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Nov. 29th, 2007 12:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
furyofvissarionPhilip Vera Cruz: A Personal History of Filipino Immigrants and the Farmworkers Movement - Craig Scharlin and Lilia V. Villanueva. This is an oral history of Philip Vera Cruz's life, & is presented in his voice, so I'm a little confused as to why the byline isn't "as told to…" or something.
Anyway. What I knew going into this book, although I had learned it only a few years ago, was that the farmworkers movement was actually started by Filipinos, & only later did Cesar Chavez come into the picture. Vera Cruz was an early leader, & worked w/Chavez for many years. In this book he is fairly critical of Chavez, while also acknowledging his strengths. I know that no leader is perfect, but I also know that there are two sides to every story, & probably Chavez would refute some of the criticisms given & have some of his own (Vera Cruz does talk about what he perceives to be his own flaws as a union leader). However, it seems logical that part of the reason Chavez might've not paid much attention to the Filipinos in the union was because their numbers were decreasing, & the numbers of Mexican farmworkers were increasing. That fact seems to have resulted in a lot of bad blood & some disservice to the Filipino farmworkers (many of whom were retirement age, or nearing it, at this point, & needed the union's support).
Two things I didn't know about Chavez that I thought were horrifying came up. One: although he had been given the unvarnished truth about the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines (including, relevantly, that Marcos banned unions), he went there as Marcos's guest, & hosted Marcos's puppets at a union event back in California. Two: Chavez was anti-undocumented worker, & thought they had no place in the union. Both of these items were additional sources of discord between Vera Cruz and Chavez, until eventually the former left the union after 12 years, many of them serving as one of the few Filipino leaders (& choosing to keep his critiques of the union & Chavez's leadership within the union, not wanting to weaken their cause in the eyes of the public).
Although I've so far made it sound like Vera Cruz's criticisms of Chavez make up the bulk of the book, he actually covers chronologically his entire life, including his early days in the US trying to find work as someone reviled for not being white & for supposedly being a womanizer (of white women, naturally)--a tag all Filipino men got, rather unfairly, as Filipinas weren't allowed to immigrate for a long, long time. He also talks a lot about what leaving his family behind in the Philippines, & not being able to complete college because he was supporting two of his siblings through college back home, was like. One thing I thought was a bit disturbing was that he never talks about his partner, Debbie Vollmer--I only learned of their relationship through a note in the last chapter, although then I recalled she'd been mentioned by name as someone who heckled the Marcos personnel at the union meeting. It felt a bit dishonest, & sort of dismissive, especially because she'd clearly been involved in union politics too.
One thing I really liked about the book was that Scarlin and Villanueva did a good job in preserving the way Vera Cruz spoke: all the Filipino English idioms I grew up hearing rang true.
Empire of Ivory - Naomi Novik. The fourth book in the Temeraire series takes Temeraire & Laurence to Africa, in search of a cure for a disease that is decimating the British dragons. I appreciated how Novik, as in Throne of Jade, shows POC cultures that are v. condescending towards the British, because they are v. advanced & think the Brits are barbaric. Heh. I'm also interested in Temeraire's continuing quest to have dragons recognized as persons in their own right (how vegan of Novik!). The British argument over the abolition of slavery continues here as well, & of course becomes more relevant as they head into Africa. I'll avoid spoilers, & just say that there's plenty of the adventure & antics that mark the first three books, & the ending makes me wonder how the hell Laurence is going to get out of this one.
The Game - Diana Wynne Jones. Orphaned Hayley manages--although she doesn't quite know how--to anger her crabby grandmother enough that she gets packed off to Ireland, where a huge family gathering is occurring. The cousins all have a game that they play whenever they're together (which made me think of The Secret Country), & Hayley gets pulled in as well. The game involves going into what's called the mythosphere for a treasure hunt: bring back Cinderella's slipper, etc. Shades of Eight Days of Luke by the end of this novella; v. satisfying.
Anyway. What I knew going into this book, although I had learned it only a few years ago, was that the farmworkers movement was actually started by Filipinos, & only later did Cesar Chavez come into the picture. Vera Cruz was an early leader, & worked w/Chavez for many years. In this book he is fairly critical of Chavez, while also acknowledging his strengths. I know that no leader is perfect, but I also know that there are two sides to every story, & probably Chavez would refute some of the criticisms given & have some of his own (Vera Cruz does talk about what he perceives to be his own flaws as a union leader). However, it seems logical that part of the reason Chavez might've not paid much attention to the Filipinos in the union was because their numbers were decreasing, & the numbers of Mexican farmworkers were increasing. That fact seems to have resulted in a lot of bad blood & some disservice to the Filipino farmworkers (many of whom were retirement age, or nearing it, at this point, & needed the union's support).
Two things I didn't know about Chavez that I thought were horrifying came up. One: although he had been given the unvarnished truth about the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines (including, relevantly, that Marcos banned unions), he went there as Marcos's guest, & hosted Marcos's puppets at a union event back in California. Two: Chavez was anti-undocumented worker, & thought they had no place in the union. Both of these items were additional sources of discord between Vera Cruz and Chavez, until eventually the former left the union after 12 years, many of them serving as one of the few Filipino leaders (& choosing to keep his critiques of the union & Chavez's leadership within the union, not wanting to weaken their cause in the eyes of the public).
Although I've so far made it sound like Vera Cruz's criticisms of Chavez make up the bulk of the book, he actually covers chronologically his entire life, including his early days in the US trying to find work as someone reviled for not being white & for supposedly being a womanizer (of white women, naturally)--a tag all Filipino men got, rather unfairly, as Filipinas weren't allowed to immigrate for a long, long time. He also talks a lot about what leaving his family behind in the Philippines, & not being able to complete college because he was supporting two of his siblings through college back home, was like. One thing I thought was a bit disturbing was that he never talks about his partner, Debbie Vollmer--I only learned of their relationship through a note in the last chapter, although then I recalled she'd been mentioned by name as someone who heckled the Marcos personnel at the union meeting. It felt a bit dishonest, & sort of dismissive, especially because she'd clearly been involved in union politics too.
One thing I really liked about the book was that Scarlin and Villanueva did a good job in preserving the way Vera Cruz spoke: all the Filipino English idioms I grew up hearing rang true.
Empire of Ivory - Naomi Novik. The fourth book in the Temeraire series takes Temeraire & Laurence to Africa, in search of a cure for a disease that is decimating the British dragons. I appreciated how Novik, as in Throne of Jade, shows POC cultures that are v. condescending towards the British, because they are v. advanced & think the Brits are barbaric. Heh. I'm also interested in Temeraire's continuing quest to have dragons recognized as persons in their own right (how vegan of Novik!). The British argument over the abolition of slavery continues here as well, & of course becomes more relevant as they head into Africa. I'll avoid spoilers, & just say that there's plenty of the adventure & antics that mark the first three books, & the ending makes me wonder how the hell Laurence is going to get out of this one.
The Game - Diana Wynne Jones. Orphaned Hayley manages--although she doesn't quite know how--to anger her crabby grandmother enough that she gets packed off to Ireland, where a huge family gathering is occurring. The cousins all have a game that they play whenever they're together (which made me think of The Secret Country), & Hayley gets pulled in as well. The game involves going into what's called the mythosphere for a treasure hunt: bring back Cinderella's slipper, etc. Shades of Eight Days of Luke by the end of this novella; v. satisfying.