A New Little Manila

by Tracker
7/9/04

Filipino Americans are rebuilding a new Little Manila enclave in the South of Market Street (SOMA) area of San Francisco. Virtually all Little Manilas in the country have been destroyed by redevelopment since the end of World War II. This trend was marked most infamously with the fall of the International Hotel, which bordered San Francisco’s Chinatown and was the site of a multi-year battle between community activists and the city police and fire department in the late 70’s. With the destruction of these areas, Filipino Americans have longed for an area that they could call a Little Manila.

The SOMA area also used to be a Filipino American enclave. Evidence remains in streets named after Filipinos. City redevelopment plans for the area never saw fruit, and Filipino Americans are reclaiming the area. In doing so, they are drawing lessons from the struggles of Chinatowns and Little Tokyo’s, the inheritance of AA movement that took place over the past several decades. Some have organized annual festivals to mark their claim to the area, such as the Flores de Mayo, a religious observance where they also parade around a roasted pig. They are also building upon Filipino housing.

Heart of the Community
Despite the migration of Filipinos to destinations like Daly City, these locations have not inherited the symbolic, cultural, and political significance of Little Manila enclaves. People come in from Daly City because they can’t get many services there. Filipino WWWII veterans, who are fighting for equal treatment of veteran services, know about and go directly to SOMA, not Daley city, when the come to the States. Institutions such as the Filipino Education Center Elementary, which serves immigrant children, the Filipino American Development Foundation, and Freemason lodges, which serve and fight for Filipino rights, are located in SOMA.

One of the newest projects is the Bayanihan Community Center that would provide an organizing core for the community. Other projects include a museum and cultural center. Despite the continuing threat of displacement, the determination of organized residents and the Pilipino community to develop a "Pilipino-town" is so concrete that they have real chances of prevailing against the forces of capitalist development