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Draft:Bruce Occena

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Bruce Occeña is a Filipino American activist and scholar from the Asian American movement in the San Francisco Bay Area.[1][2]. He played a major part in the International Hotel (San Francisco) as a resident, a student who renovated the hotel, and as a member of the hotel's United Filipino Association (UFA)[3][4]. His activism was largely built upon a Marxist leninist framework on issues such as Anti-Marcos sentiment and Third World Liberation Front[2][5][6]. He is a co-founder of the Union of Democratic Filipinos, also known as Kapatirang ng mga Demokratikong Pilipino (KDP).

Biography

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Early Life

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Occeña grew up in New York City[7]. His father originally immigrated from the Philippines in pursuit of education in the US, but ended up staying and marrying a white woman[3]. Both of his parents worked various factory jobs as well as in canneries.[6][8] The three of them lived in tenement housing together throughout Occena’s childhood.[6][8] Occena was first introduced to higher education after transferring to a Catholic school in New York, and was later accepted to several colleges on the east coast as well as the University of Hawaii.[6][8] However, he later ended up attending the University of California, Berkeley where he and many of his fellow Filipino students owed their access in part to the “Equal Opportunity Program or went to college through special admissions as disadvantaged students”.[3]

Activism

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Occeña was a student at University of California, Berkeley involved in the Third World Liberation Front strikes of 1968 that were commonly understood as essential to the establishment of Ethnic Studies in higher education[4]. He was a major member of the Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA) along with Emil de Guzman[9]. He later was an educator at Berkeley, teaching a Philippine studies class.[10]

He was part of the KDP's National Executive board[11].

The International Hotel Struggle

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The International Hotel (I-Hotel) in San Francisco, California, was a residential building in Manilatown, housing its residents who were primarily low-income Filipino and Chinese residents[12]. Plans to demolish the building were set in June 1968, however, the tenants did not receive an eviction notice until October of that year[12]. Its elderly residents, especially, had very few options, leaving many of them at risk of homelessness, along with losing their place in a vital community.

Occeña was one of the AAPA Berkeley students who moved into the I-Hotel and worked to renovate the hotel while resisting the eviction of its tenants. In its early days of renovation, he worked at the I-Hotel as a student supporter, then helped found KDP and led all aspects of its work from its National Executive Board[3].

Founding the KDP

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The KDP had a significant international influence, as they were able to connect with the Philippines, especially during the 1972 declaration of martial law under Marcos.[13] The KDP was modeled after Kabataang Makabayan (Nationalist Youth) in the Philippines, supporting the political[14] work Occeña referred to as the “dual line program”, which simultaneously called for the struggle against racism and socialism in the US, as well as against imperialism in the Philippines[15]. The KDP had chapters across the country and were the main opposition to Marcos’ dictatorship. Thus, to Occeña and his chapter members’ discovery, high-level operatives of the Marcos government made connections with the president of the union due to their concerns about the KDP’s radical political views and worldly influence[16].

Sexuality in KDP

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Despite the KDP’s support for the Gay Liberation Movement, most of its organizations were dominated by white males, which further isolated and deterred Filipino activists from joining them[17]. Karen Hanna emphasizes the importance of KDP’s prideful stature and reputation in the Asian American Movement, which she describes as leading to the pressing, selfless determination for leaders to prioritize centering their broader work on human rights struggles over discussions regarding personal relationships, especially when exploring homosexuality[17]. For Occeña, who later considered himself bisexual, there was an implicit pressure not to centralize his sexual identity, and for him and other members of KDP, this sentiment caused him to hesitate on coming out during his time in the organization.[16][18]

After the KDP

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Occeña was part of the Ang Kalayaan Collective, the precursor to the Katipunan ng mga Demokratokong Pilipino (KDP) that was officially formed in July 1973. In Kalayaan, he worked with Cynthia Maglaya[2].

Max Elbaum, the leader of the Northern California Alliance close collaborator of Occena, recalls how he worked with KDP leaders Occena and Melinda Paras as well as the leader of the Third World Women's Alliance (TWWA), Linda Burnham, to found the Rectification Network[19]. The Recertification Network was the precursor to Line of March and a longer line of groups and publications associated with Marxist-Leninist movement, The Trend. He was a co-editor of Line of March: A Marxist-Leninist Journal of Rectification with Irwin Silber, and on the publication's editorial board along with Silber, Elbaum, Dale Borgeson, Linda Burnham, Melinda Paras, and Bob Wing[5]

Occeña was the chair of the Line of March’s executive committee until the publication disbanded officially in the Fall of 1989[6].

Later Career

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In 2018, Occeña did an interview with the UC Berkeley AAPA Oral History Project[6][8].


References

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  1. ^ Bonus, Rick; Tiongson, Antonio; Aguilar-San Juan, Karin; Allen, Angelica; Apostol, Gina; Balce, Nerissa; Barrios-LeBlanc, Joi; Bascara, Victor; Blanco, Jody (2022). "Filipinx American Critique: An Introduction". Filipinx American Studies: Reckoning, Reclamation, Transformation. New York: Fordham University Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-8232-9960-7.
  2. ^ a b c Rodis, Rodel; rciriacruz (2017-09-20). "Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge to start US-based opposition to Marcos". INQUIRER.net USA. Retrieved 2025-04-23.
  3. ^ a b c d Habal, Estella (2007). San Francisco's International Hotel: mobilizing the Filipino American community in the anti-eviction movement. Asian American history and culture. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1-59213-445-8.
  4. ^ a b Walsh Taylor, Kieran. Turn to the Working Class: The New Left, Black Liberation, and the U.S. Labor Movement (1976-1981). 2007
  5. ^ a b Line of March: A Marxist-Leninist Journal of Rectification. Vol. 18. Fall 1985. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  6. ^ a b c d e f Elbaum, Max (2002). Revolution in the air: sixties radicals turn to Lenin, Mao and Che. The Haymarket series. London: Verso. ISBN 978-1-85984-617-9. Cite error: The named reference ":4" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  7. ^ Aoki, Andrew L. (June 2010). "The Transnational Politics of Asian Americans. Edited by Christian Collet and Pei-te Lien. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2009. 252p. $29.95". Perspectives on Politics. 8 (2): 630–632. doi:10.1017/S1537592710000538. ISSN 1537-5927.
  8. ^ a b c d Interview with Bruce Occena, 2018, UC Berkeley Asian American Political Alliance Oral History Project. 2018. Retrieved 2025-05-15 – via Calisphere.
  9. ^ Fujino, Diane (2024-04-01). "Political Asian America". Ethnic Studies Review. 47 (1): 60–97. doi:10.1525/esr.2024.47.1.60. ISSN 2576-2915.
  10. ^ Vinluan, Ermena (2017). "A Cultural Gypsy". In Ciria Cruz, Rene; Domingo, Cindy; Occena, Bruce (eds.). A time to rise: collective memoirs of the Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP) (1st ed.). Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 149. ISBN 9780295742021.
  11. ^ Yonn, Walter (2017). "Transfer to Paradise...Not!". A Time to Rise: Collective Memoirs of the Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP). University of Washington Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-295-74201-4. JSTOR j.ctvcwnsq6.
  12. ^ a b "Review: San Francisco's International Hotel: Mobilizing the Filipino American Community in the Anti-Eviction Movement, by Estella Habal". Pacific Historical Review. 78 (1): 130–131. 2009-02-01. doi:10.1525/phr.2009.78.1.130. ISSN 0030-8684.
  13. ^ Barber, D. (2004-09-01). "Revolution in the Air: Sixties Radicals Turn to Lenin, Mao and Che. By Max Elbaum (New York: Verso Press, 2002. 320 pp.)". Journal of Social History. 38 (1): 226–229. doi:10.1353/jsh.2004.0076. ISSN 0022-4529.
  14. ^ Carlsson, Chris; Elliott, Lisa Ruth; City Lights Books, eds. (2011). Ten years that shook the city: San Francisco 1968 - 1978 ; a reclaiming San Francisco book. San Francisco: City Lights Books. ISBN 978-1-931404-12-9.
  15. ^ Valdez, Inés (January 2023). "US Law and Filipino Resistance to Racial Capitalism: Review of Michael W. McCann with George I. Lovell Union by Law". Theory & Event. 26 (1): 221–225. doi:10.1353/tae.2023.0012. ISSN 1092-311X.
  16. ^ a b Fujino, Diane C. (2024-09-20). "Rhizomatic Organizing, Collective Leadership, and Community-Centered Pedagogy in the Early Asian American Movement". Journal of American Studies: 1–34. doi:10.1017/s0021875824000252. ISSN 0021-8758.
  17. ^ a b Hanna, Karen Buenavista (2023-09-20), "Delia Aguilar:", She Who Struggles, Pluto Press, pp. 175–191, ISBN 978-0-7453-4825-4, retrieved 2025-05-15
  18. ^ Interview with Bruce Occena, 2018, UC Berkeley Asian American Political Alliance Oral History Project. 2018. Retrieved 2025-05-15 – via Calisphere.
  19. ^ Bush, Rod (2004). "When the Revolution Came". Radical History Review. 2004 (90): 102–111. doi:10.1215/01636545-2004-90-102. ISSN 1534-1453.

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