Delano Manongs, Essay Example

Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the United Farm Workers. Screening and Discussion

The Tully Community Branch Library in San Jose presented at Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the United Farm Workers. Screening and Discussion Tuesday, April 14 @ 6:30pm. The presentation was to honor the Filipino farmworkers. The story is not well-known, and it starts at the Great Strike of 1965. The workers joined forces with ethnic farm workers to create the United Farm Workers Union. The discussion continues to talk about the film details of Larry Itliong and his work and life. Itliong organized a group of more than one thousand Filipinos to participate in a strike for better working conditions and wages. The Filipino immigrants were essentially slaves. They worked on a crop rotation starting around the 1930s, and their employment kept them from being allowed to own property or marry for the majority of their lives.

The film festival presentation of Delano Monongs, which provides a strong documentary of the Filipino farmworkers. The film was created by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Marissa Aroy. The Delano Grape Strike of 1965 was one of largest worker instigated labor struggle in American history. Larry Itliong was one of the main players, and Philip Vera Cruz and Pete Velasco along with the older Filipino men, the Monongs joined efforts with the Chicano farmworkers. The Chicano farmworkers rebellion was led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. They joined forces and created the UFW, the United Farm Workers. Both minorities groups had been exploited by the farm owners and had put up with the working conditions for far too long.

On September 7, 1965 the year of exploitation had built up had come to a halt. In Delano California the workers joined forces to fight back for the rights that had been stripped from them. Larry Itliong set in motion of the largest labor strikes in history. They held their own civil rights movements to demand the rights that had been stolen from them for decades. The workers were denied the basic rights and freedoms that all others in America were granted. The minorities were so dependent upon their paychecks, they continually took the dictatorship in which they were working. The strike consisted of thousands of protestors and stopped the farm work immediately. A rebellion of this size could not be ignored by the ones who were exploiting these workers nor could the general public turn a blind eye on the issues that were taking place on the farms.

The film provided not only a documentary, but it allowed the viewers to see the interviews from the past and the presents. One was able to gain insight on the real issues associated with Filipino farmworkers and the oppression they were facing. The immigrants arrived in the United States in the 1920’s to the 1930’s and were assembled till the 1980’s which was a half a century of achievements and struggles. The legacy which the Monongs created was on that was based on necessities for the basic rights of humanity, they wanted equality. The film is a documentary that tells of an important historical events and it is celebrated by thousands of Filipino Americans still to date. It was a great experience to learn of such an important historical movement and how they fought the injustices they were faced with.