Little Manila Is in the Heart
The Making of the Filipina/O American Community in Stockton, California
Dawn Bohulano Mabalon
(Author)
21,000+ Reviews
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Description
In the early twentieth century--not long after 1898, when the United States claimed the Philippines as an American colony--Filipinas/os became a vital part of the agricultural economy of California's fertile San Joaquin Delta. In downtown Stockton, they created Little Manila, a vibrant community of hotels, pool halls, dance halls, restaurants, grocery stores, churches, union halls, and barbershops. Little Manila was home to the largest community of Filipinas/os outside of the Philippines until the neighborhood was decimated by urban redevelopment in the 1960s. Narrating a history spanning much of the twentieth century, Dawn Bohulano Mabalon traces the growth of Stockton's Filipina/o American community, the birth and eventual destruction of Little Manila, and recent efforts to remember and preserve it.
Mabalon draws on oral histories, newspapers, photographs, personal archives, and her own family's history in Stockton. She reveals how Filipina/o immigrants created a community and ethnic culture shaped by their identities as colonial subjects of the United States, their racialization in Stockton as brown people, and their collective experiences in the fields and in the Little Manila neighborhood. In the process, Mabalon places Filipinas/os at the center of the development of California agriculture and the urban West.
Product Details
| Publisher | Duke University Press |
| Publish Date | June 17, 2013 |
| Pages | 464 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Hardback |
| EAN/UPC | 9780822353256 |
| Dimensions | 9.5 X 6.4 X 1.3 inches | 1.7 pounds |
About the Author
Dawn Bohulano Mabalon is Associate Professor of History at San Francisco State University.
Reviews
"Little Manila Is in the Heart is a much-loved masterpiece of ethnography, history and activism all at once, centering on the titular Little Manila of downtown Stockton, California. Mabalon's writing is as sharp as it is loving and accessible, and the way she traces the community's origins to its contemporary struggles against gentrification could be fruitfully linked to similar struggles around the country, particularly the rapidly changing Bay Area. Rest in power, Dawn."--Elaine Castillo "Electric Lit" (4/15/2019 12:00:00 AM)
"[An] engaging account of the Filipino American experience in the 20th century. . . . It expands and deepens our knowledge of that past beyond Bulosan's riveting account of the Filipino American experience in the first half of the 20th Century. Of course, it helps that Dawn Mabalon is retelling the history of her own family and her own community."--Benjamin Pimentel "Phillipine Daily Inquirer"
"By acknowledging Filipino community formation in a context of intercultural relations while also privileging uniquely Filipina/o stories, the author effectively weaves oral accounts into her narrative, offering a human dimension to the urban history of Little Manila that would otherwise remain lost in the past."--Naomi Alisa Calnitsky "Oral History Review" (7/11/2018 12:00:00 AM)
"I expect that Little Manila will become a staple in courses focused upon histories of California, immigration, and labor."--Allison Varzally "American Historical Review"
"Mabalon's text is not merely a history of a community, but a study of how that community has been remembered and forgotten, given the redevelopment and gentrification policies that demolished most of Little Manila's buildings after the 1960s." --Christopher Patterson "International Examiner"
"Mabalon's work reminds us of the precious importance of engaging in conversation with our elders. As a fellow third generation Filipina American, almost twenty years older than the author, I had often felt alone in seeking out the stories of my grandparents and ancestors, then writing about them in order to keep them alive for all generations. Mabalon--author, professor, and community activist--sets the bar for projects such as these to new heights. Justly so, because 'A community worth saving is a community worth writing about. And vice versa.'" --Lisa Suguitan Melnick "Positively Filipino blog"
"This extensive book has valuable information for multiple audiences, including ethnic studies academics, students of ethnic studies, and general readers interested in labor, gender, intergenerational relations, urban studies, race, and the everyday lives of Filipina/os in the twentieth century." --JoAnna Poblete "Journal of American History"
"[An] engaging account of the Filipino American experience in the 20th century. . . . It expands and deepens our knowledge of that past beyond Bulosan's riveting account of the Filipino American experience in the first half of the 20th Century. Of course, it helps that Dawn Mabalon is retelling the history of her own family and her own community."--Benjamin Pimentel "Phillipine Daily Inquirer"
"By acknowledging Filipino community formation in a context of intercultural relations while also privileging uniquely Filipina/o stories, the author effectively weaves oral accounts into her narrative, offering a human dimension to the urban history of Little Manila that would otherwise remain lost in the past."--Naomi Alisa Calnitsky "Oral History Review" (7/11/2018 12:00:00 AM)
"I expect that Little Manila will become a staple in courses focused upon histories of California, immigration, and labor."--Allison Varzally "American Historical Review"
"Mabalon's text is not merely a history of a community, but a study of how that community has been remembered and forgotten, given the redevelopment and gentrification policies that demolished most of Little Manila's buildings after the 1960s." --Christopher Patterson "International Examiner"
"Mabalon's work reminds us of the precious importance of engaging in conversation with our elders. As a fellow third generation Filipina American, almost twenty years older than the author, I had often felt alone in seeking out the stories of my grandparents and ancestors, then writing about them in order to keep them alive for all generations. Mabalon--author, professor, and community activist--sets the bar for projects such as these to new heights. Justly so, because 'A community worth saving is a community worth writing about. And vice versa.'" --Lisa Suguitan Melnick "Positively Filipino blog"
"This extensive book has valuable information for multiple audiences, including ethnic studies academics, students of ethnic studies, and general readers interested in labor, gender, intergenerational relations, urban studies, race, and the everyday lives of Filipina/os in the twentieth century." --JoAnna Poblete "Journal of American History"
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