Length: 1:45 Bill talks about his mother’s influence his political development.

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Bill was born August 13, 1939 in San Francisco’s Fillmore District to Salvador Sorro and Mary Roberts. Salvador immigrated from the Philippines to Hawaii where he worked in the sugar cane fields and then continued on to do farm work in California. Salvador met young Mary in Castroville where her family owned a small ranch. After a covert courtship, the two eloped in 1920. He was 26. She had just turned 17.

The two crossed the bay to San Francisco and were greeted at the dock by Mary’s aunt and the police with a warrant for Salvador’s arrest on charges of “white slavery,” a charge that referred to California’s anti-miscegenation laws.

Mary begged for Salvador’s release and her aunt gave her an ultimatum: If that’s what Mary wanted, then she would be disowned from her family forever. Mary made her choice and Salvador was released.

Bill added, “Mama was a real strong woman to say, ‘See ya!’ to her family at just 17 years old. But that’s how love is. When you feel strongly about somebody, skin is just skin, race is just race. It just covers your bones.”