“They wouldn’t sell us rice”

Growing up in West Oakland during the 1940s, Evangeline Canonizado Buell remembers the neighborhood as “a melting pot of… adobo, linguisa, tamales, blues, and jazz.” From an early age, this child of Filipino immigrants learned how to connect with her Black, Portuguese, Mexican, Greek and Japanese neighbors through food and music, skills that she later built into careers as a guitar teacher, historian, and program coordinator for the Berkeley Co-Op. Her memoir, “Twenty-Five Chickens and a Pig for a Bride,” intertwines her personal journey of overcoming abuse and discrimination with the growth of California’s Filipino community, mixing tantalizing stories of backyard pig roasts with infuriating memories of racist harassment.

In this episode, Evangeline shares some of the wisdom, humor, and music that she’s accumulated throughout her nine decades living in the East Bay. Listen now to hear a conversation that covers everything from the agricultural origins of Bay Farm Island to the long legacy of the Spanish-American War. Available on Apple, SoundCloud, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts.

East Bay Yesterday can’t survive without your support. Please donate to keep this show alive: www.patreon.com/eastbayyesterday

This photo of the Filipino Aviators Club was one of the many “lost histories” that Evangeline helped uncover during her research for “Filipinos in the East Bay.” Since retiring from Berkeley’s International House in 1992, she has edited three books on Filipino history and culture, in addition to writing a memoir.

When Evangeline was attending McClymonds High School, students of color were discouraged from taking academic classes in favor of training programs for careers in domestic labor. Despite this racist policy, she studied with volunteer tutors and graduated in 1950.

During the heyday of Berkeley’s folk music scene in the 1960s, Evangeline performed at hootenannies with icons like Malvina Reynolds and Betty Reid Soskin. More than half a century later, she can be found serenading her fellow residents at Oakland’s Piedmont Gardens senior living community. Listen to the episode now to hear Vangie share a few songs. [Photo: Liam O’Donoghue]

East Bay Yesterday can’t survive without your support. Please donate to keep this show alive: www.patreon.com/eastbayyesterday

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