Oral History Collaborations

In this interview, originally recorded over Zoom, Raymond "Ray" Gonzalez speaks with Watsonville is in the Heart team member Una Lynch. Ray talks about his mother, Margaret Sanchez, a Mexican woman who moved from Texas around the country to search for work. He explains how she eventually settled in Salinas, working in agriculture and as a cook in the labor camps. Ray goes on to talk about how his mother met his stepfather, Benito Acosta Nerona, while working in the canneries. Benito immigrated to Watsonville from the Philippines to work as an agricultural laborer. Ray speaks about the hardships his stepfather endured while working in the fields, and he describes the union meetings his parents would host at their family home. Though Ray is not ethnically Filipino, he shares his feelings of respect and pride for the Filipino community in Watsonville that his stepfather passed down to him. Ray also reminisces about being involved in the Filipino Youth Club and the tight-knit Filipino and Latino communities while growing up in Watsonville.