“The movement must go beyond its leaders.”
Philip Vera Cruz came to the United States from the Philippines in 1926 at the age of 21. He worked primarily as a farmworker in California’s San Joaquin Valley and later became a leader in the Asian American and farmworker’s movement.
Conditions for farm workers at the time were harsh — temperatures ranged from 100 to 110 degrees during summer months and workers lived in labor camps without door toilets, showers or kitchens. They had no access to healthcare, no benefits, and virtually no rights on the job.
