~ Visit the official JAMsj website ~
AAPI & Japanese American Museum of San Jose
Digital Archive

Cora Tomalinas

Date: August 30, 2022
 Interviewer: Yvonne Kwan and Ellina Yin
 Interviewee: Cora Tomalinas (1944 - )

Cora Tomalinas immigrated from the Philippines to the US for her schooling so that she could take care of her family. She served on several task forces and committees in San Jose including the San Jose Gang Prevention Task Force, the steering committee of the CORAL Initiative, the Catholic Charities' corporate board, and the steering committee of People Acting in Community Together (PACT). She also served as a community volunteer at the Franklin McKinley and East Side Union High School Districts. Additionally, she has served on former San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales' Redevelopment Task Force and former San Jose Mayor Susan Hammer's New Realities Task Force.

Transcript of Cora Tomalinas

Click on any section of the transcript to jump directly to that segment of the video. This feature lets you quickly access the content you're interested in without the need to manually search through the entire video. You can also click on the tick below each transcript to expand the text and read the full content without playing that segment of the video.

Joy & Cultural Resistence Timeframe 00:00 >> 12:45

My name is Corazon Basa Cortez Tomalinas. I was born in Agoo, La Union. That's Northern Luzon in the Philippines. During the war, 1944, May 13, 1944 in Agoo, La Union and my father was Donato Cortez, and he's from San Carlos Pangasinan. Actually. So Ilocano and Pangasinan. And my mother is Carmen Basa, and she was from Agoo, La Union.

Well, my mother did not work. My father was a driver, actually, a cab driver.

(Interviewer) And their education level?

Elementary school, no high school....Well, I had my brother, Renato, but he died before I was born. So I never knew him. Then myself. Then my sister Isabel, then Demetrio, then my sister Celia. And then Ramon, then Maria Lena, and our baby is Albert. So... yeah, we were supposed to be eight, but we were seven. Very large family, you know, in the Philippines, are your immediate family like your grandmother or your grandfather, we all lived together, right. Except, you know, my my siblings and my parents, they lived in Baguio. And traditionally the eldest. They lived with the grandparents, sort of a trade off. Right. So they all left and went to live in Baguio. And I wound up living with my grandparents in Agoo actually. So that's where I grew up. Hmm.

(Interviewer) And did you eventually move back in with your family?

No, I only went for vacations, actually, in Baguio, but I did live with my grandparents. I actually, I lived in Barrio San Jose in Agoo. And that's how everybody knows what the barrio is, right? It's a village. And my... my father was murdered when I was nine, and the village sort of adopted me, I guess. Everybody knew everybody in the village, right? In the barrio. Everybody took care of everybody, most of the time. Yeah, we, we were a poor family, yeah. But it was a happy childhood, actually. I did a lot of activities even then. Right. My grandfather was a dance teacher. And so I started folk dancing when I was three, four years old. So that was fun, you know? And during Fiesta time, they would have pageants and plays. And I did all that.

I also went to school early because all my playmates went to school. So I decided, fine. And, you know, back then you can go to school if you can reach your ears, yeah. So they tell me, you know, reach your ears and then you can go to school if you can. And I can tell you this haha! Okay. I did it. So I was in class. They admitted me in school, so I went to school early. It was fine. [I was] probably five. It's kindergarten over here, right? It's first grade over there because it only, it only took ten years to finish from elementary grade to high school. I was valedictorian all the way! Hahaha, from elementary, simply because the method of instruction in the Philippines at that time was English. And I wasn't afraid to speak English. And everybody else, right, no matter how intelligent or right they were, they wouldn't speak. And I was the one who was always, yeah, loud, vocal. So that was good. Right?

And... I went to the barrio. I graduated elementary from the barrio school, actually. Yeah. So when you're outgoing like that, all the teachers like you, right? So, yeah, I did everything. And if I didn't like it, I just said no. Being raised by grandparents kind of makes you spoiled, I guess! That's what it is. Yeah. In high school, it's the same thing. You know, I went to a Catholic school, St. Mary's Academy, in Agoo. So, but there were no nuns. The director was a priest, but the director was also a relative of mine. Right. So, yeah, the discipline in that school was pretty rigorous, you know? But when you're a high schooler, you're a teenager, there's always ways to circumvent the rules. Yeah. So I was when I graduated, not only was I not the valedictorian. Valedictorian, can't say that. Valedictorian, I was also the best actress, the best orator, everything else. Right? But like I said, I wasn't that good. I was only loud. And I carried that all the way through. So pretty much pretty much very good.

But, you know, going back, though, I told you my, my dad was murdered when I was nine. Well, perhaps then it was hard, but the emotional... Yeah, the emotion was probably not as difficult for me, maybe, than my siblings because I didn't live with them, right? But when my father died, my siblings and my mother moved back to Agoo. I was my then nine, ten years old and I became dad to my siblings. Actually, I was high school, right? Because my mother wasn't that disciplinarian. So I was the one who did all that. I took care of my siblings, then. You know, I taught them how to pray even. Yeah, they will tell you that whenever they didn't pray. Pay attention. You’re praying. Right. And we also lived with my grandma and my grandpa and Aunt that was single lived with us, so there was 11 in the family how. So anyway, in high school. Yeah. It was very difficult after my dad passed away actually. Yeah. I had an uncle from a neighboring town that used to bring produce, and I would sell them. So I was the vegetable vendor actually. I would sell them, except there was only one problem if somebody didn't have money, I just gave it away.

Just gave it away! Which didn't work out very well, I guess. I mean, you know, the profit is marginal then, but I had fun. I had fun. By then I would be, I would be ten when my dad, yeah. So from ten years old, all the way through high school, that's what I did. I would help sell stuff. But, the difficult part is sometimes there's not produce to sell. There's not produce to sell. And so I had to go looking for what we would eat next day. Oh, my mom would. Yeah. There's always my uncles from neighboring towns and they helped as well. But remember when I said the barrio helps each other, you know? You know what "utang" is? That's when you borrow from somebody, you know, can we borrow some rice or salt, even? Or bagol because they have something you don't! That's the way life was.

(Interviewer) How did you manage everything?

Actually, I -- I don't know. You had to do it, I -- I wanted to do it, right? And so I did. It was for me, was part of who I am. And so I did it. I also sang in the choir, although I out of tune like, yeah, I can't carry a tune in a bucket! But I was singing in the choir because the choir members, if I didn't go with them, they wouldn't go either. You know, they said either we go together or nobody sings in the choir. And so I sang in the choir. I started teaching catechism when I was about ten. Yeah, I remember I said I was the one who taught my siblings how to pray. And so in the Philippines, sometimes after Christmas, we have Santo Nino, right? So we would take Santo Nino from house to house. And that's what I did. I would do that and uh, Mother Mary as well, the Virgin Mary. I would take her around. Around the barrio, sometimes even different barrios, would take them there. So yeah.

Narrative & Identity Timeframe 12:45 >> 21:47

Y know, it's very hard to answer those questions. I have to go back and... it's always an emotional thing for me? Sometimes we would like to forget. Yeah, except it comes back. It haunts you sometimes.

Yeah. So I was saying, my, my father died, and it was difficult. Life was difficult. Meantime, my siblings were growing up. When I graduated from high school. We actually didn't know whether I would be able to go to college. Right. Um. Yeah. And what about my siblings? They were. Yeah, they were ready when I was graduating. I had a sibling, the one next to me was already a sophomore, you know, and the other one was growing up and coming to high school as well. And you know, in the Philippines, you had to pay for high school. There was no public high school at that time. So we needed to do something. We needed to do something.

My mother had a brother who immigrated in the United States long time ago, like way before the war in the 1920s or something. Right? Way, way before the war. And... he said he would help, but that I had to come here to the United States. Um... it was a difficult decision. I didn't want to come. It wasn't uh.. Life was hard there. But it was a happy life. Yeah. I also had a boyfriend that I didn't want to leave. Of course, as well as my family, too. You know, they were my kids, actually. They were my kids. It was difficult, but it was a decision that had to be made. And I said, yes, I, I will leave because I had to .. uh actually the-- one day before I left, my youngest sister was about five, four or five. She said, “When are you coming home? If you leave, when are you coming home?” And I said, “Few days.” She said, “Where is America?” I said, “You go by boat for a few days, but I'm going on the plane, so it'll only take me two days.” And my mother, the night before I left, said, “We'll be fine. Don't go. We'll make do somehow.” I said, “You know, what about the kids?” I can manage probably. You know, I can find scholarships or whatever. They were hard to come by over there, right? But I'll find them. But the kids, you know, who would support the family then. Yeah. [wipes tears] Thank you. I'm sorry. Okay.

(Interviewer) Take your time, don't apologize. I know it's emotional yet, thank you for sharing your story.

So that was in 1961, actually. September 5th, 1961 is when I left.

(Interviewer) So how old were you at that age?

16, 17. When everybody found out I was coming here, I was talking to the principal of my school, Mrs. Salone, her name was, and she was educated here in the United States. And she says, you know iha [Tagalog for daughter or young girl], even if you go there, you have three things against you. Number one, you're a woman. She says, yes. Number two, you're colored. Yeah? And number three, you're bright. And they don't -- you know, that's not that's not an asset there. Those are three things that are strikes against you. So, you know, just be mindful that that's the way it is. I said, okay. So you had to go to the embassy. When you immigrate to the United States, you have to have an interview with somebody in the consulate.

So we go to Manila and the agent, you know, you had to have an agent that will help you maneuver through the immigration process, said, “You know, they're not going to let you go.” They're not. You're a minor. Right? And then he said the same thing. You're a girl. Yeah, always they say, “You're a girl.” I said, but just get me an appointment and I'll, you know, for the interview, at least so here I go. So I go to the interview and the first one said, “No, they're not going to let you go. You're a minor.” I said, “No, I want to talk to the Consul General.” They started laughing, of course, like, “yeah, right. Yeah. You want to talk to the guy?” So I guess it was a slow day. I don't know! Or you know. Yeah. So he comes out and I talk to him and he asked me, “Why -- Why do you want to go?” And I said, “Well, I really don't, but I have 11 people that I need to support, you know, to help raise. And there's no one else to help. So if you don't let me go, that means there's six kids that are never going to finish college.” Their education stops because we don't have the means to do it. So then he says, “Okay, tell me about yourself.” So I was telling him and after I told him our, our family history, he says, “Did you eat yet?” I said, “No, I wasn't lying Sir.” You know. So I didn't eat yet. So he said, “Okay, I do you have money to pay for your passport and your visa?” I said, “Barely, but I do.” My uncle, you know, sent me enough money. So he took me to lunch. He took me to lunch and he told everybody, get her stuff ready. And he got my visa. Thank God I got my visa right. So I guess that's how come I got to be here. It's a whole lot of people, a whole lot of village, a barrio, a whole barrio praying for me, I guess, and rooting for me.

Timeframe 21.47 >> 24:12

My other uncle was married to a Caucasian lady. She, um, her name was Geneva? Yeah. Blonde, blue-eyed lady. We used to live in Daly City by the Cow Palace. Right. They owned half a block over there by the Cow Palace. And that's where and that's where I lived. So I lived with the whole people that European Americans that were used actually, that were used to living with Filipinos. Because at that time, you have manongs that have been here for a long time that would live together in one house. And I had a lot of relatives that are, you know, distant relatives, mostly men, right, old men that's been here for a long, long time. But they all lived in the city in San Francisco. My uncle who brought me here or the lady's-- the lady's husband passed away. There is another story because she was Caucasian, she was European American, and he was Filipino. And so what she--what she was telling me is they were not allowed to get married here. And so they were actually married in Mexico. So, you know, she was a very nice lady. And all her family, of course, all European Americans. So I'm used to living with... with them, I guess didn't they didn't know how else to treat me. So most of the time, you know, they were okay. They treated me fine. In fact, I think they were a little bit shy with me because I was loud.

Joy & Cultural Resistence Timeframe 24:12 >> 27:35

So I went to high school here because it takes 12, 12 years for you to finish high school here. So I graduated from high school in the Philippines. Then I went to Jefferson High School in Daly City for two years. There were only a handful of Filipinos there at that time. Now the mayors and how many times the mayor in Daly City was--is a Filipino?

I think it's still it's a Filipino. But at the time, there were only, you know, you can count on one finger, the Filipino students in Jefferson High School. So... yeah, they used to ask me actually what, well, especially my English teachers, right? Would say, “Did you write this?” And they would ask us to write an essay or whatever.

And yes, actually, you know, I did. “Are you sure?” “Mm hmm.” Or they said so you. You speak English very well. Do you speak any other language? I said, “Yeah, I speak the national languages, Tagalog, and then I speak Ilocano.” I said, “Most of the Filipinos in the United States actually speak Ilocano first, especially in Hawaii. Right? Very especially in Hawaii. Or if you go down the peninsula in Delano and Santa Maria. Most of them are Ilocano.” So he says, “Oh, you speak any other language?” I said, “Si, un poquito español. Hablo español tambien.” Yeah, so they were kind of 'oh, you know, you can do that.' So it was also a good experience sometimes, there's always somebody who would kind of take a look at you because they didn't see too many of, you know, Filipinos, like kind of... 'where is the Philippines?'Right. Well, it's in Asia, Southeast Asia, near the equator, all that stuff. So it's good. Actually... . The experiences are pretty much okay. Once they start talking to you, it's fine. Once they start talking to me, it's fine. Nobody ever asked me why I looked that way. After I tell them, well, it's in Southeast Asia, it's near the equator we're all dark! Right? Yeah. And since the sun is shining too bright over there, that's why we have our eyes a little bit hooded so it doesn't get hurt.

And normally when you answer it that way, everybody sort of “Oh okay, fine. You know, I'll not ask anymore.” Like I said, pretty much shy. Yeah.

Narrative & Identity Timeframe 27:35 >> 39:36

Oh, I'm one of the original flower child. Right, because I went to San Jose... no, San Francisco State University at the time when we were trying to get the cultural affairs [sic ethnic studies] curriculum at San Francisco State. So they were having, you know, the rallies and the picketing and all that stuff. Right. This is San Francisco State by then. I had I had a good time at San Francisco State, actually. Yeah. What I noticed, though, is when now for picketing, you know…the police officers that are on the horses, I think the horses, would say, ah, “Now are you going to riot?” And I'm going, “Wow, what do you mean we're going to riot?” No, we're just picketing, right? But once in a while, it got kind of out of hand. Like one time they were. Yeah. I guess it was the day that some people. It's funny because some people-- it's not funny at the time. Right. Well. People just didn't think it was funny when they went into the president of the college and they ransacked his office... the Filipinos ransacked his office. Anyway, now the Filipinos, those Filipinos--one of them I saw after a long time--and he was the guest of honor at one of the events, gala events.

And he's a judge now. And I said, 'Oh, what do you mean?' He's looking at me going [ineligible], but I guess you grow up too. It was a good time to grow up at San Jose State [sic San Francisco State] because... I guess I'm a gregarious person. So we had the overseas student affairs over there. And the only problem is, you know, overseas students, we had to pay triple or quadruple the tuition fee. I was lucky that my uncle who brought me here used to give me an allowance for school, right? The problem was, remember all those people, those siblings that I left behind, somebody had to support them, right? And I wasn't working because I wasn't allowed to work because the visa I got was a student visa. It was the only one I could get because I was a minor.

So at the time I got it. So... the allowance went to the Philippines to support my family. I didn't buy any books. I would stay in the library and use the books there. But I needed to because some of them were starting to go to college by then. When I was in college, too, right. There were good kids. Some of them are found jobs while they were going to school as well. So they were helping me and they were helping my mom. So, yeah, and they were kind people actually. I didn't drive at the time yet and I used to take the bus. I was in the nursing program, right, at San Francisco State. So we used to do our clinical over there on Kaiser and Geary Street. So I had to take the bus from the by the Cow Palace from Geneva Avenue, you take the bus that went all the way around San Francisco to Geary, right? And on Third Street. I used to get up very early, actually sometimes I forgot to change, and I might have my pajamas on when you go.

So. So then the bus driver would say, 'Oh, how are you, doc?' And he would wait for me when I'm a little bit late, you know, the bus driver. And he always called me Doc for some reason or another, and I said, 'No, I'm going to be a nurse.' He says, 'Okay, Doc!' So I thought I felt safe in his bus, and sometimes I guess he knows that I'm tired. So there was one day there that he... I was on the bus a few times because he'd let me sleep... you were tired. So. Okay, you know, I guess about the third time that we went around, he said, 'Okay, now you got to get up, get up.' He would say, okay, I'm up now. So they were really kind people.

Remember those distant relatives that I had, I would go downtown in San Francisco, and we'd we'd walk down Market Street with Lolo, ride with a bunch of Lolos and uncles, and they all worked or retired from or worked in restaurants or with their own hotels, actually. Yeah. Hotels, by Chinatown. All that, they would. That's where they worked.

"I think the first thing people need to ask themselves is why you're doing it. Yeah... what's the reason? Right? And you go from there, actually. I thought it was important because they were asking me like... these are college students that are asking you 'Where is the Philippines?' Well, you know, where is Iran? Where's everything else? Where's Africa? Where? And I thought it was important that we were fighting for cultural [ethnic] studies at that time. We had to get it, right, because how else are you going to create relationships with each other unless you know about where everybody else come from? Not totally who they are, but at least a little bit. And yeah, I met a lot of people on the picket line. Yeah. But I decided to act on the things that I thought can be improved. And how else are we going to do it unless we learn about each other? So that curriculum actually was vital, I think, if we were going to... if we're going to survive being in one place and living there successfully or happily. And so I don't know about you, but sometimes picketing is fun. I mean, I met a lot of people on the picket line right. But there were drawbacks, too, because some that's the first time... I've seen somebody. While you're on the picket line with a police officer that comes and says, now, are you going to riot? We didn't set out to riot, actually. People remember in San Francisco State, they had riot. You know, that's those people are just troublemakers, you know? Of course, there's there's always the [pangalore?], right?

But for a purpose, anyway. I know that there are groups that went inside of the president's office that. Well, we're Filipino. I knew them anyway. I would meet them afterward. You know, a few years down, especially the judge I know now, he was a judge, so it was fun. But there was, there was this incident. Where I don't know if any of you came or went to San Francisco State. But the cafeteria is right in the middle of the campus. Right. “No, I'm not finished eating. Let me go, you know.” They said, “Oh, okay, it's okay.” Just one of us. That was. Yeah, but I wasn't afraid of that. You know, they don't set out to hurt anybody. They didn't anyway. They could have hurt me, but they didn't. They let me finish eating.

Joy & Cultural Resistence Timeframe 39:36 >> 41:21

I always wanted to be in the medical field. I wanted to be a doctor, actually. But that takes a lot of money and a lot of time. And I had six siblings I needed to put through college so I couldn't. I guess in my-- When you graduate from high school, they give you this album, right? This memory album. And that was pretty arrogant of me when I wrote down, okay, what do you think you came for? I think the question was, what do you think your mission is? You know, what would you like to do? And I wrote down 'to aid humanity.' Yeah. Okay. But, I thought, just raising my siblings alone was aiding humanity because I knew one day, one day they were going to be great. All of them. Yeah... they have to be! They're my siblings, right? They're my brothers and sisters. They were going to be great when they...

Joy & Cultural Resistence Timeframe 41:21 >> 45:49

(Interviewer) Cora, can you tell us more about your influences while in college-- teachers, friends, club involvement, etc. that shaped your character for activism?

Yeah, there was one lady. Her name was Helen Martin. And she used to be, she was very active at-- in San Francisco State at the time I was there. She did a lot of folk dancing, but she also did a lot of picketing. And anyway, I used to go, we used to dance in different... events, I guess, over there. And I remember one time. There was a general that used to be president of the United States [sic Nations]. General Romulo, I think, okay. I always remember I always wanted to meet him because... I read that when somebody ask him, 'How does it feel to be two... to walk among this other soldiers, huh? Generals who are taller than you are.' And he said, 'I feel like a dime among nickels.' And, oh, I like that. I want to meet that man. So I did actually, when he came, I did Helen-- Helen, I think, was the first one that I knew who, who was, who decided what she wanted for the FIlipinos. And she went after it. So I said, that's what I would like to be.

When I graduated from college. If you're a student, you have to be eternally a student or you have to go home, right? Well, I-- I graduated from college and I needed to work. I had a family to support back home, right? So my visa expired of course. So you have to go to court, right? So I didn't have enough money to pay for a lawyer. So I went to court by myself and the judge was asking me questions and he said, “So tell me, why should I let you stay?” I said, I told him I needed a residence visa so I could work. And he says, “Well, why is that?”

You know, it says, here you have a student's visa. So after you graduate from being a student, then you go home. I said, Yeah, but I also have this family in the Philippines. I said, And I have three brothers and three sisters that need to go to college. Or that are going to college, some of them now. And that will all stop if I don't start working. I need to work to support that family, you know. And after that, I'll go home. Yeah. And he said, “Okay, you got your green card.”

And he said, “But I don't think you're going home.” I said, “Oh, why's that?” He said, 'Because we American boys are not stupid. We're not going to let you go.” I said, “Oh, okay.” Actually, I wanted to ask him if he had a son he could introduce me to. But I guess I was too nervous to do that, so I did not. So that's how I got my green card. Actually. I was undocumented for... yeah, for a while.

Systems & Power Timeframe 45:49 >> 47:31

When I was in college, I had this professor. I forget his name, but English lit. Yeah. And he was also my professor in humanities to, to. I found out too, in that class that my teacher in the Philippines when I was in high school was going to be my classmate because she's now one of those scholars. Yeah. So she got a scholarship to go to San Francisco State. So she was in my class too. That was neat.

And this professor, actually, it's about I wrote an essay on juvenile delinquency and he read the paper and he read the paper. And he said, “Are you sure you wrote this?” I said, 'Yeah.' He says, 'Read it.' I said, 'No, I don't have to read it. I'll say it for you.' So I did see I was best orator in high school. So he said, okay, you know, and my teacher was over there going [clap clap]. Yeah, that was very interesting, though. He didn't believe I wrote that thing, like it.

Timeframe 47:31 >> 50:03

So I started looking for a job and there were... yeah, they needed nurses at the time. Actually, nurses were being given H1-B visas at the time. So... you know how it is. When they need you, then they give you the visa, right? So I came to San Jose at the San Jose Medical Center downtown. I don't know if you may not remember that because it closed long time ago, but it was San Jose Medical Center downtown.

And that's how I met my husband, actually. And the first thing he told me was, “What took you so long?” Because I guess he came to San Jose from Pennsylvania four years before I got there and I wasn't there. So he said “You weren't here, so I joined the Air Force.” And the next time after he finished his stint with the Air Force, he came back. He came back to San Jose Medical Center. And I was there. I was already there. So we got married.

I also met one of my favorite people at San Jose Medical Center because the staff at San Jose at that time, had a strike. Right? They went and yep, they went on strike and... we did our, our whatever, our shift. And after the shift, I would go picket along with the ones that are picketing. But that's how I met Norm Mineta. So, yeah, one of my favorite people. He was always so down to earth... people? Yeah. He, when he talked, he talked to you like he knew you for a long time. And that you have a lot in common, right? So I liked him. I followed his career, actually. You know, his family, too.

Systems & Power Timeframe 50:03 >> 54:45

I was an assistant head nurse first at San Jose Medical Center and then... I-- Santa Teresa at that time was American Medical International. It was a private hospital. So I moved there, and I applied for nursing supervisor. Amazingly enough, I got the job right, probably the first nursing supervisor in the county. So I worked there for a while. But I was married already when I got there.

I think in the medical profession, there's a lot of Filipinos. Uh. A lot of very, very bright, capable Filipinos. Right. But are not just nurses, but lab technicians. The doctors would come later. Okay. So although I had two cousins that were physicians that came. Yeah. So I think the medical profession itself has gotten used to different cultures because there's not as much Vietnamese at the time, but Hindu Americans. We had and we had people from Haiti actually. Actually, one of my favorite co-supervisor at the time was from Haiti.

So we had... yeah, I don't think it's really funny, but it's there was one time when I was a supervisor there, there was this one lady, she was European American that she didn't want to get taken care of by somebody that that's colored. Yeah. 'Don't touch me.' Taking care of and she said, 'I want to see that the supervisor. I want to see the supervisor.' And so the nurses called me and they said, 'Okay.' I. Well, then. 'Okay, what's the problem here?' 'Well, the lady said she didn't want to get taken care of by a colored person.' I said, 'Oh.' So I went there and I said, 'Yes, ma'am, you know, can I help you?' She says, 'I want the supervisor.' I said, 'Ma'am, I am the supervisor. Right. May I help you?' And she said, 'No, I don't want any colored person.' I said, 'Okay.' So I picked up the phone and I called emergency room and I said, 'Hello, there's anybody there that's not colored? Because we have a patient that needs to be taken care of, and she doesn't want anybody that is colored.' Well, most of the people that night were nurses, especially in the PM shift and the night shift. Most of them are. And the only doctor that wasn't colored said, 'Well, white is a color too. I'm not going with that.' So I said, 'Okay, ma'am, it's either me or the nurse or nobody cares that, you know, there's nobody.' As she grumbled quite a bit. Mm hmm. Yeah. Yeah. So sometimes you just have to take a deep breath. Yeah. It doesn't happen very often, but when it happens, then it hurts. And it hurts afterwards. Like, now, when I think about it, I-- I still kind of feel, you know.

Transformation & Change Timeframe 54:45 >> 1:03:26

Okay. My husband. Yeah. Favorite person in the world. My husband is from Pennsylvania. And Tomalinas is not a Filipino last name. He's actually from Lithuania. You know, Baltics around Russia-- used to be a Russian settlement, actually. So he was blue eyed and blond and very tall. So it was a mixed marriage. But at the time when we got married, it was 71, already, 1971. And we could get married here. So, no, I did not go to Mexico. I actually got married in San Francisco.

Well, my my daughter was born in 1974. And it was okay, actually... by the time when when she was born, I actually stopped working for a while, right? Then I started working part time still as a supervisor, yeah? That was okay. Then I had, in 1977, I had my son, and I totally stopped working for a while until they started going to school. And I work part time again. But I didn't work as a supervisor anymore. Actually, I floated around the hospital for a while. That was good, actually, because I got all this experience, right, in different departments. And I remember, though, that a lot of the nurses said they were disappointed that I didn't go back as a supervisor. Yeah. Because that they were more comfortable when I was there. So, yeah.

So I started volunteering at the school where my kids were. I would take them to school in the morning and then I would stay to volunteer and took them home with me. Yeah. I did that all through their elementary grades, and I started teaching the kindergartners, actually. Oh, I became president of the PTA because the chapter was going to close. So I became president of PTA. And for the first time in that elementary school, they had an international day. So I, I taught that kids, the kindergartners and the first graders, I taught them how to do folk dance. Right. The difference was that Mexican children danced the Filipino folk dance, and Filipinos danced the Mexican folk dance, and so on. And then everybody danced to Italian. Yeah. Afterwards, so I was trying to teach the kids, you know, to learn already, to learn to get along with each other, to have fun with each other. And yeah, that was.

And then... the, yeah, the neighborhood where we are is what I would call middle class, I guess middle class neighborhood. And sometimes, oh, the parents wanted this, this elementary school was, first through sixth grade, fifth grade. Yeah, but they wanted a middle school. Yeah, they wanted a middle school. That's when you ask yourself, 'Why? Why do you want the middle school here?' And so they had we had a meeting, I guess a board-- In the board meeting, they were saying all kinds of things and why they wanted the middle the middle school there. First of all, it's closer to the neighborhood, right? It's closer to their kids. Uh, one of them. But one of them said, 'Because I don't want my kids to grow up like those kids over there.' The middle school is on McLaughlin and right next to Santee. Yeah. It's a very restless neighborhood, right?

Yeah. Eastside. Yeah. And people have this-- even the people that are close by there living right by there were saying, you know, 'I don't want my kids to go. The kids over there are, you know, troublemakers and they have fights and things like that.’ And... 'I want my kids-- my kids are mentally gifted.' This this lady was saying 'My kids are mentally gifted and they need a nurturing environment.' I guess I was friendly up to them or I had enough, but I don't think that's the right word. I was just you know, and that comment set me off. That comment really hurt, right? And I was addressing the board and I said, look it, to the lady. I said, you know, 'I don't think you should be saying that. You know, if you're saying that the school is not good enough for your kids, then let's shut down the school, because then it's not good enough for anybody.' Right? Close the school down and that's what I what told the board. Right. Shut it down. Because everybody, every kid should have a nurturing environment. Yeah, not just mine, but even the kids that you're saying are troublemakers. They need it more. Yeah, and they deserve it. And so we didn't get the middle school, right. My two kids, in the meantime were going to middle school. They didn't want to go to private school. Yeah, I guess they come by it, honestly. 'Why I want to go there? It's a goldfish bowl.' My daughter has always been like, I know. Of course, my son goes along with the sister. And so. No. They both went to middle school at J.W. Fair on McLaughlin, yeah. And the PTA chapter there was going to close, too, so I went from from Stonegate to being president over there at J.W. Fair. Yeah. Yeah.

Transformation & Change Timeframe 1:03:26 >> 1:14:00

So by then, my my daughter would be 13, right? And they were fine. I was busy. I was busy playing the, you know, ideal family with the white car and 2.1 kids and shaggy dog. Right. The shaggy dog is the ".1". So it was fine. Yeah. Until my daughter. My daughter started being a teenager. You know, you name it, she did it. Right? She didn't join gangs. She would tell you, 'I never did that.' You know, it was something else. They didn't call it gangs. Well, I can't remember what it is now, but it's a group of kids that get together and they party. 'They don't,' she says, 'They don't do bad things, but they party,' right? But you know, my daughter graduated from J.W. Fair in May and went to Yerba Buena High School. She went to Yerba Buena High School by the time November rolled around, you know, she said, 'I'm in trouble. I need help.' And my family would go through a very challenging few years, actually. Yeah. For, ah, for those parents who are fortunate enough to have children that are disciplined, that are... okay, right. Not challenged.... This daughter was challenged. Talk about baptism by fire. She was, I... so we had to take her to a rehab center. At that time, the insurance companies would not pay for mental health. And so we had to pay, and it cost $18,000 for 28 day stay. We were fortunate. We had a house that we were renting, and we had to sell that house to pay for everything because the family also went through…We had to go through our therapy. You know how much that cost? It's over $100 for an hour. Right. And she had her therapy, and we had our therapy that $200 a week, week after week. Yeah. But you know what? I got her back. She graduated from San Jose State, actually. Cum laude. Yeah, got her back. And to this day, she would tell you, you know, Mom, you were always supposed to do something to help, you know, kids like me, and you were too busy. So maybe the good Lord said, 'Okay, if this is the only way, then you've got to save your daughter.' Because I found out that while we were trying to bring him [her] back, probably-- I found that, that the courage that I needed when I came here to do something, because I went to Al-Anon as well for the 12 step. And I met people there. I met judges and doctors and all kinds of people, because when I went there, I said, you know, 'I don't belong here.' You know, I'm educated, I can speak English. I have the means to take care of my daughter. I knew how to knock on doors. I was president of PTA, right. But what about those people that can't speak English, that don't have the means to take care of their kids? What about those people? What about those people who don't know how to knock on doors? Because I knew how, I knew how to knock on doors. But when I turned around to knock, there were no doors there. There were no doors. One organization would say, or at least a county would say, We can't help her because she has to be arrested to get in the program. Now, if that isn't the stupidest thing in the world, right? I don't want her arrested. And then the other organization would say, oh, 'We don't do intakes on weekends. Okay, so you just have to wait with your child.' And so I decided to, you know, what do you do? I wanted to say thank you, right? Thank you, God. Yeah. But at some point you have to get off your knees. You can you can get on your knees and say, 'Thank you,' but that's not enough. I needed to do something else. So there was this organization that we're trying to... while it was organized, or revive, or they were trying to make it stronger, and it was PACT - People Acting in Community Together. I don't know if any of you know that, but if you don't, then you should. Okay. It's a multicultural, multi denominational organization in San Jose, and our church, actually, Saint Maria Goretti, joined and there was a priest there who I would come to love actually, Father Tim, his name was Father Tim Timmy, and he was a fighter. He, he wanted so much for the community and he was willing to go in and live for it. Yeah. So I started working with the PACT. I would eventually go to New Orleans to get trained in PACT. This organization does not acceptable grants from the government. I know. It's all foundations and individual donors and the churches. Yeah, the multi denominational churches that are members of PACT, you don't have to have a membership if you're a member of the parish and you wanted to work on neighborhood challenges neighborhood issues then you just come to the meetings and to-- I think we forget this. That's actually how you organize. You know, it's the relationship that counts. You can't really ask somebody to go with you in the picket line-- one thing I learned when I was beginning in San Francisco-- unless you know each other, right, unless somebody genuinely believe that you care about them and so PACT go from one family to the other. It's a home visiting. You know, you just go to your fellow parishioners or your neighbor and say, you know, 'Hi', get to know them and say, 'Is everything okay? Is there anything, you know, we can I can do for you, I can help you with?'

Transformation & Change Timeframe 1:14:00 >> 1:24:23

And if they're ready-- when they're ready, that'll tell you what we need, what you need. And if it's a personal issue, then we'll deal with that, yeah? And if it's a community issue we'll deal with it together. I don't-- PACT doesn't do anything for you, but we'll do something with you, not for, with. And after you joined pact actually just snowballs from potholes right, from potholes to at the time we had a very, this was in the eighties. Yeah. We had a very, very severe gang problem, to the point where they were finding people's bodies by the trash can and inside the school grounds, right? So the, the community was hurting at the time. And when you hurt, either you shrivel up, or you fight. You know, fight or flight, right. And so PACT, as a group, decided we had to do something about it. Save the children and our families. Right. Children and families. And so we decided to band together and work on the issue because the issue is not somebody else's. It's ours. It's ours. The perpetrators, the gang members are our kids, the same as the... you know, the same as the ones that are being impacted. Right? And so we set out, PACT set out to start studying the issue of gang problems and how it's affecting the children and families in our community and what can we do about it. And who's the target? Politicians, right? We can do we can help, but by ourselves, without a lead, without a concrete plan, we can't do it. So then PACT started to talk to the ones that make the decisions, right? At the time this was all going on. Well, the problem started when McHenry was the mayor still of San Jose. And he tried, I guess, but nothing came out of it, right? Not very-- well, I wouldn't say nothing, but very little. And then Mayor Hammer came along and George Shirakawa Sr. became the council member for District seven. And what PACT would do is do research on the problem. So we go and talk to the people on the trenches, you know, 'What exactly do you need?' Believe me, there were great people, great people that I met. You know, I would meet pastors that were in jail for 22 years because they were gang members. Yeah, wonderful people. Pastors that I would later meet under the bridge looking for people that disappeared or, yes, people that were living by the creek. Yeah, that would that would be Father Matteo. He used to do that a lot... We tried everything actually. So the powers that be, the decision makers, can't say we didn't try, because at least at Saint Maria Goretti, because Santee at the time was really, really one of the places that need help the most, right? We even-- I even talked Father Kevin into blessing the street one at that time, that's empty. So we had a procession through the road. He said, you know, 'I don't know why I'm doing this.' I said, 'Because there is no one, you know, nothing else. You got to try this.' After, we did the research and asked the people in the trenches, 'What is it that we need?' Like we went to talk to Joel Mosely, who was then working with Mike with-- Yeah. Congressman Honda. Okay. That used to be in the 'Si Se Puede', right? Si Se Puede our [ineligible]. So eventually they will be that decision makers eventually. But at the time we were starting to engage the community a lot more, not just involved, but engaged, there's a big difference. You know, you can get involved with not being engaged because engagement is an action, it's a verb, it's alive. You have to be there yourself and you have to do something. Involved? You can fill out the surveys. Okay. You were involved. If you came to a meeting, you were involved. But unless you got up and said your piece at that meeting, you weren't engaged. So we started engaging the community and we came up with... At the time, there was a redevelopment agency and the city told us they can't use the redevelopment agency for programs or people. They can only use it for structures and blight. Yeah, well, who was making the blight? You know, it just doesn't get up by itself. So address it from the root, right? This is the problem. That's why you have this blight and that's why you're having all this crime, right? So... finally, actually, it was-- it was Congressman Honda that came up with the, okay. RDA, RDA. Wow. And we fought for RDA to start funding not just blight and structures, but programs for people. For people, because that's the most important thing.

And so since the whatever the rules for RDA says, you can't spend it on people and programs, we had to-- well, we asked George Shirakawa and Mayor Hammer to go to Ventura County because we heard of a program there that's called BEST. And in Ventura County, it was called Better Educated Students of Tomorrow. So we liked the program because it had prevention, intervention enforcement, and aftercare. okay, We had to have the reentry and aftercare. So we also, the city also created this BEST and it's now going to be called the Bringing Everyone Strength Together in San Jose. Yes, that would be the conduit for the funding because then the city would fund BEST and RDA would fund city projects. Right? Because they can only do blight and structure. Yeah. So that's how San Jose BEST was funded and everybody came up with that.

But I say, I say in my opinion it was Mike Honda that came up with it because he's the one that was coming to PACT to tell us all about this. This is how you know it's going to happen. So yeah, so we organized around it and first it would be three people, yeah, sitting together. Your neighborhood coffee shops? Yeah. Then it would be ten people.

Transformation & Change Timeframe 1:24:23 >> 1:34:22

In the meantime, we would continue talking to the powers that be. The City Council, the whole city council, every one of them. By the time we were ready to ask. Well, we don't ask, right? Okay. It's not, it's not the government's money; it's the people's money. So PACT never asks. They demand. So by the time we were ready to demand, we had a meeting first over I guess on that church on Almaden way over by Campbell.

Yeah I forget what the churches there is... we had done several hundred people by that time demanding the same thing. Right. And then the culmination I guess we didn't get the funding for San Jose BEST and then one time we had the meeting at the cathedral, yeah. We had the meeting at the cathedral and with Mayor Hammer at that time and Zoe Lofgren by then was congresswoman. Right. So she came she came to and PACT has what they call an action where they would have that target, which like where I'm sitting now and and PACT members would ask questions like we would ask for a commitment at that time and you had to make it publicly. Yeah. And I think our, our ask was $5 million for San Jose BEST.

Yeah. And you keep, you keep asking and you keep asking one or two questions, will you, you know, okay. So 'Will you at least think about it with the city council,' blah, blah, blah. And George Shirakawa, Shirakawa Senior would always say, 'You ask no more than what you deserve, but I'm only one and we need six people.' The city council. And we keep saying, your PACT keep saying, yeah, about one one starts it and the rest would come if you have a good reason to be doing it, I says, well, 'You ask no more than what you deserve.' Okay, will not will do so. Then at that time we ask Mayor Hammer at the cathedral. By then it will be 1500 people. We pack that cathedral because we brought our neighbors, right. We brought our neighbors; people who can't get there by themselves, we bused. Yeah. We'll pick you up where you are if you want to go. And so we pick them up from churches, from park, you name it, wherever they live. And they came. 1500 people. Finally Mayor Hammer at that time said she can't commit to 5 million, but she would talk to the city council and for sure they would, yeah, for sure. Publicly, I always say every time Susan Hammer said no, it cost her a million bucks because then if you don't say no today that it's 3 million, tomorrow when we come to you, it'll be 4 million.

Yeah, she was a good lady. I should tell her. But our DA, you know, for structures. Blythe Itasca. But who do you love? Yeah, who do you love? And she would come back to that. Who do you love? Who do you love? Susan, right. Yeah. So we have San Jose BEST who then would fund-- first do we wanted, okay, the Mayor's Gang Prevention Task Force. That's the conduit, I guess. That's the program where they're going to put that funding on, you know, for the community. Right. It would be the Mayor's Gang Prevention Task Force and it would have all those components, the prevention, intervention, enforcement, and aftercare. And it will be a long time. But you know what? That door that wasn't there... by the time the Mayor's Gang Prevention Task Force came, there was an office. I remember the lady's name was Dawn was the first one that was director of that.

It's a live call, like 988-now. Now, you know, there's a lot now, right, that you can call and you can get help, a live person. So that door was built, not one door, but many doors. Many doors because the people who were hurting at that time, they didn't waste that pain. Don't ever waste pain. Yeah? It was painful for me, to leave my family, right? But, by God, I used that. So did the people. So did the community. Because the community was hurting, you know, our kids were dying. You know, our kids were killing, you know, use that pain. Something will come good from it. Yeah. And so... we also set out to tell them what we wanted in prevention. So we had homework centers all over San Jose. You had a homework center in your district? Yeah, all over. Did we get that 5 million? Not yet. Not the whole $5 million yet. But then George Shirakawa Sr. passed away and George Junior would come, and Mike Honda, who became supervisor first, would become Congressman Honda. Yeah. So all the people that cared for the community now had part, were now part of the decision maker on where our taxes go.

Right? So... yeah, we had homework centers and George Shirakawa Junior would become the District Seven representative. And the first-- the first thing, and he will tell you this, the first time request he had that he brought to the City Council was $5 million for San Jose BEST. And then he would tell me afterwards, 'Why did you me why did you make me do that?' Everybody was laughing when I handed them the thing. You know, $5 million that I wasn't supposed to do something like that yet.' I said, 'How would I know, you're the councilman, right?' Yeah. He said, 'I ought to have that thing. $5 million. Oh, request of the city council.' Right? But the homework centers-- Mr. Fiscalini, Frank Fiscalini, was awesome and... every time-- Fiscalini's district had homework centers, it's a very, quite an affluent thing. So all the City Councilmembers got money from the San Jose BEST for their homework centers and they had a choice of which school to give it to. Well, every time a councilmember didn't have a request from the school, George Shirakawa would take the, 'Oh, you can give it to me because we already have a program that we know where to find.' We already have it, you know, set up. So we got a lot. That's how actually Franklin McKinley that there there's a they joke about Franklin McKinley being the pilot forever because 'Oh we'll take it!' Right? We get, we could use it if it doesn't work. Well, but we can try. Yeah. We can try and our kids are worth it.

Transformation & Change Timeframe 1:34:22 >> 1:39:55

I remember there was one meeting. I think it's CDBG, there's Owsley Park on McLaughlin. So then the neighborhood decided right, that we wanted Owsley Park. Well, by then the San Jose City Council were going into this community engagement themselves, right? So we wanted a... we saw a park the neighborhood. We're looking at parks, we saw a park that had a fountain, you know, water feature. So then at the meeting we were asking, can we have a fountain? You know, we had this drawing... the apartment houses had a drawing, you know, a dragon-- of a dragon that spout water all over. And for some reason or another, somebody asked me, one of the staff, I guess, ask who know we were talking about, what do you think this is? Saratoga? And I—Oh she said, 'Cora, Cora, what do you think this is, Saratoga?' And George Shirakawa says, 'That's Mrs. Tomalinas to you, and yes, we will have a park, and we will have a dragon.' So if you go to that Owsley Park, there's a dragon there and you have to put your hands, you know, the little kids can put their hands on that thing there and water would go out. Every time I pass by there, and I go, and it doesn't work-- I call, you know, I call them, 'Hey, the dragon isn't working, it's down, but it can't get.' Okay. But see, when you have a relationship with the community, it actually works. There was also that time when we were asking-- at J.W. Fair, we were asking for our youth center. Yeah. Now we don't have many cities, and we don't have money for the youth center, so it just will have to wait, right? Has to wait. While we were waiting, waiting, the neighborhood was waiting for this community center or youth center, and it wasn't coming. So then we wrote a letter to Shirakawa saying, 'Oh, you know, I know that you're working to get this youth center built, but somebody may be stealing all the materials because it's not here. It keeps disappearing.' So then if it's not here, what we probably should do is have the neighborhood. The neighborhood will will just sleep there. The fire, so they could steal the material. Yeah, yeah. But you can do that when everybody is on one page, right? How badly really do you want this youth center? Why do you? Of course you have to know why you want it also, right? Yeah. For awhile there, every time the youth center needed painting, we had the homeboys come and help us paint. Yeah, yeah. The neighborhood came. The neighborhood came to paint. Yeah.

And then you remember when I said about the pain, don't waste the pain. Santee neighborhood along with the city sued their landlords because there are a lot of absentee landlords, and we thought that the reason why really the the neighborhood was restless and had so much challenges in terms of violence and all that is because they're they didn't, they don't get services, right? They were not getting services. And so, the neighborhood and the city decided to sue the landlord. Because the some of the tenants were saying that that sometimes a landlord would come in the morning, would knock and go in their house and would go in to take a shower. I was that or they would say, yeah, there's water seeping from the ceiling and they tell the landlord, nobody takes care of it.

Joy & Cultural Resistence Timeframe 1:39:55 >> 1:46:37

Actually, I think-- I feel anyway, it's, it's better now. It's better now because our young people, young Asian Pacific Islanders, I think, are starting to find their voices. I mean, it started quite a while, right, at San Francisco State, but for a long time after that, to me, anyway, it felt like it was quiet. Yeah. Here in San Jose, at least, we had Akbayan from San Jose State. Right. Then we would have Pinay. And now we have lead Filipino, of course. Yeah. Yeah, so I'm very hopeful. But to the microphone. Yeah. I always tell people, you know, what they say about people are really afraid of speaking in public. Sometimes they're more afraid of speaking in public than dying. Right. There was an article about that. But actually, when you speak... you actually die. Why? It's-- it doesn't work when it doesn't come from your heart. Because the people that are listening to you will not hear. Yeah? Every time I get a chance-- and I have-- and I can take the microphone, I take it because the word is probably mightier than the sword, they say. Right? Yeah, it's true. What we have to make sure of, though, is when you have the microphone that you speak your truth. Yeah. And you have to take the consequences of that. Because once you say it, it's public. Right? Can't take it back. I guess that's why people are afraid of microphones, but you can use it as a tool. Yeah. To me, that's what it is. Yeah. So yes, every time I get a chance, I pick up the microphone. Every time somebody says, 'Who wants to talk?', I usually go, Yeah, if I have something to say. If not, you know. You know how Filipinas are- they are usually very meek and very sweet. Right? And quiet. Yeah.

Yeah. We were working on the gun laws. Yeah. And we had our community meeting for it... an input meeting. And I remember Blanca was there and a whole lot of politicians were there. And lo and behold, a roomful of NRA people came, right? So when you're at those meetings, you're not supposed to say anything. You're supposed to just, you know, take it all in. Right? Because that's not supposed to be the time to discuss. Yeah, maybe, right? Well, the audience there were saying to the people that are sitting in front listening to them, you're all on the take. 'You're only doing this because you know you're being paid by the company that makes this gun lobby.' You know, all of you. So then and they were naming them to so then they didn't know my name, I guess, because I wasn't the politician, right? So I finally said, okay, this is me, you know. So I said, 'Hello. Can I can I say something?' And I did. I said, My name is 'Cora Tomalinas. You know, and I'm not a politician. I'm not a director of anything, you know. But I love your kid. I said, I'm the one that teaches your kid about God because I teach catechism.' I've been teaching catechism for 35 years. Right? I teach them about love all these years that I'm teaching, I said, 'I never got a penny. You never paid me a penny. I'm a volunteer. When I take your children to the beach because you're busy working, it's for free. So I love your kids. And that's why this lock should be in, because I don't want them...' And they were good. They clapped after I was finished talking, right? I knew some of those people. Yeah. So then after the meeting, the police was asking me if I needed an escort to, you know, you know, if you need that escort home. I said 'No, I'm okay,' because I guess they were escorting Blanca and everybody home. And one of the people, NRA people said, 'Nah, she'll be fine.'

Narrative & Identity Timeframe 1:46:37 >> 1:54:32

I think let me tell you first that that on the day that my husband passed away. he passed away in 2001. On the day that he passed away, I found out my son was gay. My son is gay, right. So that was something that the Filipino community API community, it's still taboo, right? It's very difficult for, for LGBT community to get hugs. And to me, yes, you hug and you have to hug the right way. Right. When you hug, it's heart to heart. Not yet know people nowadays. Your hug. Yeah, that's not the way to hug. Also, hugs, it’s not just the physical thing, it's also those efforts. The work that we do to make it a little easier, a little less painful for people. Yeah. Hugs are... LGBT Programs, violence prevention programs... like the Domestic Violence Prevention Program. There's a lot of domestic violence by the way, in the Asian community, and it's not out. People are not talking about it, you know, and I hope that I don't know if be Pinays here or LEAD Filipino or AAPI. We need to do something about that. I know, AACI, that's a lot of things and to a certain extent the time LEAD Filipinos are doing that, but it's not a concerted effort. There has to be a movement. Yeah? And you can't have a movement unless you have drummers, you know? Drummers and drums. Yeah. You need to be nice, but you need to be loud as well. That's when you grab the microphone and say to the community, Who needs a hug? Yeah? Here I am. Here I am.

Actually, that's interesting because in 2011... don't ask me how I got this. In 2011, I went to our I went to Washington, D.C., to accept an award for Champions of Change. President Obama's Champion of Change [Program]. And that was a great experience because I got there and somebody says, 'You sit right here.' Because there was a global, you know, speech, whatever program. So then I said, 'No, I am-- I have got to go to the bathroom a lot. So I need to sit on that side.' And the staff said 'No, because that the Attorney General wanted to sit with you in the middle over there.' I said, 'Okay.' So I sit in the middle and waiting, you know, we all waiting. And so somebody comes in and I see him and I said, 'Oh, Tony!' you know, Tony West. So so he came and we were hugging. I said, 'Oh, I'm sitting by that Attorney-General they tell me.' And he says, 'Yeah, that's me.' So he sits. But I said, 'Oh, you're the Attorney General.' He said, 'Well, I'm the associate attorney general.' I said, 'Oh, but you left me.' And he said, 'Mrs. T, I grew up.' So well... yeah.

I guess sometimes you have to leave for something and some people to grow up. I had to leave my family so they would grow up. Yeah, all of them, by the way, all of them went to college, except one, who went to all the college. Yeah, but never graduate. Yeah. And they all got to come here. All of them. So then I guess that's the same way I, I moved away from PACT because I thought... that was painful because PACT and I, we worked together for a long time and very intensely. But I believed or I felt anyway that if I didn't leave, that PACT would not grow. Because while I sit there in the meetings and tasks had to be assigned, everybody would always think, 'Oh, she could do that very easy, right?' Cora can do that. And I would always say, 'Yes.' So I had to leave. So sometimes it seemed like every time, every time I have to leave. Yeah.

I'm sitting here talking to you, right? Don't tell me that. I've been sitting here for how many hours, and I haven't done anything. I haven't taught anything. That's what it is. You know, it's knowing that it's knowing that even if somebody hears just a couple of words and take it to heart, like the hugs. Yeah. Some of you are teachers or even your teachers. If you're a parent, you're a teacher. Right? Don't wait till I have to give your kids a hug when I take them to the beach. No, it only takes a hug. That's what Tony asked me. He says, 'What do you think is the ingredient, the secret ingredient to prevent youth violence? You know, why does it exist?' And I said, 'For want of a hug, we don't give enough hugs.' And not just physical hugs, but hugs in terms of programs that tell this people, who ever need it, be they seniors or youths, that we care. That we care.

Narrative & Identity Timeframe 1:54:32 >> 1:59:48

I have a challenge to AAPI youth and Filipinos specifically. You know, we, we-- we love you and we've loved you all your life. Everything everything that we've done and everything we're doing is for you. But at some point, you will have to be me. You will have to do the sacrifice. Not just your time or your treasure, but use your talent. You have it in you. Actually, everybody's-- everybody does. But if you are an AAPI, it's in your blood, so use it. Use it. That's a challenge for all the AAPI youth. We won't be here forever. But I personally put the responsibility on your shoulders. You can't say I can't do it because I and a lot of people who love you, believe in you. So grab the microphone and make it loud. But remember, when you're beating a drum, there has to be a beat. So listen to the people's hearts. Yeah. You can't go drumming a drum that goes like that [erratic clapping].

The drum beat has to be the heartbeat and it goes like that, right? [Steady clapping.] That's the drum beat. People's hearts. Because in the long run, only love can save us. That's it. Yeah.

You can ask for help if you don't think that they have-- that they care enough to give it to you. Number one, you have to believe that the people who are supposedly there to help you actually do it. It's a question of trust, and it takes a long time to build trust, number one. Number two, I hate to say this, but along with the positive... the positive attributes, we also have negative attributes that we bring from our countries, right?

It's a question of educating people where they are. Yeah. I mean, not all of us can be brain surgeons, right? But if you love your kid enough, you'll try and find help for 'em. But it also makes a lot of difference when they can come to you because you're too afraid to go out of your neighborhood. And there are some people that are like that. That's why home visiting programs are so effective, right? Because you go right to their home, and you create that relationship. So I think eventually and I agree with you, actually, we don't access all the resources that we have there. But if they're not accessible, how you look, how do you access it? Right. That means you'll have to be in the proximity, because sometimes we don't have cars. Yeah. Sometimes we don't speak the language that you have. And sometimes downright 'I don't know you.' So I think that some of the programs that work in is we start maybe hiring people that are in the same neighborhood where you're going to have your programs. They know it already. Yeah, they know their neighbors. Yeah. So if nothing else, you know, hey, like I said, it's a challenge. I'll be there if you are, but I won't do it for you.