The Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the UFW
Grantmakers, please click the link below to request additional information about this project or to invite the project manager to submit a formal application to your foundation.
Images
Delano Farmworker by Emilio Mercado
Larry Itliong, Cesar Chavez and others march together.
Pete Velasco marching
Phillip Vera Cruz (right) Larry Itliong (center)
Website
Topics
Economy: Business, Consumption
Environment: Pollution
Human Development: Agriculture, Food, Labor, Migration, Poverty, Shelter & Housing, Water/Sanitation
Human Rights: Civil Rights, Race Politics, Social Exclusion
Information & Media: Culture, Freedom of Expression
Peace and Conflict: Conflict
Politics: Activism, Civil Society, Ethics & Value Systems, Justice and Crime, Law
Project Geography
US: California
International: Asia, North America
Identity Niches
Asian, Asian American, Latino, Senior/Aging
Budget
Raised to date: $ 90,000.00
Estimate to complete: $ 230,000.00
Total Estimated Budget: $ 320,000.00
The budget numbers above are accurate as of 11/03/2009
Status
Production
Media Type
Video
Project End Use
TV
Key Personnel
Marissa Aroy
Director
Marissa Aroy recently received a regional Emmy (Northern California) for the PBS documentary "Sikhs in America" that she produced and co-directed. Last year Aroy produced and directed the documentary "Little Manila.” Both programs will have a national PBS broadcast in May 2008. She co-produced “Sounds of Hope” which was shown on Frontline World. Prior to those projects she was a segment producer in the Philippines for a local environmental television show and while a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic she produced a short documentary about the effects of HIV and AIDS. Aroy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Boston College and a Masters degree from the Graduate School of Journalism at University of California, Berkeley. When she's not making or watching movies, she's teaching digital filmmaking at Berkeley City College.
Niall McKay
Producer/Writer
Niall McKay, is a writer, producer, and director. Most Recently, he produced, directed and filmed “Sikhs in America” a documentary about the Sikh community for PBS. His drama credits include directing “In Living English”, a 20 part comedy series for Clase, a spanish language cable station and producing a short film called Nuts, directed by novelist Irvine Welsh’s (Trainspotting) which was featured in the Cork, Edinburgh and San Francisco Film Festivals. McKay also produced and reported Uneasy Peace, a program on Northern Ireland for Frontline World, has worked for the Center for Investigative Reporting and is a regular segment producer for SPARK an arts magazine program on PBS KQED in San Francisco. McKay was a writer and journalist for over a decade and wrote for the New York Times, Wired Magazine and the Economist. McKay is the founder and director of the San Francisco Irish Film Festival and the Los Angles Irish Film Festival.
Outreach/Engagement Plan(s)
Filipinos: Forgotten Heroes of the UFW is being produced for a PBS national broadcast. The program is especially targeted toward the Filipino American community, the 2nd largest Asian population in the US, along with the Chicano community who will be interested in finding out about the people who collaborated with Cesar Chavez. Those who are interested in labor studies and civil rights will find the program compelling as well. We hope to have educational distribution and a curriculum that will help put this documentary in classrooms studying California history, US Studies, and Ethnic Studies.
Funders
| Name | Amount | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Center for Asian American media | $ 20,000.00 | 11/01/2009 | |
| California Council for the Humanities | $ 40,000.00 | 01/24/2009 | |
| Pacific Pioneer Fumd | $ 10,000.00 | 07/10/2008 | |
| California Council for the Humanities | $ 10,000.00 | 01/10/2008 | |
| Independent Television Services | $ 10,000.00 | 11/01/2007 |
Location(s)
PO Box 18976
Media Factory
Oakland, CA, 94619
See Google Maps
Short Synopsis
The Delano Manongs is an hour-long documentary about a small group of Filipino farmworkers and their contributions to farm worker organizing and the UFW.
Description/Treatment
The Delano Manongs is an hour-long documentary about a small group of Filipino farmworkers in Delano California, who having toiled under the yoke of state-sponsored racism for decades rose up in their twilight years and instigated one of the labor movements finest hours – the Great Grape strike of 1965 and the creation of United Farm Workers Union (UFW).
This is the Filipino farmworkers heroic forgotten history: how labor leaders Larry Itliong, Pete Velasco and Phillip Vera Cruz, took a last stand against the Delano growers which resulted in the creation of the United Farm Workers Union. While Cesar Chavaz deservedly became a household name for his part in creating the UFW the Filipinos and their leaders died as they had lived -- in obscurity. Background: Filipino farmworkers followed the crop season and dominated the lettuce crews in the coastal valleys and the asparagus work force in the Central Valley, then worked the canneries in Alaska during winter.They became the laborers of choice when large concentrations of workers were needed for backbreaking tasks like hoeing, thinning and harvesting crops. Competition for jobs during the depression, and interracial dating with Caucasian women caused great conflict for the Filipinos who were mostly young single bachelors. Amidst great anti-Filipino sentiments, hate crimes, and anti-Filipino legislation, Filipinos published newspapers, created labor groups and led walkouts. They were radicalized by the repressive actions taken against them by both business and government.