Day 1: From Salinas to Berkeley: The Local Roots of the Third World Liberation Front Strike

Speaker Bios:

Lillian Fabros Bando (JD, MSW) was born in the Philippines; Lillian grew up mainly in Alisal, a working-class division of Salinas, California. Her family worked in the fields as onion bunchers, and as strawberry, lettuce, and tomato pickers, and other farm work. After graduating from Salinas High School, Lillian went to UC Berkeley, where she was active in anti-Vietnam work and third-world activities. She was a founding member of the Asian American Political Alliance in 1968. After graduating from Berkeley in 1971, she went to Columbia University and became active in the Asian American movement with students at CCNY. In 1972, she returned to San Francisco and worked in South of Market with Filipino groups, Project Hanapin, and youth groups. She moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA School of Social Welfare and worked with Royal Morales at the Asian American Mental Health Training Center as well as took part in Asian American movements against Little Tokyo Redevelopment, anti-Marcos groups, and other Filipino, Japanese, and Chinese community actions. She graduated in 1979 with a Master's in Social Welfare, went on to graduate from UCLA Law School in 1985, and practiced as an attorney for 18 years. Now retired, Lillian volunteers with Filipino organizations in Los Angeles and helps her husband with his gardening.

Adna Louie was born in Hong Kong before immigrating to San Francisco's Chinatown in July of 1948. She and her family moved to Salinas in 1950. Her father worked different jobs, and her mother worked in a laundry and peeled green onions until the pair were able to make payments on a small restaurant in 1959. She and her family lived in the attached living quarters in the back. The restaurant demanded so much of the family's attention that her parents had to put her youngest brothers into foster care for several years, which was exceedingly difficult for the family. She graduated from Salinas High and attended San Jose State until dropping out in the fall of 1969 to get married. After the marriage failed, she was a single mother to two children for over a decade and earned a living working in retail. She and her current partner have been together for over thirty years. She has three beautiful grandchildren who are the delight of her life. Adna says, “I am forever grateful to my parents and my ancestors for their hard work, devotion, and incredible personal sacrifice."

Vicci Wong was born and bred in the Salad Bowl to the World--Salinas, California. As a child farm laborer, she cofounded the Salinas chapters of the National Farm Workers Association and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) while also active in the Movement against the Vietnam War, the draft, and nukes. In her teens, she went on to co-found the Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA)and the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF). After graduating from Berkeley, she moved to SF Chinatown/Manilatown, where she organized immigrants, tenants, and retail/clerical/sweatshop workers and cofounded the I-Hotel basement. She founded the first Asian Film Festival and cofounded the May 4th Singers--the first Asian American cultural group of its kind. She was the lead singer in several revolutionary bands, such as Chi-Town Fightin' Machine, Thunder Road, and Repeat Offenders. Wong was a longtime writer, reporter, and editor. Her books include What Have Women Done?, Soldiers and Strikers, A Pictorial History of Chinese Working People in America, Stand Up: An Archive Collection of the Bay Area Asian-American Movement 1968-1974, and The Global Struggle for Oil. She keeps sane by laughing a lot--mostly at herself, and doing Taijiquan.