Nearly one in four persons in Hawai`i is Filipino heritage. Representing one-fifth of the state's workforce, Filipinos have been in Hawai`i for more than a century, turning the rough and raw materials of sugar and pineapple into a billion-dollar commodities.
This book traces a history from 1946 - the last year that "sakadas" (plantation workers) were imported from the Philippines - to the centennial year of their settlement in Hawai`i. Filipinos are central to much that has been built and cherished in the state, including agricultural industry, tourism, military presence, labor movements, community activism, politics, education, entertainment, and sports.