TC and the troop had a cultural dance performance for UCSD's Oasis Summer Bridge and Triple SSS (Student Support Services) Programs. Bert also wanted to see several former colleagues from Bridge...
As we drove around campus, he kept remarking how this building and that building wasn't there when he was an undergrad ('97-91). In fact, his college, Third has since been renamed as Thurgood Marshall. There was no Eleonor Roosevelt College (formerly called Fifth) and there is going to be a Sixth College!
I noticed the Sanford Consortium at the light. I thought of my lunch last year with Dennis and Minxi. I thought perhaps Bert, TC and I could go there later for lunch. Unfortunately, the performance started later than anticipated so that idea was nixed. We also ended up getting a free lunch while on campus, but more on that later.
Bert wanted to pay a visit to the Sun God, a whimsical bird sculpture by the late Nikki de St. Phalle, whose other colorful mosaic tiled sculptures can be seen at Balboa Park (near the Mingei Folk Arts Museum and the Hall of Champions) and at the Queen Califia Sculpture Garden in Escondido. The Sun God is 14 feet tall and stands atop a 15 foot horse shoe shaped pedestal. It was first installed in 10983 as part of the university's Stuart Collection.
The performance was supposed to be near Stonehenge (1984), the third installment of the Stuart Collection. Summer Bridge staff members were busy laying blankets on the grass area for the programs' students. Tables for lunch were also being set up. Bert ran into several college classmates and former Bridge employees while there. This is one of the groupings of the pillars.
To kill time, we walked over to the Che Cafe which was down the hill behind Stonehenge. The Che is a worker co-op, social center, and live music venue. The cafe's name is taken from Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara. When Bert was in college, the Center was known for it's reggae shows and the health food served at the cafe. Over the years, the Cafe has undergone controversy, most recently with eviction and how the cafe is a fire hazard, unsafe, and dilapidated. For more info on that, please see this recent article from the San Diego Free Press. This was my first time seeing the Che, after having read about it in the papers over the years. I was especially interested in the colorful murals on the exterior walls.
I really liked this wall which featured Malcolm X, Cesar Chavez, Phillip Vera Cruz and Che Guevara.
"By any means necessary..." Malcolm X.
Next to Cesar Chavez's image on the mural, I was esecially pleased to see Philip Vera Cruz, an unsung Filipino American labor leader/civil rights activist. In the 1965, VeraCruz, along with Larry Itliong of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) helped convince Cesar Chavez and the Mexican run National Farm Workers (NFW) to go on strike in Delano. The AWOC consisted largely of Filipino farm laborers who worked the fields all along the West Coast. They did the jobs no white Americans wanted to do. In the 1950's and beyond, Filipino workers were replaced gradually with laborers from Mexico. The AWOC and the NFW later banded together to form the United Farm Workers (UFW). The Delano Grape Strike was one of the most successful strikes in agricultural history. A few of my older activist friends actually met him in the early 70's when they helped build Agbayani Village, a retirement home for farm workers, in Delano.
Here is a short educational video about Philip Vera Cruz:
So please, whenever you think of Cesar Chavez and the labor movement, also think of Philip Vera Cruz and the other unsung Filipino farm workers who played a big role in the agricultural development and the betterment of working conditions and wages of laborers in the United States.
I also like this one about how the Manongs lived in the labor camps:
It was such a hard lifestyle and continues to be a very difficult lifestyle for the current crop of Latino immigrants working the fields...
One last history lesson, the song, "Profits Enslave the World", based on a poem written by Philip Vera Cruz, and first published in the 1992 edition of , "Philip Vera Cruz - A Personal History of Filipino Immigrants and the Farmworkers Movement" by Craig Scharlin and Lilia V. Villanueva. I have two copies of this book in my personal library.
"While still across the ocean
I heard of the USA
So thrilled by wild imagination
I left home through Manila Bay..."
Around the corner was the entrance to the Che's courtyard...
Top view:
View at the end of the walkway.
Flyers taped on the walls:
This photo has a lot of glare since I took it through glass...The night before they had an event to help save the cafe.
The History of the Che:
View from the front:
Easter side view:
Last look before we headed back up the hill...
As we were waiting, a Mexican trio was performing for the students already. We were invited by Bert's former colleagues to have some lunch. At first, we refused because we wanted the college students to have their fill. We were assured that there was tons of food and they had enough for everyone. At that point, we could not refuse.
The Summer Bridge and Triple SSS programs target underserved groups (ethnic minorities, low income and/or first generation college students). They had food for almost every ethnic persuasion (Filipino, Vietnamese, soul food, Mexican food, Indian food, to name a few). Our plates had a little bit of everything. I passed on corn bread and mac and cheese though.
Bert's plate had a beef filled empanada, a turon (banana fritter), a flour tortilla with carne asada meat, a corn bread roll, half of a shrimp spring roll, a salt and pepper chicken drummette, Spanish rice, beans, and pulled pork. I had a samosa and some stir fried noodles on my plate (on the right, photo above).
The food was delicious but a bit on the carb heavy side. The student volunteers serving the food were so nice and one of them even recognized me. Small world!
In addition to the Mexican singing group, TC and the Philippine dancers performed and afterwards, Aztec dancers who performed a rain dance and a group activity for the students. African drummers were also there. It was quite a lively session and many students were quite enthusiastic during the crowd participation portion.
Near Galbraith Hall was this huge red chair sculpture (relatively new), which the dancers had a fun time standing on and taking pictures of each other goofing off.
Our day took longer than expected because of miscommunication (on our part) as to when the performance would begin. On the plus side, Bert was able to meet up and renew connections with former colleagues and we saw a few friends as well. A few were alumni of the program and/or have worked for the program so they were happy to see Bert there, although we were mainly there to watch TC and the group perform.
While on campus, I felt a bit emotional thinking of how it will be when TC goes to college in four years, whether she goes to SDSU, UCSD or even out of San Diego. This is such a big step for young adults, living away from home (and away from their parents, which is Bert and I in a few years) . I hope when the time comes, we will have adequately prepared her for this stage in her life.
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