's really just this belief that everything else is better except me , and that I should strive to be something else. There's a concept in colonial mentality called crab mentality , which is really this idea that there's not enough of us at the top and we need to tear down each other in order to compete to get to the top. And that was a lot of the imagery that I grew up with because I grew up in a really like first generation community where everybody was sort of competing with each other. And that's the opposite of Coppa , right ? That was the irony. Like that is about togetherness and empathy and self and other colonial mentality feels to me like the opposite of that , which is I come first or I have to tear down my fellow countrymen in order to be successful. And so it's really in implications for mental health are deep.
S1: Speaking of colonial mentality , I mean , that's common for so many people whose lives are impacted by colonialism. You mentioned these generational tensions , especially when it comes to values.
S10:
S7: I mean , one thing I knew early on is I wanted a film that could speak to my eight year old nephew and my 83 year old parents and I. My hope is that people could see themselves in it. And we , you know , we have screened the films across the bay , across California , and a lot of people , not just Filipino folks , see themselves in it. And I think I think for Filipinos in particular , I think just seeing our story told breaks some of the colonial mentality , because especially for that older generation , because they have been taught that their story is not really important or that they shouldn't brag about their story. Or , you know , sometimes we have these values in Filipino culture around , like , you want to keep it really modest. You don't want to be too brazen or braggy. That probably is warmed my heart the most. Seeing my parents and their peers start conversations about colonial mentality because of the film , which I never thought would happen in my lifetime , and it just tells me that they hold a lot of trauma in their , their , their bodies , um , that they haven't really processed. And maybe they didn't have the label for colonial mentality at the time , but there's something that didn't quite feel connected and they didn't really know why. And and if I was able to , to , to connect the dots for someone through this film that , that just that's why I made the film and that makes me very that makes me feel fulfilled. Hmm.
S6: Hmm.
S1:
S7: For me , it was a lot of reading , and it was a lot of curiosity , like allowing yourself to be curious about it. I think a lot of times we , uh , you know , I sort of grew up thinking that's just the way things are , But challenging myself to unlearn through reading documentaries and also just being in community , like I just since making the film , I've really carved out a nice community of Filipino Americans who are struggling with the same things that I am , and just knowing that I'm not alone , that I don't have to internalize this madness , um , of being of two cultures , um , that I don't have to be alone , that that there's other people who are in it and we're we're kind of developing our own culture , like another third culture here , taking the the best of both. And that has felt really liberating for me , just to be able to know that I have this culture with these strong values. And I am a hybrid because I am also American and I could use I could use the best of both because I need the boat , the I need both in order to thrive.
S1: I've been speaking with Larry , Larry USA , marriage and family therapist and filmmaker behind the movie searching for Coppola. So much to learn from that , that film. Larry , thanks so much.
S7: Thank you. I appreciate the time and the the space.
S1: Still ahead , San Diego's poet laureate Jason Perez reflects on his term and the importance of the literary arts to Filipino American identity.
S11: Poetry belongs to no one or no institution. It belongs to no university , no library or anything like that. Poetry is a people's art. It belongs to us.
S1: KPBS Midday Edition returns after the break. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Filipino American history and identity are a major throughline in much of Jason A Gabo Perez is writing. He is San Diego's second ever poet laureate and currently director of the Ethnic Studies program at Cal State San Marcos. He's here to reflect on his time as the city's poet laureate and the importance of the literary arts in Filipino American culture. Jason , welcome back to midday.
S11: Thanks for having me , Jay.
S1: Well , I'm glad to have you here. You're wrapping up your term as poet laureate.
S11: And so I think that's a lot of what it's been. I've been able to work on a few different projects , a few different programs throughout the two years , and really meet a lot of wonderful people who are hungry for more literary arts in San Diego , which I think we continue to have an abundance of. It's it's just about making sure that we continue to support each other. Uh , support those who are out here doing that work.
S1: And you wear many different hats. You're an educator , a community organizer , a writer.
S11: But maybe first and foremost as a member of the community. And so , um , it was really , really simple and direct for me to bring in , uh , educational elements , um , to bring in artistic elements and , and perhaps to be able to prioritize the community. Right. And so that's sort of always been a through line in my work , whether I'm acting or working as professor at the university or I'm doing a free , you know , poetry writing , poetry making workshop at the local library.
S6: Well , speaking.
S1: Of that throughline , you launched an initiative called San Diego Poetry Futures. Part of the focus is on youth outreach. How have you gotten young people engaged in poetry ? I know this this is work you've been doing for quite some time.
S11: Yeah , it's been it's been quite. I think I started out doing that when I was here initially as a emerging , I guess you could say , emerging artists and poet over 20 years ago. Um , through the San Diego Poetry Futures Initiative , which has a lot of different parts and different programming tracks. One of them , as you mentioned , is , is Youth Outreach , and I wanted to specifically focus on bringing poetry or facilitating experiences with poetry , encounters with poetry to local high schools. And so I have been able to , to reach a lot of San Diego public high schools in the district and San Diego Unified District , but also in throughout the county. I've been able to go to both classrooms and just to read poetry and facilitate writing exercises with young people. I've been able to work with youth through youth programs. I ran a poetry workshop along the trolley with the youth filmmakers of the Real Voices program , which is run by Pacific Arts Movement , who's , uh , well known for for putting on the yearly or the annual , um , San Diego Asian Film Festival. I did a three day workshop with the Mazel Center , which is the Arab Community Center out in El Cajon. And so working with you there , just sort of learning about their histories and , you know , introducing poetry or reintroducing poetry as a potential tool for their self-expression , for their ideas about the world.
S1: It's funny because when we think of poetry , we often think of like readings in the library and not always out in the public.
S11: And this is not to say that literary readings at public libraries or literary readings or literary salons at different venues aren't also open for the public. But I think that we might run the risk of feeling separate from the community. Right. I think that there's a long history of poetry in particular , but I would say a larger sort of much more broadly , the literary arts being out of reach from our local communities. Right. And so and sort of being out of touch. And I think being in public and bringing poetry out to to those spaces or hoping to , you know , holding space to activate the poetry that already exists out in those spaces is incredibly important. I think it'll it'll sort of help us , really , I think , come to the realization , which I think I've been talking to youth about for the last couple of years , but also throughout my career , write that poetry belongs to no one or no institution. It belongs to no university , no library or anything like that. Poetry is a people's art. It belongs to us. Right. And I think I want to , through these different public projects , I want to continue to emphasize that and help remind us that , you know , poetry is ours. It's ours if we want it. Right. If if it's useful and meaningful for us , then there are a lot of us who are poets and educators out here to help develop , you know , help folks develop their skills.
S1: Well , you have a new book out called I Ask About What Falls Away. You actually prepared an excerpt. Can you introduce it for us ? Yeah.
S11: So I ask about what falls away is a it's a book length elegy set. I think a lot of it was set in a time of profound grief during the beginning of the Covid pandemic. Um , written from my little corner of the world in City Heights at that time and so the book is sort of this book length love letter and grief letter to San Diego. Right. And so I'm just going to read a very short excerpt. Yeah. And it's just an excerpt from I ask about what falls away. What remains is a temple of internalized rupture. What remains are scraps of syntax. What remains is vulnerable to wage theft. I sing against profit. I sing lost against return , I sing estimated antagonisms I sing and accumulation of need for what is blessing but bluff , bluff but confusion. A weight of need versus a weight of disrepair. All that is different. Should Madden should thrill this dead smell , this river of dank , this non-serious kinship of isolation. There is something gentle and rethinking revolution itself in shrapnel of afterlife , in the disposability of heartbreak , in vinegar of paranoia. In workshop I sing as replaced tenant against Hillary , against the march of history with cranial guitar strings strummed hella hella hella.
S1: Well , I want to go back to when you described the book as an elegy and a love letter.
S11: You know , I started to really compose it and put things together while we were sheltering in place , right while we were on lockdown. And so I think so many other worlds may might have opened up. And so I had a lot of books on my shelf or and a very limited amount of books , but a lot nonetheless. Um , because I couldn't go to my office. And so part of my writing process is to read. Right. And so I was reading a lot , and I was reading a book called Things Fall Away by the Filipino scholar Nefertiti. Tatyana. And what Professor Tatiana inspires in the book , right , is this idea of sort of looking for and trying to process the things that don't fall under the dominant sort of rubrics , in particular of capitalism. Right. And so what falls away ? Right. What falls away that we might lose sight of ? How can we relook at those things ? And so for me , I just it was just an intense process of paying very close attention to the world , moving both slowly but also in a moment of crisis. And so I would write down fragments. I write down fragments on my way to CVS to get my vaccination right. I would write down in the line , you know , I write things down , I would read things , I would respond , I would be on phone conversations with other folks , and then I would write down sort of what I was thinking , and then I would sort of piece it together , all with this idea that this was the language that I had to make sense of , the landscape that I was , you know , that I happen to be in.
S1: Filipino-American History Month is well underway , and I'm curious what your thoughts are on the importance of art and literature in exploring Filipino identity.
S11: Yeah , I come to , uh , you know , I think closer to , uh , understanding what it means to be a Filipino in the diaspora and what it means to be a Filipino in the United States , and what it means to be Filipino American through literature and poetry. I think that there are many figures. I don't want to forget any that I've read and , you know , historically and that we can continue to talk about. But I think that we come from a tradition of of literary people. I think Filipinos are a people of of the story , of storytelling , of language and of music. And , um , and I think it is a natural pairing to to think about Filipino-American History Month , to celebrate it , to honor our struggles , to honor , you know , what we've been able to do in this world by by honoring the very literature that tries to capture that , that tries to explain that , to document that , but also tries to offer us a language to think about the future , of how we continue to to to struggle for our for justice and and for the dignity of our communities.
S1: Well , so far in our show , we've talked about the Philippines history under colonialism and the important role Filipinos played in the farmworker movement. But for the most part , these resilient parts of history are not taught in school. And so students , especially Filipino Americans , don't grow up with this knowledge. I'm curious to know from you what the experience is like when someone finally learns and connects with this history.
S11: Oh , I've had I've had the experience myself as a college student. Uh , I went to UCSD as an undergrad and learning the details of some of that history , or learning that history in much more detail was not only eye opening , it was incredibly emotional. It starts to help us really explain and understand our families a little bit better , our communities a little bit better. Reasons for why we ended up here in the first place , a little bit better , and reasons for why , you know , folks have divisions that they have about how we can gather as a community. And so it's , you know , on that end , I think I've seen that both in myself , I've witnessed that , but I've also witnessed that with students and being I think I've taught now for for about 18 years formally in higher education. And so having students read a poem , you know , by , let's say , a famous Filipino poets , Carlos Villazon , who wrote America's in the heart , wrote this novel. He also wrote a lot of poetry that really inspired the working class movement here in the United States. Right. And in particular that farmworker movement. And so a student reading Carlos Villazon and crying , right. And confiding in me after class to say , I've never read anything that reflects my family's experience. You know , my family was my you know , my grandfather was a farm worker or any of these sort of number of stories that come out. There's just it's incredibly moving. But maybe , perhaps most importantly , it feels incredibly empowering and a sort of collective empowerment that if we know our history and sort of we know these stories of resilience , then we can start to sort of understand our situation with a lot more clarity and sort of plan out what we need to do in order to to continue to advocate for each other , for our communities , but also for other communities in need.
S1: And it's empowering to recognize your history. And , you know , I think that's the most beautiful part here. You've got a poetry reading coming up for Filipino American History Month.
S11: It is exciting. Uh , it is , uh , on October 26th , this Saturday at the University Heights Branch Library , which is on Park Boulevard. I'm bringing along some fellow Filipino Filipina Filipino poets with me , Daniela Paraguay. So Isla de Castro Barron , Jennifer Carrillo , and Karen Marie Avila. Uh , all of these authors are incredible , incredibly talented readers , brilliant thinkers , brilliant writers. And so we thought of convening to celebrate and to share some of our work. Some of us have had have books that just came out. And so it's going to be a really , really fun event , just gathering the community in the name of , of Fil-am history , but also in the name of poetry.
S1:
S11: Uh , I think I re understood my post as poet laureate as hopefully planting some seeds. I'm hoping that eventually we can develop a poetry center , like a physical brick and mortar space that is devoted to San Diego poetry , but poetry in general. There is a deep history of the poetry community in San Diego , and I want to hopefully help in the efforts to build something where we have a center devoted to poetry , where youth can come , seniors can come , adults can come , all ages can come , and we can have different kinds of programming. We can have a library , we can do workshops , um , we can do film screenings. All of the things that that I hope I was able to at least give a taste of through the San Diego Poetry Futures project. I'm hoping that , you know , we we eventually have a space where , you know , we have the San Diego Poetry Center , and it could be a place where people from outside of the city or from folks who are visiting the area can can also come convene and build community around literature and poetry.
S1: It was so nice to have you on again. I've been speaking with San Diego Poet Laureate Jason Perez.
S6: Jason , thanks.
S11: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose. Everyone.
