Confession: Growing up, I was really lucky in that I was raised in pre-dominantly non-white, immigrant communities. In fact, I mostly grew up in areas where there were large concentrations of Filipino families, just like mine. Dededo, my home village is notorious for being Filipino-heavy. When I moved to Union City, California, the story continued.

This Friday, Alvarado Middle School (one of two middle schools in Union City) will be re-named to Itliong-Vera Cruz Middle School. It’s been a while since I have lived in Union City and I loosely followed the conversations surrounding the name change. (This is largely because my students at Berkeley would fill me in on this.) While I did not attend Alvarado Middle School, all of my cousins did. The name change makes sense, given the community makeup and history of Union City’s immigrant community. The middle school I attended was called New Haven Middle School. However, its name was eventually changed to Cesar Chavez Middle School. The newly named Itliong-Vera Cruz Middle School is a nice tribute to Filipinos in UFW’s legacy. I do hope to join the festivities on Friday. If that happens, I’ll post an update:)

Maraming Salamat (Many Thanks),

Joanne L. Rondilla, Ph.D.

Mesa, AZ