Our Manongs' Coachella
/For millennials and GenZers, Coachella in Southern California means an annual pilgrimage to the massive music and art festival of most Aprils since 1999.
For farm laborers in the 1960s, including Fil-Am writer/historian Alex S. Fabros, Jr. writing part 3 of his memoirs about his years as a farmworker, the Coachella Valley meant hard daily labor harvesting grapes. But the place meant more than just farms in labor movement history: it was here where the stirrings of what later exploded as the Delano Grape Strike of 1965-1970 began. (Note: The Delano Grape Strike, initiated by Fil-Am labor leaders Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz, began on September 8, 1965. It lasted until July 29, 1970.)
And more of Fabros' writings, after attending PF's tribute to the second batch of manongs and manangs last August 24, he wrote a poem for the ten honorees. Fabros was one of the awardees in 2024, the first time the event was held.
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Another love story: when celebrated Filipino master violinist Gilopez Kabayao was making his debut at Carnegie Hall at age 20, Corazon Pineda was still an infant. But that didn't stop their fates from meshing -- she, growing up a piano virtuoso, became his favorite accompanist and eventually his wife and the mother of his three children. Their love story spanned half a century, as told by PF contributing writer Maria Carmen Sarmiento, ending only when Kabayao passed away last year at age 94.
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Who wants to go on an African safari? Who doesn't? Our intrepid traveler/writer/photographer Odette Foronda finally embarked on her dream adventure at age 70 and she tells/shows us how it went.
[Read It Again]
From Spain to Delano—The Radical Roots of Farm Workers Unions by David Bacon
Nelia Sancho: The Last Conversations by Lynett Advincula-Villariba
[Video of the Week]
Coachella 565 - Another Chapter in Filipino American Labor History
In The Know
DOCUMENTARY: Mula dagat hanggang sikmura
https://www.rappler.com/environment/documentary-fish-loss-daram-samar/
You’re Not Alone: Survey Says Millennials and Gen Zs Use Travel to ‘Mentally Reset’
https://www.esquiremag.ph/life/travel/klook-travel-pulse-survey-2025-a7940-20250504?
‘Magellan’ Review: Gael Garcia Bernal Plays the Famous Explorer in Lav Diaz’s Exquisitely Shot Challenge of an Arthouse Epic
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/magellan-review-gael-garcia-bernal-lav-diaz-1236229407/
Yes, These Churches in the Philippines Were Built With Eggs
https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/lifestyle/churches-philippines-built-with-eggs-a2765-20220614-lfrm?
Young Fil-Am Dance Crew Conquers US Stage
https://www.facebook.com/reel/781715634392041