by Elpidio Estioko
In high school in the Philippines, in our literature and English classes, we were taught of writers doing great in America in the 1930s to 1950s and beyond.
One of them was Carlos Sampayan Bulosan who was not only a great writer but was an activist whose editorial and literary works contributed to the labor movement and progressive causes in the US.
Last September was his death anniversary month and this November was his birth anniversary month, so the Philippine News Today (PNT), a weekly newspaper circulating in the Bay Area, is paying him a tribute for his achievements fighting for Filipinos and Asian immigrants from the 1930s to the 1950s.
The tribute will be held at the Auditorium, Milpitas Jose Esteves Library @ N. Main Street, Milpitas, CA 95035 on Tuesday, November 25, 2025 from 12 noon to 4:00 pm.
Spearheading this tribute are PNT Editor-In-Chief Alfred G. Gabot; PNT Publisher/President Francis Espiritu; Columnists Art G. Madlaing and Elpidio R. Estioko; long-time former mayor of Milpitas Jose Esteves; and the Binalonanians in the Bay Area led by Romualdo Cerezo and the United Pangasinanes of California led by Ernie T. Abalos.
Opening remarks and acknowledgement will be done by Elpidio R. Estioko, author/columnist; welcome remarks by Hon. Garry Barbadillo, Esq., Vice Mayor, City of Milpitas; Former Milpitas Mayor Jose Esteves will deliver the inspirational message.
The introduction of lead discussant by Teddy Molina, columnist; Remembering Carlos Bulosan in Milpitas, San Jose and San Francisco by Alfred G. Gabot, author, journalist; Poetry Reading: “Gusto Ko Ang Malawak na Lupaing Amerika.” by Claire Morales True and Ronnie Estrada; Donation of Books “Iti Pusok Ti America,” by Art Madlaing and Romeo Cerezo of the Binalonanians.
The introduction of the guest of honor and speaker will be done by Elpidio R. Estioko and speech of the guest of honor and speaker Hon. Neil Frank Ferrer, Philippine Consul general will follow.
Discussions/Reactions/Q & A will be led by Hon. Evelyn Q. Chua, City Councilmember and Alfred Gabot, Elpidio R. Estioko, Art G. Madlaing, and Ernie T. Abalos as panelists.
The tribute will be done by Gabot, a nephew of the late Bulosan entitled: “Carlos Bulosan Left His Heart in San Francisco” and the last part of the program will be the book signing/sale of “California: A Philippine Territory Almost and Other Stories” by Alfred Gabot, professor/author/journalist.
Few weeks ago, in Los Angeles, a campaign to rename Echo Park Library in the Filipinotown, Los Angeles to Carlos Bulosan Library has secured a major boost from media and other groups, including the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles.
Philippine Global Media Group headed by veteran journalist Val Abelgas, president; and Dan Nino, chairman; presented a signed resolution supporting the campaign initiated by the Carlos Bulosan Book Club led by Commissioner Jaime Geaga and the Friends of Echo Park Library headed by James Castillo.
Deputy Consul General Maria Alnee Gamble signed the resolution as a witness to show support during a tribute to Carlos Bulosan and launching of the book, “California: A Philippine Territory Almost and Other Stories,” authored by journalist and professor Alfred Gabot, a nephew of Carlos Bulosan.
Bulosan arrived in Seattle in 1930, at the young age of 17. He was met with racism and was forced to work a low paying job as a farmworker, harvesting grapes and asparagus, while also working other forms of hard labor in the fields of California. Moreover, along with his brother Lorenzo, they worked as a dishwasher in the famous Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.
Bulosan contributed to the labor movement and progressive causes through his editorial and literary works. He was associated with the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America (UCAPAWA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), a predominantly Filipino American cannery trade union based in Seattle.
In 1934, he helped edit The New Tide, a short-lived Filipino workers’ literary magazine that connected him with other left-leaning writers, including Richard Wright and Sanora Babb. Through The New Tide, Bulosan promoted themes of social justice, anti-colonial struggle, and solidarity among working-class communities. There, he was hired to edit the 1952 Yearbook for International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 37.
As a journalist, Bulosan expanded his activism for the ILWU during the 1940s and 1950s. His articles and reports in union publications addressed Filipino migrant labor conditions and supported multiracial worker solidarity along the Pacific Coast. His visibility as a union writer led to FBI surveillance during the early Cold War years, when he was considered a “dangerous subversive.”
Bulosan, despite these pressures, continued to use newsletters, magazines, and union yearbooks to articulate the struggles and aspirations of Filipino and other marginalized workers in the United States.
He was blacklisted as a labor organizer and socialist writer during the Second Red Scare of the 1950s. Denied a means to provide for himself, his later years were of illness, hardship, and alcoholism. He died in Seattle suffering from malnutrition and an advanced stage of bronchopneumonia. He was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle.
His works, however, did not immediately garner widespread appreciation. For two decades after his death, his works were largely forgotten, until a group of young Asian Americans rediscovered his works and led to the republication of America is in the Heart in 1973.
In 2018, the Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies Initiative was established at the University of California, Davis to carry on his legacy of activism through research and advocacy of the Filipino and Filipino-American community. The initiative backs the creation of the Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies to support research, education and advocacy.
With the push of Philippine News Today reviving his writings via this tribute in the Milpitas Jose Esteves Library, Filipino Americans and Asian Americans, especially his townmates from Binalonan who are here in the US, can appreciate his contributions to the country’s farm labor movement.
Carlos Bulosan, you and your literary and revolutionary works deserve to be remembered and appreciated! You deserve the best accolade!
ELPIDIO ESTIOKO was a veteran journalist in the Philippines and an award-winning journalist here in the US. He just published his book Unlocking the Chain of Poverty: In Pursuit of the American Dream which is now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Xlibris Publishing. For feedbacks and comments, please email author at estiokoelpidio@gmail.com.
About Author
+ There are no comments
Add yours