San Francisco's International Hotel: Mobilizing the Filipino American Community in the Anti-Eviction Movement

by Estella Habal

The struggle to save the International Hotel and prevent the eviction of its elderly residents became a focal point in the creation of the contemporary Asian American movement, especially among Filipinos.a Like other minorities who were looking for positive models in their past to build an identity movement, Filipino youth found their roots in the stories and lives of the manongs (respected elders), and the anti-eviction movement became a key site for the formation of a distinct Filipino American consciousness. Estella Habal, a student activist during the anti-eviction protests, relates this historya within the context of the broader left politics of the era, the urban housing movement, and San Francisco city politics.a Ultimately, the hotel was razed, but a new one now occupies the site and commemorates the residents and activists who fought for low-income housing for the elderly and their right to remain in their own community."

Genres: History, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[stevie · Rating 4 out of 5]

i'm so grateful to Estella Habal for writing such a thoughtful, well-rounded, well-researched book about the I-Hotel. it's incredibly important that we are able to learn about our local, communal, cultural, and political histories of struggle and resistance.

i think Habal does a really thorough job of reflecting (on) the many factors, factions, and contextual forces at play in the fight for the I-Hotel. she's also honest about the critiques (both her own and other people's) of her role and the KDP's role in the struggle, a candor i appreciate.

i do have some political disagreements with the author--and while that fact speaks not directly to the quality of the writing but instead to my own frustrations while engaging with it, it did nonetheless contribute to my overall experience of reading the book. i find that Habal uses the terms "radical" and "revolutionary" quite liberally, so to speak; despite consistent reference to anti-imperialist politics by name, there is little (if any) critique of the political tendency of the era to valorize the manongs' contributions to US state-building as reason for the right to resources and care; i would have liked to see her critique, rather than quietly endorse, the class-antagonist respectability politics that led the tenants and their supporters to distance themselves from "prostitutes" and "drug users" among the city's dispossessed. these are no small things.

still, i generally found the book to be a beautiful, thoughtful account of the struggle itself; the relationships that built and sustained it; the local, national, and global contexts that provoked it; and the struggles within the struggles for the I-Hotel. everyone should read it.

[Owen]

i really wanna read this book...

[James Tracy]

Can't wait to read this. This is an integral part of SF history, I'm glad someone has finally finished a book on it.

[Gaylen]

went to the new i hotel site on a field trip. accessible inspiring book