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Delano Grape Strike
Delano Grape Strike: Text
The events that transpired during the Delano Grape Strike of 1965 as well as after as a result of its impact were the main inspirations for WELGA.
Delano Grape Strike: Video
Due to the unfair conditions farmworkers were forced to work under during that time, a strike was called for in Delano, California. The leaders of the Filipino farmworkers were Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz who were willing to risk their lives to demand justice and dignity (Bonnivier).
However, they soon realized that their numbers amongst the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) wasn’t enough to get their message across. There was a clear ethnic divide on the lines, but that wasn’t going to stop them.
They soon asked the labor leaders of the Mexican farmworkers, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, to join their movement to which they agreed!
Delano Grape Strike: Text
Delano Grape Strike: Video
The strike, which didn’t waste time in becoming a shared international movement, lasted for five years from 1965 to 1970 and has now gone down in history as both “legendary and successful” (Bonnivier).
The combined forces of the Filipino and Mexican farmworkers resulted in the formation of unions as well as better conditions and better pay for the laborers then and for those who follow into today and in the future!
Conrad Panganiban was deeply inspired by these events and these people and wished to write a story surrounding the Delano Grape Strike. On his personal playwright blog, he even mentions how he’d initially thought of writing a play in which it’d just be an interview which would eventually lead up to the events of the strike. However, he soon realized it was purely factual and less about storytelling which he didn’t want to be lost!
Delano Grape Strike: Text
Delano Grape Strike: Pro Gallery
Therefore, Panganiban found a way to incorporate this piece of history in WELGA with, as he says, “the belief that the best way to create a brighter future is to LEARN about the past and create action instead of just learning about it.” He wanted to make Manong Larry Itliong’s history relevant alongside a present timeline. What is a Manong you ask and how did Panganiban do so in WELGA?
Delano Grape Strike: Text
Well, here are your answers!
Delano Grape Strike: Text
(watch from 1:11:14 till the 1:12:21 timestamp then from 1:20:31 to 1:22:40)
Delano Grape Strike: Video
As seen above, the class of students of which the protagonist of the play, Johnny, is a part of are required to partake in a play―or rather a short skit―of their own about the Delano Grape Strike. This class performance counts as participation and, in this special instance, doubles as their final. In order to pass their history class, they must perform.
The audience then learns of Johnny’s mother, who is a caregiver struggling under the conditions she has to endure at her workplace. Johnny’s friends seek to ask her if they can stage a protest, a strike of their own, similar to the held in Delano years ago. It’s then revealed that, if this protest follows through, it will count as their final.
In the end, Johnny is pulled in two different directions, torn between finally being able to pursue his dream music career and standing in solidarity in order to help his mother as well as pass his class. He ultimately decides to answer “the call” as the two scenes bleed together and, although he has missed the performance and hence his final, he makes his way back to the place of the strike in time to join in!
Delano Grape Strike: Text
Delano Grape Strike: Text
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