Manuel Bersamin interviewed by Steve McKay

In this interview, originally recorded on Zoom, Manuel Bersamin speaks with Watsonville is in the Heart team member, Dr. Steve McKay. Manuel discusses his father, Eulalio “Max” Bersamin’s migration history— including his early life in Bangued, Philippines, and his labor migration to Hawai‘i and California. He describes Max’s over fifty-year career as a migrant farm laborer in Central California. Manuel explains how his father married Victoria Quintero, a Mexican woman whom he met in Mexicali. After migrating to Watsonville with Max, Victoria helped many other family members immigrate to the US resulting in a large, mixed-race family unit. Manuel discusses his and his family’s mixed-race, “mestizo” identity. He also reflects on the manongs’ experiences as they endured racism and poor labor conditions. He discusses their leisure activities including gambling, cockfighting, and cooking. Finally, Manuel speaks about his father’s disillusionment with the “American Dream” as well as his resilience and resistance. Notably, he discusses Max’s passionate involvement in the United Farm Workers (UFW). Throughout the interview, Manuel explains the ways that Max's resistance and union participation influenced his activism and careers as a Watsonville City Council member (2003-2012), mayor of Watsonville (2006-2007), and currently as a grant program director at Hartnell Community College.

Manuel Bersamin and Steve McKay

May 6, 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 contact 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

BER.2012.13

Steve McKay

Manuel Bersamin

Zoom

.mp4

2:01:26

[03:42] Eulalio “Max” Bersamin’s participation in the California manong migrant farm workers’ circuit
[06:45] Max’s background in the Philippines and his migration history
[08:16] Ilocano enclaves in California and their leisure activities
[09:56] Max’s impetus for immigrating to Hawai’i and California for work
[13:39] Max’s reasons for settling in Watsonville
[16:02] How Max met his wife, Victoria Quintero, a Mexican woman who was working in Mexicali
[18:33] Max and Victoria’s meeting, marriage proposal, migration to Watsonville, and wedding in New Mexico
[22:43] Max’s silences about the struggles and discrimination he endured
[23:56] Manuel’s experience learning about his father’s history of resistance and labor
[25:24] Feelings about their mixed-race, mestizo identities while growing up in Watsonville
[27:55] Max’s experience with labor resistance and the histories of labor organizing in Watsonville and in the Salinas Valley
[3014] Manuel’s reflections on why Max never wanted to become a US citizen
[31:27] Recognizing Filipino involvement in the farm workers movement and Filipino labor history in the Salinas Valley
[37:35] Growing up in Watsonville in a mixed-race, blended family
[40:43] Filipino foods Max made for his family and fellow manongs
[49:57] Max’s favorite leisure activity, cock fighting
[51:13] Reflections on grappling with mixed-race identity, assimilation, and feelings of isolation among immigrant and first-gen folks
[1:03:52] Max’s fifty year career as a farm worker
[1:07:58] Divisions in the Watsonville Filipino community between descendants of the manong generation and post-1965 immigrants
[1:25:15] Downtown Watsonville redevelopment and the destruction of Philippine Gardens
[1:28:24] United Farm Workers in the Salinas Valley and Max’s participation in the union
[1:44:01] Manuel’s work with UFW during his political career
[1:45:51] Reflections on why Max joined the union while other Filipinos did not
[1:54:58] The importance of preserving the history of manongs and labor organizing in Watsonville and the Salinas Valley