Over the course of our class’s inquiry into California history, I have noticed a recurring theme in the various narratives we discuss: the relational experiences of Latina/os and Asians (Molina 2006, Mitchell 1996). As my digital review demonstrates, the relationship between these two ethno-racial groups is evident in multiple cultural, social, and political realms. Still, the interpretation of the two communities as existing in tandem merits more critical analysis; uniform is hardly the correct label for historical depictions of Asians and Latina/os. My exhibit looks at how the two groups are portrayed in one of the most widely-known events in American minority-group historiography: the United Farm Workers of America’s Delano grape strikes of the late 1960s.

In curating this project, I hope to nuance popular imaginings of the UFW and the strikes as a wholly Mexican endeavor (think of the recent Cesar Chavez biopic). Much like the revisionist underpinnings of Matt Garcia’s 2012 book From the Jaws of Victory: The Triumph and Tragedy of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, my exhibit strives to resituate our understandings of the UFW with an eye to the prevalence of Asian/Latino solidarity. Altogether, I envision my project as one of place-making for these two groups, and bring to a broader audience the realities of their collaborations as an addition to the growing recognition of relational histories.

With regard to the theme of mobility, my project looks at these media representations as an example of mobility in the historical imagination. Mobility here is defined as the circulation of the Mexican/Filipino relationship in popular understandings of the United Farm Workers. The presence, or lack thereof, of these two ethnic groups as dynamic, fully-fleshed entities is crucial to my investigation of a mobility dependent on varied media representations.

At a theoretical level, my project is engaged with ideas of multiculturalism, and in particular, the response of cultural critics to the banal ethnic community ideals in the multiculturalism of the America neoliberal period (May 1998, pg. 3). In looking at the UFW strikes of the 1960s, I hope to demonstrate the extent to which we can imagine the Mexican and Filipino collaborations during the movement as a radical precursor to later iterations of multiculturalism. While there were collaborations between Mexicans and Filipinos in labor strikes of the 1920s and 1930s, the ubiquity of the Delano strikes in the historical imagination makes it an apt focus point for this project (Mitchell 130-140). The objects I’ve curated demonstrate a proto-multiculturalism not built on idealized ideas of racial harmony, but instead on the realities of everyday struggle and the precariousness of identity politics. 

You can find a brochure from the exhibit below. In creating this brochure, I hope to make clear the deliberate curation of this exhibit as a tool of nuancing normative understandings of the United Farm Workers. It works as a possible aid to the recirculation of ideas of the UFW-- ones focused on the relational histories of Mexicans and Filipinos-- crucial to this work. Please share with friends and family-- mobilize yourself the project of sharing relational histories of the UFW!

Object 1:Huelga en General-General Strike

Song lyrics (with English translation) available here.

The first object consists of a song entitled Huelga en General (General Strike). Written by Luis Valdez after a stint in Cuba, it was one of the more popular protests songs during the Delano Grape Strikes. While the song is composed entirely in Spanish, it is important as a signifier of Mexican/Filipino solidarity in its recognition of Filipino involvement in the movement. In the third stanza, the song recounts how “on the 8th day of September the Filipinos walked out from the fields in Delano and to unite in the struggle the Mexicans walked-out two weeks later And together we’re succeeding with the march of history to liberate farm workers.” It is a labor song, utilized by members of the UFW to build camaraderie and pay homage to the leaders and aims of the organization (Scott 4). As a cultural production, the song articulates the necessity of remembering the collaboration in an easily accessible form. Still, this representation is not complete—the song is in Spanish and therefore geared towards the Mexican activists in the United Farm Workers. Still, it is important as an interlocutor in how the strikes are remembered—not solely as a Mexican phenomenon, but as one with an understanding of solidarity in the minds of its adherents.

Object 2: Photographs of the UFW

The next object consists of a series of photographs of the United Farm Workers during the Delano strikes. Found in theWalter P. Reuther Library Digital Archive, photos showcase a variety of images from the strikes, ranging from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) members march in support of farm workers during the Delano strike to planning meetings of UFW leaders. Central to their significance is their representation of Filipino organizers. Quite literally, the portrayal of figures like Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz complicates understandings of the strikes based solely on their Chicano characteristics. Moreover, Filipinos are shown as active not only in public marches, but also as part of the organizing team for the strikes. Still, it is important to think about the politics of representation in the photos-- what is and is not represented in term of a relational Mexican/Filipino solidarity? Altogether, these images do the work of recirculating renderings of the UFW to include representations of Filipinos working in tandem with Mexicans. Placing them within this exhibit is crucial to the recirculation of a relational history of the Delano Grape Strikes. 

Object 3: Delano Manongs clip

The final object of this exhibit is a trailer from the 2014 documentary Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the United Farm Workers. Directed by Marissa Aroy, the documentary highlights the work of Larry Itliong and other Filipinos in organizing as a union and initiating the Delano grape strikes. A mix of photographs, videos, and interviews, Delano Manongs is at its core a project of political place-making. Many Filipinos have noted with anguish at the lack of diversity in the historiography of the UFW—the documentary functions as a remedy to the dearth of representation of the Mexican-Filipino relationship. Mobility here resonates as a bifurcated process—it reaches back to the 1960s to introduce historical narratives in the contemporary moment.