Amended in Assembly January 28, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 7

Introduced by Assembly Member Bonta

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(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Alejo and Eggman)

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Chiu, Gomez, Medina, Nazarian, Rendon, and Williams)

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December 1, 2014

An act to add Section 37222.18 to the Education Code, and to add Section 6725 to the Government Code, relating to public schools.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 7, as amended, Bonta. Public schools: Larry Itliong Day.

Existing law requires the Governor to proclaim certain days each year for specified reasons. Existing law also designates particular days each year as having special significance in public schools and educational institutions and encourages those entities to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on those dates.

This bill would require the Governor to annually proclaim October 25 as Larry Itliong Day, would designate that date of each year as having special significance in public schools and educational institutions, and would encourage those entities to observe that date by conducting exercises remembering the life of Larry Itliong and the contributions he made to the state.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) Larry Itliong was a native of the begin delete Phillippines end delete begin insert Philippines end insert
and was born on October 25, 1913, in San Nicolas, Pangasinan.

(b) At the young age of 15, with only a sixth grade education,
Larry Itliong decided to seek out the land of “milk and begin delete money” end delete
begin insert honey” end insert in order to pursue his studies and moved to the United
States of America in 1929. As a result of the Great Depression,
Larry Itliong was forced to work on the railroads and then as a
migrant farmworker traveling through Montana, South Dakota,
Washington, and finally California. During that time, Larry Itliong
learned of the plight suffered by Filipinos and other immigrants
working as farm laborers.

(c) Larry Itliong was a prominent leader in one of the greatest
social justice movements in the United States of America: the
American farm labor movement. He organized a group of 1,500
Filipinos to strike against the grape growers of Delano, California,
and continued on that strike for eight days while suffering through
violence imposed by the growers’ hired hands and the sheriff
department and being thrown out of the labor camp.

(d) However, Larry Itliong remained tenacious and resilient,
calling upon César Chávez and his followers to join forces with
the Filipinos and strike together. Due partly as a result of Larry
Itliong’s persuasions, the two groups combined establishing the
United Farm Workers of America, one of the greatest unions in
the history of the nation. The unification of farm labor workers of
different ethnicities was unprecedented at that time, setting an
example for future generations of workers and organizers and
proving to be one of the reasons for the success of the movement.

(e) Larry Itliong moved on to become the President of the
Filipino American Political Alliance, the first national political
Filipino American organization and a crucial alliance between
Filipino professional and laborers that grew out of the Delano
Grape Strike.

(f) Larry Itliong was also instrumental in the founding of the
Pablo Agbayani Village, a retirement home built by volunteers for
retired Filipino Manongs who no longer had families and needed
a place to call home.

(g) Larry Itliong passed away in 1977 at the age of 63 leaving
behind his wife and seven children.

(h) The accomplishments and contributions of Larry Itliong
should be properly memorialized within the history and culture of
the United States of America. Larry Itliong deserves proper
recognition for his numerous sacrifices in the name of justice and
the suppression of severely inadequate working conditions.

(i) Larry Itliong’s legacy has been acknowledged in part in the
renaming of a Union City middle school, formerly known as
Alvarado Middle School. The middle school has been renamed
Itliong-Vera Cruz Middle School in honor of the two labor
movement heroes. It is the first school in the United States of
America to be named after a Filipino American.

SEC. 2.  

Section 37222.18 is added to the Education Code, to
read:

37222.18.  

(a) October 25 of each year is designated and set
apart as Larry Itliong Day, a day having special significance
pursuant to Section 37222.

(b) On Larry Itliong Day, all public schools and educational
institutions are encouraged to conduct exercises remembering the
life of Larry Itliong, recognizing his accomplishments, and
familiarizing pupils with the contributions he made to this state.

SEC. 3.  

Section 6725 is added to the Government Code, to
read:

6725.  

The Governor annually shall proclaim October 25 as
Larry Itliong Day.