KQED-FM (SAN FRANCISCO) -- Stockton natives Dr. Mabalon and her friend Dillon Delvo found out about this demolition and decided to fight to preserve the history that was being lost.
“Dawn Mabalon was one of the foremost Filipino historians in America,” Delvo said. “And for me, she was one of my best friends, one of my best childhood friends.”
Delvo and Mabalon had left Stockton to study at San Francisco State University and UCLA, respectively, where they each found a deep love for ethnic studies and learned about the history of Little Manila and Filipino farm laborers in the Central Valley.
“Before ethnic studies I saw the experience [of being Filipino] as something you had to deal with, to progress from, that there wasn’t anything special, that it was embarrassing,” Delvo said. “But I realized, wow this is something extremely beautiful.”