Recognizing the Contributions of Filipinos and Other Immigrants to the Farm Worker Labor Movement
In 2009, Congress passed two resolutions recognizing the month of October as Filipino American History Month. Both S. Res. 298 and H. Res. 780 called for recognizing the contributions of Filipino Americans to the United States.
Towards that end, California’s Governor Brown signed A.B. 123. A.B. 123, which was sponsored by Assembly Member Rob Bonta, the first Filipino American to serve in the California Legislature, incorporates the contributions of immigrants, including Filipinos, to the farm worker labor movement. Below, I included portions of the law’s premable:
“Existing law requires the State Board of Education to ensurethat the state curriculum and framework, where appropriate, includeinstruction on Cesar Chavez, and the history of the farm labormovement in the United States, and that the state criteria forselecting textbooks include information to guide the selection oftextbooks that contain sections that highlight the life andcontributions of Cesar Chavez, and the history of the farm labormovement in the United States.
This bill would additionally require that the state board ensurethat the state curriculum and framework, where appropriate, includeinstruction on the role of immigrants, including Filipino Americans,in the farm labor movement.”
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