FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Larry Itliong’s leadership sparked the Delano Grape Strike of 1965. Filipino laborers walked off the job over pay and inadequate access to water and bathrooms.
Itliong headed the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee.
“I spent my life trying to protect his legacy,” says Jonny Itilong, Larry’s son. “It’s very important. He changed America for me, for his family and his people. It’s very deep, and that’s why I’m getting emotional right now.”
Jonny lives in Santa Monica.
His father convinced Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta of the National Farm Workers Association to join forces, join the strike and form the United Farm Workers in 1966.
“He understood there wasn’t enough Filipinos and not enough support for such a small group here in the United States, and so he knew he had to work together,” Jonny said.
That solidarity between Filipino and Mexican laborers led to the end of the strike in 1970, and union contracts between grape growers and workers.
At Arte Americas, Larry Itliong is honored in a “Day of the Dead” altar dedicated to monumental figures.
Jonny travels the state to talk about the role his father played in the labor movement.
“It is our Filipino history here, but this is American history, and that’s the most important thing I’m trying to get across to everybody,” Jonny said.
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