California celebrates Larry Itliong Day, a Filipino American credited for work in labor movement
STOCKTON – Oct. 25 is Larry Itliong Day in California and it's a day to celebrate the legacy of Filipino Americans who were instrumental in not only cementing rights for farmworkers but also for inspiring young Filipino Americans.
Larry Itliong was a Filipino American, who made the Central Valley his home and the workers in the Central Valley his people.
In 1965, Itliong brought labor workers to boycott in the Delano grape strike.
But it wasn't until recently that Itliong was finally credited for his work in the California labor movement.
"My father, I know was a loving, giving, dedicated man, he lived his life for the people," said Patty Itliong Serda, Itliong's daughter.
She sees the impact her father left behind.
"My goal and inspiration is to teach my kids to know their history and tell our stories because even though it's about Filipinos, it's about American history," Serda said. "It's not that well known, but it's beginning to."
Serda wants her father's legacy to go beyond just his work in the fields.
In Stockton, at Little Manila, is a small mural of Itliong that says "Kaya Natin," which means "we can" in Tagalog.
The younger generation is learning of his impact on their culture.
"Itliong's legacy still lives on, we have all these decorations, all the history we're teaching," Rollan Romeo said.
Romeo, born and raised in Stockton, is one of nearly 30,000 Filipino Americans who call this city home.
He now comes to Little Manila Rising in south Stockton to read about his history.
"I never took any studies because it wasn't available in high school, and I was so surprised because even though Filipinos are one of the biggest Asian populations in California, we don't really get our history taught in schools," Romeo said.
He says he didn't hear Itliong's name in the history books like he learned others.
"I went to Dolores Huerta Middle School, and of course, I heard about Cesar Chavez but I never heard about Larry Itliong," Romeo said.
Now, as a freshman at Delta College, Romeo is going into social studies and education to change that.
"If I'm able to make people become aware of a situation that they don't know about, through education, that's a way that I can do that," Romeo said.
"For the youth to know more about themselves, their culture, whether they're Hispanic, Filipino, anything," Serda said.
For Serda and her family, it's about inspiring others to stand up, like her dad did.
"The children around the city see someone like them and talk like them, and do something as inspiring as what my dad did, it gives them hope," Serda said.
Larry Itliong Day was designated by former Gov. Jerry Brown in 2015 and proclaimed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2022.