City of Carson, California honors Fil-Am labor hero on Larry Itliong Day

Former Carson Mayor Pro Tem and City Councilmember Elito Santarina gives remarks at the 10th annual Larry Itliong Day celebration in Carson, California on Saturday. INQUIRER/Agnes Constante

CITY OF CARSON, California — When former Carson City Councilmember Elito Santarina in 2010 introduced a resolution to establish a day to honor Filipino American labor leader Larry Itliong, he felt optimistic about its success, he said.

He was determined to spread awareness of the man whose contributions to the farm worker movement and eventual creation of the United Farm Workers have long been overshadowed. His resolution – which proposed establishing Oct. 25 as Larry Itliong Day  – ultimately passed. And on Saturday, Oct. 26, the City of Carson hosted its 10th annual Larry Itliong Day celebration, recognizing Itliong’s contributions to the farm worker movement.

Although many are aware of labor leader Cesar Chavez’s role in the farm worker movement, what is not as widely known is that Itliong led more than 1,000 Filipino farm workers to protest their working conditions on Sept. 8, 1965, the date that marked the beginning of the Delano Grape Strike. The workers then asked Chavez and his largely Latino farm workers union to join the strike, which ended five years later. As a result of the strike, workers were able to sign their first union contracts, securing better wages, benefits and protections.

“It’s an indescribable feeling of triumph of the human spirit because of this man,” Santarina told Inquirer on Saturday, Oct. 26, during the celebration. “We feel that triumph in the Filipino American community.”

Dozens of community members attended Saturday’s celebration, a four-hour event that was packed with entertainment from various cultural and performance groups, individual singers and remarks from community leaders.

Dozens of community members attended the 10th annual Larry Itliong Day celebration in Carson, California on Saturday. The event honored Itliong, the Filipino-American farm worker who led more than 1,000 Filipino farmworkers to protest their working conditions on Sept. 8, 1965, a date that marked the beginning of the Delano Grape Strike. INQUIRER/Agnes Constante

Carson City Councilmember Jim Dear, who worked with the committee that organized the celebration, said during the event that Itliong was a great fighter for the rights of farm workers, who were treated like second-class citizens at the time.

“But men like Cesar Chavez and Larry Itliong, they realized that that had to change,” he said. “Larry Itliong represents a tremendous change for the better; a progressive movement for society. And that’s why we honor Larry Itliong, because of the legacy, the dedication, the work that he did for other people.”

Carson became the first U.S. city to recognize Oct. 25 – Itliong’s birthday – as Larry Itliong Day in 2010. Four years later, former California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill requiring the governor to annually proclaim Oct. 25 as Larry Itliong Day.

The city also voted last year to declare Larry Itliong Day as a holiday in the City of Carson.

As Carson has celebrated Itliong every year in October throughout the last decade, one of the ways the event has evolved is by incorporating a poster and an essay contest for students in elementary through high school. Santarina said it’s a way to engage and teach the younger generation, who will be the ones to continue carrying on Itliong’s legacy.

The former councilmember added that while more people have become aware of Itliong over the past decade, in part due to celebrations like the ones in Carson and media coverage, much work remains to be done. He said is pushing for Larry Itliong Day to become a federal holiday, similar to Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Cesar Chavez Day.

“It’s a great joy for me to be able to share and make the community aware – not only Filipinos, but the American people, to please recognize the heroism of this man in terms of fighting for justice, fighting for the rights of farm workers who were almost treated like animals,” he said.