Rachele Sullivan, nee Rachele Cordova Pasco, December 17, 1967 – January 17, 2022: "I will be a most excellent Ancestor. When my Creator Calls me home. I love you all so very much. Hugs, Rachele" via IG @sullivanrachele +UPDATE: In a 1st, San Francisco park to bear name of leather leader

**Just copy/paste this link into your browser: https://www.ebar.com/story.php?ch=News&sc=News&id=334425&title=in_a_1st,_san_francisco_park_to_bear_name_of_leather_leader&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0VgNBsnSaEFlqCmNYbZV-hgss1UfsHnvmIZl_drY7fZZmrcdmhhgnllVM_aem_JYq05y8eDO4RNPETPELyxg

Flashback: Holiday Greetings, 2007

Dr. Dawn Bohulano Mabalon #DawnMabalonIsInTheHeart

Dr. Dawn Bohulano Mabalon August 17, 1972 - August 10, 2018

Dawn Bohulano Mabalon, 45, died suddenly on August 10, 2018 in Hawai’i, on a family vacation she’d dreamed about and organized.

She is survived by her beloved husband of nearly 10 years, Jesus Perez Gonzales; her sister Darleen Mabalon; nieces and godchildren Tayondee and Nonaiya, and nephew Cayden; her mom Christine Bohulano Bloch; her uncle Delfin Bohulano, Jr. (Wendy); aunts Virginia Bohulano, Adeline Bohulano Suguitan (Mel), and her uncle Tex Mabalon, Sr. - together with her large family of cousins, nieces, godchildren, godparents. Preceding her in death are her grandparents Delfin Paderes Bohulano and Concepcion Paloma Moreno Bohulano; her aunt Florencia Mabalon Pastrana, her father Ernesto Tirona Mabalon, and grandparents Pablo Macavinta Mabalon and Isabel Timtiman Tirona Mabalon. Of the Mabalon family, “five generations deep,” Dawn writes: “We are all the seeds they planted in America, now almost 100 of us, flourishing because of their (ancestors’) sacrifices.” 

Dawn cherished family and the community they continue to build in Stockton, California. She’d forever identify with the Filipino community of the historic “Little Manila” in Stockton’s Southside. Growing up in a tightly knit neighborhood of people of color with aunts and uncles everywhere, “Everyone watched out for you,” Dawn says. From winning Stockton’s spelling bee as a youth to winning national competition that led her to New York as guest editor of teen magazine Sassy soon after graduating from Edison High School, Dawn excelled. She published numerous articles in nationally distributed newspapers and magazines - all before age 20.

From San Joaquin Delta College, Dawn went on to earn a Master’s degree from UCLA - where her fierce Stockton Southside stance and gaze (Watch out!) shaped rhythms of Dawn’s powerful spoken word poetry as well as her lifelong passion and activism for justice. At UCLA, she began her rigorous scholarship that addressed gender, community displacement, youth organizing and more. 

Yet Dawn didn’t just write about community displacement, she fought for the historic preservation of her beloved Little Manila. She says, “In 1997…that's when the demolition started. And that’s when we started the Little Manila Foundation [now Little Manila Rising] and I was essentially going to seminars at Stanford and then rushing back home on the freeway filming the demolition…it ended up being a non-profit that is... amazing for what it’s been able to do
 for our youth. And now we've been able to save the three original
 buildings, and it’s been incredible.”

Dawn became one of the first Pinays to earn a doctorate degree - a PhD in history - from Stanford University. Her dissertation eventually became the award winning book, “Little Manila is in the Heart: The making of the Filipina/o American community in Stockton, California,” now in its 6th printing. Of her book, Dawn says, “It really was a love letter to my family, to my community, to my elders and really putting my hometown on the proverbial Filipino American map. I had always believed and many of the elders believed that Stockton was Filipino America's hometown.”  

As an Associate Professor in history at San Francisco State University, she also became part of the Pin@y Partnership Program (PEP family). Dawn’s love for teaching/learning - sustained by love for/by family/community/history/legacy - is imprinted on the souls of so many blessed to engage with her. Just search #DawnMabalonIsInTheHeart on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for unending testimonies to her brilliant legacy as a “dope professor who still sounds like a homegirl” and who has transformed lives - as a friend, comadre, mentor, fellow warrior, scholar, teacher.

When Dawn graduated from UCLA, Uncle Fred Cordova (Founding President Emeritus of the Filipino American National Historical Society where Dawn served as National Scholar) wrote:

“It is an honor to welcome an Aklanon of the Pamilya ng Cordova to the scholarly ranks of the learned. Your Lolo Ambo would be so proud and all of our departed loved ones…” 

Dawn now joins them.

Dawn so loved being Auntie/Ninang to her mga inaanak (godchildren) and nieces and nephews. With her husband Jesse, they’ve been teaching them how to cook their grandparents’ recipes, and to honor history and legacies. 

Now they - and all of us - will continue to honor Dawn’s powerful legacy…

…with love,

@ForCommunities, 

Ninang /Auntie/Cousin Joan May Timtiman Cordova

For more tributes, see https://www.littlemanila.org/ https://fanhs-national.org

D. Lee Inosanto @ "The Sensei" Stockton Premiere, 17 October 2009

"The Sensei"
STOCKTON PREMIERE with DIANA LEE INOSANTO Director/Actress

Saturday - October 17, 2009

Two Screenings: 2 pm & 6:30 pm / Reception between screenings
Tillie Lewis Theater @ San Joaquin Delta College

5151 Pacific AvenueStockton, California 95207

$5 suggested donation
Sponsored by: Delta College Asian and Pacific Islander American Staff Association (APIASA) and Delta Cultural Awareness Program (CAPS)

For more info: Debra Louie 209.473.3821 or Joan.May.Cordova@post.harvard.edu

RSVP on Facebook: http://bit.ly/Sensei_Facebook

Meet Director/Actress Diana Lee Inosanto at the Stockton premiere of her movie, "The Sensei." http://blog.thesenseimovie.com/

With the Inosanto family's legendary history deeply rooted in Stockton, California, this premiere will be like a homecoming for Diana Lee Inosanto (aka D. Lee Inosanto). Her grandparents Mary Arca Inosanto and Sebastian Inosanto, as well as other founders of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Stockton's historic Little Manila neighborhood, all offered support to striking Filipino farmworkers in 1939. Within the extended Arca and Inosanto families are generations of community leaders and educators including Flora Arca Mata, the first Filipina teacher in Stockton's history. We welcome everyone to two screenings of this special Stockton premiere of "The Sensei."

http://www.myspace.com/thesenseimovie

http://www.dianaleeinosanto.com/

A DIFFERENT KIND OF MARTIAL ARTS FILM: A Different Kind of Martial Arts Film: D. Lee Inosanto's 'The Sensei' battles prejudice and homophobia in 1980s small town in Colorado

If there's one thing D. Lee Inosanto is no stranger to, it's martial arts. Her father is martial arts legend Dan Inosanto, her godfather was the late Bruce Lee (whom she refers to simply as "Uncle Bruce"), and Inosanto herself is a highly trained martial artist who has worked as a stunt person on projects from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Face/Off. So when Inosanto decided to write, direct and star in her first feature film, it made sense that it would take place in the world she knows so well. But what might catch people off guard is the story she chose to tell.

Inosanto's feature, The Sensei, is set in a small Colorado town in 1985, the early years of the AIDS epidemic. McClain (played by Mike O'Laskey) is a gay teenager who is constantly being ostracized. He tries to sign up for classes at the local martial arts dojo to learn to protect himself, but they won't accept him either. Enter Karen (D. Lee Inosanto), the black sheep of the family that runs the dojo who returns to the town after several years away. Karen privately trains McClain, and the two develop a friendship until a secret Karen harbors changes everything.
Tackling issues like AIDS and homophobia in a martial arts setting may seem odd, but it made perfect sense to Inosanto. The inspiration came from a family friend named Gilbert Johnson who was an editor/ publisher of martial arts subjects.

"He was the first person I knew to contract AIDS," Inosanto said. "He was a straight man, a very conservative man - the last person you would expect to get AIDS. But in his final months, he became an activist - marching alongside the gay community. He was one of my favorite people."
By the mid-'90s, AIDS had impacted major sports figures like Magic Johnson. Inosanto's own cousin came out around this time as a lesbian, and Matthew Shepherd was killed in a high-profile hate crime. All inspired Inosanto to write The Sensei. "Being a child of a mixed marriage instilled in me the idea that any type of prejudice is wrong," she said. "That was the drive behind the film."

Shot on a low budget, the project faced many hurdles on the way to the big screen. The school where the shooting was originally to take place pulled its support after realizing the lead character was a gay teen (making news nationwide when the Associated Press picked up the story), and one of the main funders pulled out after the controversy broke.

Another possible problem was the martial arts community's conservatism and its sometimes blatant homophobia.The Sensei's trailer was first screened in public at a large martial arts convention in Las Vegas where Chuck Norris' birthday was being celebrated. Inosanto worried how the trailer might be accepted, but was surprised by the reaction. "So many people came up to me afterward and said 'thank you,'" Inosanto said.

Since then, she has received similar reactions. Many of the strongest supporters are martial artists who are gay but in the closet, or others who cannot openly take a stance.
"This one guy in Alaska said his black belt would be stripped away if he took in a gay student," she said. "Even with all the progress, it's clear we still have a long way to go."

Article by Philip W. Chung, a writer and co-artistic director of Lodestone Theatre Ensemble. Lodestone's latest production of Trapezoid runs until May 25 in L.A.: lodestonetheatre.org.

In photo (l-r): FloraMay Paguyo Teague, Dr. JoanMay Cordova, Diana Lee Inosanto, Elena Mangahas, Sonia Jhao, Dr. Dawn Bohulano Mabalon (RIP, 2018), Adeline Bohulano Suguitan

Possibilities: Thank you Diane & Letty and others...

The following letter is from good friend Diane Rhonemus. We met in the pre-school class at First Presbyterian Church in Stockton long ago, even before Trinity had its own DVCS (daily vacation church school). I still have photos from that time and may post them ;-)

~~~~~~
Happy Spring

Sunday, March 29, 2009 8:47 PM
From:
"D Rhonemus"

To:
joan.may.cordova@post.harvard.edu

Hi, Joan May,

How busy are you at this moment? How many other things do you have going on right now? Me? I can only do one at a time. Did you just get through travelling again? My Spring Break is over and I am not ready to return. It feels like summer out...warm and relaxing. Bad weather to be stuck indoors working.

Time for Tree business. The inevitable has happened. The 3 majestic trees have fallen. Letty Perez took pictures. I told my mom that one picture shows one tree standing and another lying in the parking lot. It reminded me of a fallen soldier with his/her buddy looking on. But from the base of one, shoots arose. How sturdy they are and with such fortitude. Letty Perez was able to save 2 rounds or slices from one of the trunks. We may be able to get a few more slices before the stumps are unrooted.

Letty Perez and several others would like to use one slice to keep as a memorial. Their idea was to have a metal plaque secured to it once it has been planed and varnished and then have it placed in an appropriate place. She asked me to ask you for suggestions about what wording you might like on the plaque and also if you had any ideas where to place it (be careful with idea now, Joan May :-) . The wording could be as simple as "In memory of Braulio and Tranquilina Cordova" with dates or anything else you would prefer. Also, Letty P. thought the round could be placed near future trees. I personally don't see other trees happening in the next 5 years. It would be nice if small chairs could be made out of a round/slice or two for the children since you worked often with them. The slices aren't quite wide enough for a table, I dont think. They seem to be about 2 ft in diameter. Letty P. also spoke of maybe laying ceramic tiles on one for a small table. Someone could design a picture and DVBS children could glue the tiles on. All just ideas for the time being.

Think about these things, Joan May. I know it isn't much consolation. The trees were planted so the wood would be harvested from time to time. How would Rev. Litherland or your parents use the wood? What thoughtful, appropriate memorial could we make? We need to do justice with this fiasco in some way. We still pray for understanding.

Let me know your thoughts.

Happy Bunny time,

Diane

P.S. I cut off one of the shoots and will wave it in church next Sunday for my Palm!


YOU are God's gift to the world!

Trees are down :-(

-Photo of cousin Dr. Dawn B. Mabalon by Jesse P. Gonzalez


Since we've found out the news of "expanding the parking lot" there have been posts from family and friends in Chicago, Florida, Boston, Michigan, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere. And here are the last two definitive posts by Lina of Stockton on my Facebook wall:


Lina Reyes Sanchez sorry, joanie....just drive by about 4pm...trees are gone.
March 28 at 7:37pm ·

Lina Reyes Sanchez joanie - trees were still up as of 27th noon. I hope they changed their minds!! have a great weekend, Lina
March 28 at 5:14am ·


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prior to this other family members wrote:

Hi Auntie Joan May,

It's really sad how this has all come about. I asked Chuck [Gardella] how much it would be to move and replant the trees and he said it could be in the $75K range. He suggested maybe getting seedlings from these trees and replanting them or if the church can put up a grove of flowering trees as a memorial, perhaps. I know it's not the same, but at least it would be something.

Bern Cordova Gardella

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 16, 2009

Hi Auntie Joan May,

This is so sad to hear! It amazes me that the landscaper can not figure out a plan to work around those beautiful trees. Tony and I will pray that those making these decisions will find it in their hearts to salvage the trees. If not, is there anyway you can obtain parts of the tree and have a wood sculptor create a beautiful artpiece from it? We would be happy to give some monetary contribution for it.

If it is any comfort, Uncle Baoy and Auntie Nina's legacy will always continue through our hearts and minds. The mention of their names always tug at our hearts. They touched so many people and will never be forgotten. Wish our kids could have known them.

With love and hope,
Annchella & Tony Cordova Dalida


There are others.

Apologies but no dialogue

From: Rev. Byron Nelson, Interim Pastor
Trinity Presbyterian Church, Stockton, CA


Dear Dr. Cordova,
Thank you for writing again.Your arguments and concerns about our larger issues are important for Trinity to hear. But though the trees were still standing yesterday, there is no decision to change the plan. I am at fault in two things at least. One for not offering a clear apology to you in my first letter, for not contacting you in advance.

Although I have not been aware of a stated policy to let memorial donors have final say in any changes to memorials, you should have been contacted, and asked your feelings.

And second, I know better than not to make sure the committee researched any memorials before any final plans. I offer you my own apology for that failure and lack of respect for your concerns.

I have heard of one occasion when someone may have spoken falsely about your giving permission for this plan. If true, I cannot fathom why that was said, and am sorry for the additional injury upon injury of such a statement.

The prospect of "saving" the trees in any other way than keeping them where they are, is not something anyone seems to have the will to consider.

As to the parking spaces, this has been a decision not because of Trinity's immediate need, but a long-range consideration for additional parking that would be required if Trinity were to build an additional multi-purpose facility within the next 5 years. For this reason, doing all the grading and clearing now became a priority in the plan, just as the removal of all trees is

I cannot read your letters without feeling both your passion for such important issues, and for your family heritage and history at Trinity. And as a newcomer, I feel helpless to know what more to say to you. I do know that for many members still, the legacy of your family's contributions here, as well as your own, continue as part of Trinity's oral history and tradition, even if they have forgotten about the memorial in the eucalyptus trees.

I only plead for your prayers that our elders and members who are trying to make some changes, will be able to balance both respect for the past, and vision for the future. Apart from the issue of trees and parking spaces, for us to do ministry in the future as a "house of prayer for all nations", we have great challenges for change and transformation.

I am grateful for your conversation and will appreciate your continued prayers for all of us.

Sincerely,
Byron Nelson


--- On Sat, 3/14/09, Dr JoanMay T Cordova joan.may.cordova@post.harvard.edu


March 14, 2009



Dear Rev. Nelson:

Thank you for your letter on behalf of the Session. Indeed, it was the first and only correspondence from Trinity that I've ever received in regard to the proposed landscaping plan that's so unnecessarily destructive. I strongly believe that there is no value in destroying all existing trees for the sake of "landscaping" or "beautification." What message is Trinity conveying to youth about the value of destroying life?

Our planet is fragile, perhaps more vulnerable than at any other time in history. Current environmental crises remind us daily that the world doesn't need more parking lots, more cars and pollution, or any other forces that destroy life.

Trinity is a historic church with roots in the "Little Manila" neighborhood of Stockton: http://www.littlemanila.net/ For more info on Trinity church's history, please also see Voices: A Filipino American Oral History (Filipino Oral History Project, Inc,. 1984, & 2000) Voices cites excerpts from "The History of Trinity Presbyterian Church" by the late Sebastian Inosanto who describes the church's role in a historic asparagus strike in Stockton. And there's so much more history. What message is Trinity sending -- by destroying a living memorial -- about honoring memories, histories, and legacies?

As national president of FANHS, the Filipino American National Historical Society http://fanhsis25.blogspot.com I had hoped that the FANHS national trustees and many others throughout the country would visit our historic Trinity Presbyterian Church. There are future FANHS national events planned for Stockton. The first will happen in July, 2009, when FANHS national trustees will meet in Stockton.

I think that members of my extended family might like to visit as well.

Will they see holes in the ground where Cordova memorial trees once stood?

In regard to this landscaping plan, is anyone at Trinity open to negotiation? To compromise? To more dialogue?

Has anyone considered the option of moving and replanting the eucalyptus trees?

Or is the decision to begin destroying trees a "done deal" at this point? Are they being destroyed even as I type?

It's my understanding that when decisions are made about memorial gifts, families are contacted as an expression of respect. Trinity families have decided, for example, what should happen when the memorial organ needed to be replaced. It's not clear why no one contacted me about Trinity's landscaping plan. Every single year I have been contacted for fundraising/pledge requests and have been most generous to Trinity even during the decades when I've been geographically absent. Had I been invited to the congregational meetings to discuss decisions about landscaping, I would have attempted to fly out for the meeting. At the very least, I would have sent family and friends to speak on my behalf. Many would have gladly done so.

I pray for everyone involved in this lamentable decision, especially for those who haven't been honest about this process. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

With hope,
~Dr. Joan May T. Cordova
http://forourcommunities.blogspot.com/