Uploaded August 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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“He sacrificed a lot of his family time to make a better world for us.”

Johnny Itliong grew up in the California grape fields in the 1960s. His father Larry Itliong was a migrant farmworker and a leader of the Delano Grape Strike. As a kid, Johnny spent his days lending a hand to his father and the men who worked in the fields. Johnny brought his son, Aleks, to a StoryCorps recording booth to honor the memory of his father and the men who helped feed America.

Directed by
Richard O’Connor

Executive Producers
Michael Garofalo
Rachel Hartman
Dave Isay

Producer
Savannah Winchester

Senior Audio Producer
Annie Russell

Audio Produced by
Jey Born

Audio Mixed By
Jarrett Floyd

Animation by
Ace & Son Moving Picture Co., LLC

Design
Natalie Greene

Animators
Taisiya Zaretskaya
Natalie Greene

Art Production
Ruyin Tsai

Original Music
Joshua Abrams

Music Performed by
Joshua Abrams
Hamid Drake
Marquis Hill
Emmett Kelly
Adam Thornburg

Music Mixed by
Joshua Abrams
Neil Strauch

Outro Music by
“Cast in Wicker” by Blue Dot Sessions
From the Album Aeronaut
Published by Blue Dot Sessions

Special Thanks
Aleks Itliong
Johnny Itliong

In Partnership with
American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress
NPR
POV

Funding Provided by
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
A private corporation funded by the American people.

Copyright © StoryCorps 2024. All Rights Reserved.