Dioscoro "Roy" Respino Recio Jr. interviewed by Toby Baylon and Nicholas Nasser

In this interview recorded via Zoom, Dioscoro "Roy" Respino Recio Jr. speaks with Toby Baylon and Nicholas Nasser, two members of the Watsonville is in the Heart project team. Recio details his childhood experience in Watsonville in the late 1960s and 1970s. In particular, he discusses his experience growing up with a disability in a low-income, working-class neighborhood of Watsonville known as Mesa Village. He also discusses his father's immigration history from the Philippines to the United States to pursue work as an agricultural laborer. Recio details his mother's experience as a mixed-race Filipina who grew up in an orphanage. He also details his work experience as a community organizer in San Francisco working for the Manilatown Heritage Foundation, San Francisco Veterans Equity Center, and the Displaced Airport Screener program. Recio explains how his trajectory led him to founding The Tobera Project and establishing the Watsonville is in the Heart research project with the University of California, Santa Cruz. During the interview, at timestamp 11:19, Recio describes how racial slurs were commonly used against Black and Mexican individuals while he was growing up in Watsonville. In this conversation, he uses two racial slurs.

Dioscoro "Roy" Respino Recio Jr., Toby Baylon, and Nicholas Nasser

May 1, 2021

Watsonville is in the Heart (WIITH) is a community-driven public history initiative to preserve and uplift stories of Filipino migration and labor in the city of Watsonville and the greater Pajaro Valley. All oral history interviews are donated to WIITH by the narrators. Copyright is held by WIITH. Oral history interview recordings and transcripts are available for unrestricted use and reproduction by educators and researchers. Please note that the recordings on this website are provided via Soundcloud. For access to oral history audio files, please get in touch with the project director at wiith@ucsc.edu. If you are an oral history narrator and would like to remove your interview from the archive website, please contact the project director.

English

Oral History

REC.2021.15

Toby Baylon and Nicholas Nasser

Dioscoro "Roy" Respino Recio Jr.

Zoom

.m4a

1:29:27

[00:53]- Growing-up on a Filipino Labor Camp in Watsonville and Challenges faced by Roy and his family
[06:19]- Interracial relations and multicultural communities in Watsonville
[13:06]- Dioscoro Sr.’s background in the Philippines and reasons for migrating the US
[17:00]- The Recio family’s relationship to religion
[19:59]- Mother, Sally Anne Dalisay’s background as a “dust bowl migrant”
[22:31]- Challenges with navigating disability and healthcare
[26:55]- Roy’s educational journey
[29:40]- Overcoming insecurities about identity and ability
[34:06]- Watsonville community dynamics and leisure activities
[38:41]- Narratives about United Farm Workers
[41:42]- Impetus for the Tobera Project and Watsonville is in the Heart
[46:32]- How Watsonville has changed over time
[49:58]- Adolescent leisure activities and the American Dream
[51:45]- Importance of preserving the multicultural histories of the Pajaro Valley and Santa Cruz county
[54:03]- Filipino American Studies at San Francisco State and engagement with grassroots activism
[56:22]- Inspiration for starting Filipino community organizations in Watsonville
[1:00:0] Roy’s relationship with his mother and her impact on his life
[1:08:50]- Roy’s work as the founder of Tobera Project and Watsonville is in the Heart
[1:14:21]- Watsonville Race Riots and Anti- Asian and Filipino Racism