Remembering A Father Who Fought For Fairness

Johnny Itliong grew up in the 1960s, surrounded by the agricultural fields of California.

Aleks Itliong and Johnny Itliong at their StoryCorps interview in Reno, NV on June 28, 2023. By Jerry Spikula for StoryCorps.

His father, Larry Itliong, was migrant worker turned labor organizer, who had come to the United States from the Philippines in 1929. Larry eventually led his fellow Filipino workers to strike for better wages and working conditions.

Known today as the Delano Grape Strike, it lasted five years and was one of the most successful in U.S. history.

Top Photo: Larry Itliong speaks to the United Farm Workers, undated photograph, courtesy of Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University.  

This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Originally aired July 14, 2023, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Russell Lehmann and David Apkarian

Air travel can be a stressful experience for just about anyone. But for 26-year-old Russell Lehmann, a flight delay or cancellation isn’t just a small inconvenience. He was diagnosed with autism at age 12, and unexpected changes can cause him to have a meltdown — when sensory overload causes him to lose control and break down crying.

That’s what happened when he tried to catch a flight from Reno, Nevada to Cincinnati. At StoryCorps, Russell sat down with David Apkarian, an airline employee, to remember that difficult day.

Russell is a poet and advocate for autism awareness who regularly speaks about his experiences on the autism spectrum. Learn more about him and his work here.

Originally aired September 22, 2017, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Bottom photo: Russell Lehmann and David Apkarian on the day of Russell’s meltdown, June 3, 2017. Courtesy of Russell Lehmann.

Vito de la Cruz and Maria Sefchick-Del Paso

Vito de la Cruz’s parents were already separated when he was born, and when he was 6 months old, his father left him in the care of his 19-year-old aunt, Iris de la Cruz, a woman he called Nena.

Vito’s extended family traveled the migrant trail, finding work on farms across the United States. At 5 years old, Vito joined them in the fields. He remembers the excitement of traveling in the summers with his aunts, uncles, and grandmother from tomato fields in South Texas, to cherry orchards in Ohio, and sugar beet farms in North Dakota. During the days, they worked side-by-side, and in the evenings, they gathered together for dinner.

But their family’s migrant lifestyle was not easy; it was “equal parts hardship and poverty.” When he was 13, Border Patrol agents raided the farm where Vito and his family were working and rounded up undocumented workers. Witnessing workers’ fear of law enforcement struck a “profound chord in his being” and changed the course of his life.

Vito had always excelled in school, with Nena’s encouragement. She, herself, was the first person in the de la Cruz family to graduate high school, and she later went on to college. Following Nena’s example, Vito left South Texas for Yale University and then went on to attend law school at the University of California, Berkeley.

After law school, Vito began volunteering with the United Farm Workers union and focused the early part of his legal career on immigrant and farmworker rights. Years later, he became a federal public defender in Nevada before moving to Bellevue, Washington, where he continues to practice civil rights law.

Vito came to StoryCorps with his wife, Maria Sefchick-Del Paso (pictured together above), to remember how his childhood and his loving Nena shaped his future.

Vito’s story is one of 53 work stories featured in our new book, Callings: The Purpose and Passion of Work, now available in bookstores.

Originally aired April 22, 2016, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Photo courtesy of Vito de la Cruz.

Patricia Klos

Patricia Klos remembers growing up in her parents’ divorce motel.

Robbie McBride and Beth Ward

Robbie McBride (pictured above at left) and her sister Beth Ward (top right) talk about life on their family’s divorce ranch in Reno, Nevada.

Jim Colbert and his son Elton Colbert

Elton Colbert (R) asks his father, Jim (L), about life as a single parent.