Bruce Occena

Bruce Occena is a Filipino American activist and scholar involved with the Asian American movement in the San Francisco Bay Area. He played a major part in the International Hotel as a resident, a student who renovated the hotel, and a member of the hotel's United Filipino Association (UFA). He is a co-founder of the Union of Democratic Filipinos, also known as Katipunan ng mga Demokratikong Pilipino (KDP).

Early life and education Occena grew up in New York City. His father had emigrated from the Philippines in pursuit of education in the United States, but ended up staying and marrying a white woman.

Activism While a student at the University of California, Berkeley, Occena was involved in the 1968 Third World Liberation Front strikes, commonly understood as essential to the establishment of Ethnic Studies in higher education. He was a key member of the Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA) and one of its few Filipino members, alongside Emil de Guzman, Trinity Ordona, and Lillian Fabros. AAPA's work centered on national and international solidarity against imperialism, basing their political views on Maoism. The students of AAPA worked to emphasize the importance of collective unity and understanding their community's needs, which in turn allowed their political power to grow substantially.

Following the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) strikes for ethnic studies at San Francisco State College in 1968, young student activists at the University of California, Berkeley were moved to support the cause. The core issue that solidified the Asian American Movement was diverse access to universities, particularly, the University of California. Occena was focused on ethnic representation in the curriculum, especially for Asians. If the institution were responsive to this issue, student activists, such as Occena, would take measures like meeting with chancellors, organizing walkouts, and hosting other on-campus events. The TWLF was a vehicle for AAPA's activism, as it fostered a strong sense of solidarity with other communities of color and identification with Third World struggles in the resistance against institutionalized racism. Plans to demolish the building were set in June 1968; however, the tenants did not receive an eviction notice until October of that year. Occena studied Marxism and joined the Venceremos Brigade. work Occena referred to as the "dual line program", which simultaneously called for the struggle against racism and socialism in the United States, as well as against imperialism in the Philippines. The KDP had chapters across the country and were the main opposition to Marcos' dictatorship. Thus, according to Occena and his chapter members' discovery, high-level operatives of the Marcos government made connections with the union president due to concerns about the KDP's radical political views and global influence.

Occena's involvement in the KDP and the Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA) drastically shaped and radicalized the way he and his chapter members saw themselves as equal members of the Third World empowerment movement.

Cannery Union activism Occena played a key role in shaping the activities and strategy of the Alaska Cannery Workers Association (ACWA) in the 1970s. The ACWA was established to address racial discrimination and labor exploitation in the Alaskan salmon canning industry, particularly as it affected Filipino and other Asian American workers. During his involvement, Occena contributed to both legal actions against discriminatory employers and political engagement with labor unions.

One of Occena's main areas of focus within the ACWA was supporting the organization's legal efforts, including class action lawsuits against major seafood processing companies alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The lawsuits targeted discriminatory practices in hiring, promotions, and housing. Filipino workers were frequently assigned the lowest-paid and most physically demanding jobs and were often housed separately from white workers in inferior conditions. These cases aimed to eliminate racial segregation in employment and worker housing within the canneries.

As the lawsuits progressed, Occena supported a shift in the ACWA's strategy from relying solely on legal remedies to incorporating union reform. He advocated for direct engagement with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 37, which represented many of the cannery workers. At the time, leadership within Local 37 had been criticized for a lack of responsiveness to the needs of rank-and-file members, particularly younger and more progressive workers. Occena was involved in organizing efforts to elect new local leadership and increase worker participation in union governance. For members like Occena, who later considered himself bisexual, this environment in KDP created a tenuous but significant pressure to avoid discussing sexual identity as a means to center the movement on broader human rights issues. This led to subtle hesitation around coming out during his time in the organization. The Rectification Network was the precursor to Line of March and a longer line of groups and publications associated with Marxist–Leninist movement, The Trend. He was a co-editor of Line of March: A Marxist-Leninist Journal of Rectification with Irwin Silber, and on the publication's editorial board along with Silber, Elbaum, Dale Borgeson, Linda Burnham, Melinda Paras, and Bob Wing.

Occena was the chair of the Line of March's executive committee until the publication disbanded officially in the Fall of 1989.

Later career Occena is one of the Directors of the Tele-health and Interpreter Services at the San Francisco Department of Public Health. His responsibilities lie in telemedicine and interpretive services for the city and county of San Francisco. In 2018, he co-authored a study on the role of certified medical interpreters in relationship-centered care, highlighting the importance of language assistance to patients.

Occena was a co-editor of A Time to Rise: Collective Memoirs of the Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP). The book consists of a collection of documents and personal accounts that delve into the workings of the KDP during the politically turbulent 1970s and 1980s. It scopes into the revolutionary history of Filipinos in America, as well as the collective struggles for justice and democracy in the Philippines. Occena's co-editors, Rene Ciria Cruz and Cindy Domingo, also played key roles in the creation of this revolutionary account. Cruz was a founding member of KDP and was its East Coast Regional Coordinator throughout the 1970s, later becoming editor-in-chief in the early 1980s. Domingo joined the Seattle KDP chapter in the mid-1970s and was eventually assigned to work in Oakland as the KDP National Secretariat.