Carlos Bulosan
Encyclopedia
Also known as Julius Zafra (born in Binalonan
, Pangasinan
, Luzon
, Philippines
, November 24, 1913, died in Seattle, Washington on September 11, 1956), a Filipino
, an English-language novelist and poet who spent most of his life in the United States
, and is best known for the semi-autobiographical
America Is in the Heart
.
parents in the Philippines in the rural village of Mangusmana, in the town of Binalonan, Pangasinan. There is considerable debate around his actual birthdate, as he himself used several dates, but 1911 is generally considered the most reliable answer, based on his baptism
al records, but according to the late Lorenzo Duyanen Sampayan, his childhood playmate and nephew, Carlos was born on November 2, 1913. Most of his youth was spent in the country side as a farmer. It is during his youth that he and his family were economically impoverished by the rich and political elite, which would become one of the main themes of his writing. His home town is also the starting point of his famous semi-autobiographical novel, America is in the Heart.
Like many Filipinos during the time, he left for America on July 22, 1930 at age 17, in the hope of finding salvation from the economic depression of his home. He never again saw his Philippine homeland. No sooner had he arrived in Seattle, was he immediately met with the hostility of racism, forcing him to work in low paying jobs. He worked as a farmworker, harvesting grapes, asparagus and other kinds of hard labor work in the fields of California. He also worked as a dishwasher with his brother and Lorenzo in the famous Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. He was active in labor
politics along the Pacific coast of the United States
and edited the 1952 Yearbook for ILWU
Local 37, a predominantly Filipino American cannery union
based in Seattle.
After many years of discrimination, starvation and sickness, Bulosan had to undergo surgery for tuberculosis in the Los Angeles County Sanitarium, now the USC Medical Center. The tuberculosis operations made him lose most of the right side of his ribs and the function of one lung. He was confined in the hospital for two years where he took advantage and read one book per day for 365 days a year. He became a prolific writer and protective voice concerning the struggles Filipinos were forced to live in.
There is some controversy surrounding the accuracy of events recorded within America Is in the Heart. He is celebrated for giving a post-colonial, Asian immigrant perspective to the labor movement in America and for telling the experience of Filipinos working in the U.S. during the 1930s and '40s. In the 1970s, with a resurgence in Asian/Pacific Islander American activism, his unpublished writings were discovered in a library in the University of Washington
leading to posthumous releases of several unfinished works and anthologies of his poetry.
His other novels include The Laughter of My Father, which were originally published as short sketches, and the posthumously published The Cry and the Dedication which detailed the armed Huk
Rebellion in the Philippines. One of his most famous essays was "Freedom from Want," commissioned by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as part of a series on the "Four Freedoms
" and published on March 26, 1943 in the Saturday Evening Post. Maxim Lieber
was his literary agent in 1944.
As a progressive writer of labor struggles, he was blacklist
ed by the FBI due to his labor organizing and socialist writings. Denied a means to provide for himself, his later years were of flight and hardship, probably including alcoholism
. He died in Seattle suffering from an advanced stage of bronchopneumonia
. He is buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle.
Carlos Bulosan's works and legacy is heralded in a state of the art permanent exhibition known as 'The Carlos Bulosan Memorial Exhibit" displayed at the historic Eastern Hotel in the heart of Seattle's International District
highlighted with a massive centerpiece mural
titled: 'Secrets of History' created by renowned artist Eliseo Art Silva.
"We in America understand the many imperfections of democracy and the malignant disease corroding its very heart. We must be united in the effort to make an America in which our people can find happiness. It is a great wrong that anyone
in America, whether he be brown or white, should be illiterate or hungry or miserable."
- from America Is in the Heart
Binalonan, Pangasinan
Binalonan is a municipality geographically located in the province of Pangasinan in the Philippines. At present it is becoming one of the province’s top producers of rice grains and mangoes. The town is known for its rich history rooted in oral traditions of folklore...
, Pangasinan
Pangasinan
Pangasinan is a province of the Republic of the Philippines. The provincial capital is Lingayen. Pangasinan is located on the west central and peripheral area of the island of Luzon along the Lingayen Gulf, with the total land area being 5,368.82 square kilometers . According to the latest census,...
, Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, November 24, 1913, died in Seattle, Washington on September 11, 1956), a Filipino
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
, an English-language novelist and poet who spent most of his life in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and is best known for the semi-autobiographical
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
America Is in the Heart
America Is in the Heart
America Is in the Heart, sometimes subtitled A Personal History, is a 1946 semi-autobiographical novel written by Filipino American immigrant poet, fiction writer, short story teller, and activist, Carlos Bulosan...
.
Life and career
Carlos Bulosan was born to IlocanoIlocano people
The Ilocano or Ilokano people are the third largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group. Aside from being referred to as Ilocanos, from "i"-from, and "looc"-bay, they also refer to themselves as Samtoy, from the Ilocano phrase "sao mi ditoy", meaning 'our language here.' The word "Ilocano" came from...
parents in the Philippines in the rural village of Mangusmana, in the town of Binalonan, Pangasinan. There is considerable debate around his actual birthdate, as he himself used several dates, but 1911 is generally considered the most reliable answer, based on his baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
al records, but according to the late Lorenzo Duyanen Sampayan, his childhood playmate and nephew, Carlos was born on November 2, 1913. Most of his youth was spent in the country side as a farmer. It is during his youth that he and his family were economically impoverished by the rich and political elite, which would become one of the main themes of his writing. His home town is also the starting point of his famous semi-autobiographical novel, America is in the Heart.
Like many Filipinos during the time, he left for America on July 22, 1930 at age 17, in the hope of finding salvation from the economic depression of his home. He never again saw his Philippine homeland. No sooner had he arrived in Seattle, was he immediately met with the hostility of racism, forcing him to work in low paying jobs. He worked as a farmworker, harvesting grapes, asparagus and other kinds of hard labor work in the fields of California. He also worked as a dishwasher with his brother and Lorenzo in the famous Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. He was active in labor
Labour movement
The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...
politics along the Pacific coast of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and edited the 1952 Yearbook for ILWU
International Longshore and Warehouse Union
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union is a labor union which primarily represents dock workers on the West Coast of the United States, Hawaii and Alaska, and in British Columbia, Canada. It also represents hotel workers in Hawaii, cannery workers in Alaska, warehouse workers throughout...
Local 37, a predominantly Filipino American cannery union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
based in Seattle.
After many years of discrimination, starvation and sickness, Bulosan had to undergo surgery for tuberculosis in the Los Angeles County Sanitarium, now the USC Medical Center. The tuberculosis operations made him lose most of the right side of his ribs and the function of one lung. He was confined in the hospital for two years where he took advantage and read one book per day for 365 days a year. He became a prolific writer and protective voice concerning the struggles Filipinos were forced to live in.
There is some controversy surrounding the accuracy of events recorded within America Is in the Heart. He is celebrated for giving a post-colonial, Asian immigrant perspective to the labor movement in America and for telling the experience of Filipinos working in the U.S. during the 1930s and '40s. In the 1970s, with a resurgence in Asian/Pacific Islander American activism, his unpublished writings were discovered in a library in the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
leading to posthumous releases of several unfinished works and anthologies of his poetry.
His other novels include The Laughter of My Father, which were originally published as short sketches, and the posthumously published The Cry and the Dedication which detailed the armed Huk
Huk
Huk To throw a disc while playing a round of Disc Golf. Huk may refer to*Huk is a series of waterfalls in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine...
Rebellion in the Philippines. One of his most famous essays was "Freedom from Want," commissioned by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as part of a series on the "Four Freedoms
Four Freedoms
The Four Freedoms were goals articulated by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 6, 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech , he proposed four fundamental freedoms that people "everywhere in the world" ought to enjoy:# Freedom of speech and expression# Freedom of worship#...
" and published on March 26, 1943 in the Saturday Evening Post. Maxim Lieber
Maxim Lieber
Maxim Lieber was a prominent American literary agent in New York City during the 1930s and 1940s. Whittaker Chambers named him as an accomplice in 1949, and Lieber fled first to Mexico and then Poland not long after Alger Hiss's conviction in 1950.- Early years :Lieber was born in Warsaw, Poland,...
was his literary agent in 1944.
As a progressive writer of labor struggles, he was blacklist
Blacklist
A blacklist is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle...
ed by the FBI due to his labor organizing and socialist writings. Denied a means to provide for himself, his later years were of flight and hardship, probably including alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. He died in Seattle suffering from an advanced stage of bronchopneumonia
Bronchopneumonia
Bronchopneumonia or bronchial pneumonia or "Bronchogenic pneumonia" is the acute inflammation of the walls of the bronchioles...
. He is buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle.
Carlos Bulosan's works and legacy is heralded in a state of the art permanent exhibition known as 'The Carlos Bulosan Memorial Exhibit" displayed at the historic Eastern Hotel in the heart of Seattle's International District
International District
International District can refer to:*International District *International District, Seattle...
highlighted with a massive centerpiece mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
titled: 'Secrets of History' created by renowned artist Eliseo Art Silva.
Quotes
"The old world is dying, but a new world is being born. It generates inspiration from the chaos that beats upon us all. The false grandeur and security, the unfulfilled promises and illusory power, the number of the dead and those about to die, will charge the forces of our courage and determination. The old world will die so that the new world will be born with less sacrifice and agony on the living ... ""We in America understand the many imperfections of democracy and the malignant disease corroding its very heart. We must be united in the effort to make an America in which our people can find happiness. It is a great wrong that anyone
in America, whether he be brown or white, should be illiterate or hungry or miserable."
- from America Is in the Heart
Works
- America Is in the HeartAmerica Is in the HeartAmerica Is in the Heart, sometimes subtitled A Personal History, is a 1946 semi-autobiographical novel written by Filipino American immigrant poet, fiction writer, short story teller, and activist, Carlos Bulosan...
- The Laughter of My Father
- The Cry and the Dedication
- My Father's Tragedy
Sources
- "Bulosan's Laughter: The Making of Carlos Bulosan" *Bulosan Exhibit
- Hounded to Death: the FBI File of Filipino Author Carlos Bulosan
- Carlos Bulosan Theatre
- "Filipino American Hip-Hop: Renewing the Spirit of Carlos Bulosan"
- HistoryLink.org- the Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History
Archives
- Carlos Bulosan Papers, 1914-1976. 4.65 cubic feet, 17 microfilm reels. At the Labor Archives of Washington State, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.