César Chávez

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César Estrada Chávez (March 31,1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers. His work led to numerous improvements for migrant workers. He is hailed as one of the greatest Mexican-American civil rights leaders. His birthday on March 31 has subsequently become a holiday in a handful of U.S. states, and a number of parks, libraries, schools, and streets have been named in his honor in several cities across the United States.

In 1994, César Estrada Chávez was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United State’s highest honor for nonmilitary personnel. It was accepted by his wife and long time partner, Helen F. Chávez. During the ceremony President Clinton said of Chávez:

“Born into Depression-era poverty in Arizona in 1927, he served in the United States Navy in the Second World War, and rose to become one of our greatest advocates of nonviolent change. He was for his own people a Moses figure. The farm workers who labored in the fields and yearned for respect and self-sufficiency pinned their hopes on this remarkable man, who, with faith and discipline, with soft-spoken humility and amazing inner strength, led a very courageous life. And in so doing, brought dignity to the lives of so many others, and provided for us inspiration for the rest of our nation’s history.”

When Chavez died in April 1993, more than 30,000 people came from all over the United States to pay their last respects. In his funeral mass, Cardinal Roger M. Mahoney described Chávez as, "a special prophet for the world’s farm workers." For us all.

The Chavez Family

Cesario Estrada Chavez, considered by many to be the most important Latino leader in United States history, was born in Yuma, Arizona on March 31, 1927 to Librado Chavez and Juana Estrada Chavez. Named for his grandfather, Cesario, he was the second of 5 children.

The Chavez family ran a country store in addition to farming a small plot of land. The Great Depression (1929 — 1939), accompanied by years of drought, forced the Chavez family off their land in 1937, when young Cesar was 10 years old. The family went to California, joining scores of migrant farm workers. For the next several years, the family often slept at the side of the road, moving from farm to farm following the harvest. In the early 1940s the Chavez family settled in California’s San Joaquin Valley, in a small farm town named Delano.

Due to the constant mobility of the family, Cesar had attended 38 different schools by the time he had reached the 8th grade. When his father suffered an accident and could no longer work, not wanting his mother to go to the fields, Cesar quit school in order to support the family.

As a youngster, he could not understand the importance of school and what it had to do with the life of a migrant farm worker. Eventually he grasped the importance of education and it became his passion later in life. The walls of his office at the United Farm Worker Headquarters in California were lined with hundreds of books in a broad range of categories: economics, cooperatives, unions, philosophy, biographies on Mohandas K. Gandhi and members of the Kennedy family. He believed that, "The end of all education should surely be service to others," a belief that he practiced until his death.

Life was tough for the Chavez family as it was for all migrant worker families. Fortunately, he learned important values from his parents. Through observing his father, he learned the value of hard work. He also saw firsthand the inequities of the farm labor system. His mother was devoutly religious and a compassionate woman who emphasized the importance of caring for those less fortunate. Chavez would later say: "The love for justice that is in us is not only the best part of our being, but it is also the most true to our nature."

At the age of 17, Chavez enlisted in the United States Navy, where he spent two years. Upon the completion of his service, he returned to Delano where he had spent his teenage years and married his old sweetheart, Helen Favela. Chavez always credited the support he received from his wife as the source of his strength which allowed him to devote his life in service to others. Cesar and Helen moved to San Jose, where their first child Fernando was born. Eventually, Cesar and Helen would have sevem children together – Fernando, Linda, Paul, Eloise, Sylvia, Anna and Anthony.

The Shaping of His Beliefs

Chavez' experiences in the migrant camps during his teenage years forged a commitment in his heart that would last throughout his life. The camps were filled with despair and the severely exploited workers were subject to racism. He determined to somehow change these conditions.

Most of the migrant camps had no indoor plumbing and few had electricity. Often the workers had to live in tents. When cabins were available, they were wood and were often drafty and damp. There were no other homes available to these families. The only places availabe to buy food and necessities were the company-owned stores, usually highly priced, but all that was available to them.

During Chavez' teenage years he encountered stinging racism which made a lasting impression on his conscience. He came to understand that segregation destroys a person’s worth in his own eyes and in the eyes of others. Reflecting later in his life, he said, “I still feel the prejudice, whenever I go through a door. I expect to be rejected, even when I know there is no prejudice there.” His experiences with racism instilled in him the quality of including and embracing others throughout his life; he understood firsthand the pain of feeling like an outsider.

Devout Roman Catholics, Chavez's mother and grandmother saw to it that he and his siblings had a strong religious upbringing. As a consequence, he became a man who relied on his faith for strength and direction, understanding that religion unified and strengthened people. It is said that César's spiritual beliefs were his guiding force in his everyday life as well as in his political action.

Theory and Practice

Nonviolence

Father Donald McDonnell, a local priest whom Chavez met in San Jose, introduced him to the writings of Mahatma Gandhi and Saint Francis of Assisi. With these teachings came the concept that non-violence could be an active force for positive change. Chavez once summed up his beliefs thus:

""Non-violence is a very powerful weapon. Most people don't understand the power of non-violence and tend to be amazed by the whole idea. Those who have been involved in bringing about change and see the difference between violence and non-violence are firmly committed to a lifetime of non-violence, not because it is easy or because it is cowardly, but because it is an effective and very powerful way."

Learning to Organize

In 1953, Chavez met the man who would teach him how to unite theory and practice. Through his association with Father McDonnell, he met Fred Ross, who was an organizer for the Community Service Organization, a barrio-based self-help group sponsored by Saul Alinsky’s Chicago-based Industrial Areas Foundation. Ross was in San Jose to recruit members for the Community Service Organization, which assisted its members with immigration and tax problems. The CSO also taught them how to organize to deal with problems such as discrimination and police violence. A life–long friendship developed between the two men.

The guiding concept behind CSO was the belief that local problems could and should be solved at the grassroots level. Chavez thought Ross' simple rules for organizing were revolutionary, and within several months found himself a full-time organizer with the group. He did such things as coordinate voter registration drives and battled racial and economic discrimination against Chicano residents. He organized new CSO chapters throughout Arizona and California, rising quickly to become the president of the organization.

Through his work with the CSO, Chavez became familiar with the problems that challenged urban minorities. He came to understand that the poor and under-educated all needed to be helped, whether they were farm workers or city dwellers. However, his heart remained with the migrant worker. The CSO mission was in the cities, while Chavez knew he had to follow the call of his heart to the fields. He eventually resigned from the CSO in order to organize the farm workers.

While at the CSO, Chavez formed a friendship with Dolores Huerta, who became one of his strongest supporters, and with whom he co-founded the National Farmworkers Association (NFWA). The NFWA used the model of community service that was utilized in the CSO.

United Farm Workers

In 1965 The Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), a mostly Filipino union led by Philip Vera Cruz, struck when the Delano grape growers decreased pay rates during harvest season.

Chavez, Huerta, and other leaders of the NFWA met with several National Farm Labor Union organizers, including Vera Cruz, Larry Itliong and Pete Velasco. They decided to join together in striking against the grape growers, an action which eventually led to both unions joining to become the United Farm Workers. Within months, the historic farmworkers march from Delano to Sacremento, the California State Capitol, took place, led by Chávez.

Chavez understood that progress could only come with a new style of protest. Their battle was non-violent and employed the methods of Gandhi and King. There were picket lines in the fields, but the main focus of the protest went to the cities where grapes were sold. Here the workers were joined by religious people, students and labor activists, and the numbers soon swelled to the hundreds. Their methods were simple; they simply asked the shoppers to help the farmworkers by not buying grapes. At its height, over 13 million Americans supported the Delano grape boycott. After five years of struggle, the workers finally won a contract with the major grape growers in California.

The United Farm Workers was formed based upon common goals and beliefs of the various labor organizations. A powerful force developed with the unity of the Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, Filipinos, and Filipino Americans, who had jointly formed the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC) on August 22, 1966.

The organization that was birthed through the grape pickers strike went beyond the usual labor union organizations, whose purposes usually focused on the practical issues alone. The issues of this group went deeper, to Chavez' experiences as a youth; to change the treatment of the workers and help them reclaim their dignity. Their work on the grape workers strike eventually came to be known as "La Causa", The Cause. Chavez' vision brought not only the farmworkers, but also students and religious people who were drawn to a dream of bettering the world.

César Chávez' movement inspired the founding of two Midwestern independent unions: Obreros Unidos in Wisconsin in 1966 and The Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) in Ohio in 1967. Former UFW organizers would also found the Texas Farm Workers Union in 1975.

Chavez' Leadership

Cesar Chavez on leadership:

“There are many reasons for why a man does what he does. To be himself he must be able to give it all. If a leader cannot give it all he cannot expect his people to give anything.”

Chavez' philosophy was to lead by example. He would not ask anyone to do what he had not done himself. He never demanded that others join him or follow his lead, yet people were moved by his example of devotion and ascrifice.

The March

The march undertaken by the United Farmworkers Organizing Committee was planned by Chavez with the goal to gain support of the California Governor, Edmund “Pat” Brown. It was also to publicize the union's cause and the plight of the farmworkers. It was termed a pilgrimmage because it had become a spiritual cause for those involved. Chavez marched the entire way, with the procession growing as it went. The unity of the peaceful marchers from a multitude of backgrounds was something that had not been seen in the past. They carried the banners of the union, the flags of the United States and Mexico, and a flag with the image of the Virgin de Guadalupe. Through Chavez' ability to organize and lead by example, the farm workers gained the support of thousands of ordinary citizens. Chavez, in turn, became known as a formidable opponent of injustice. The farm workers had won. It was the first union contract between growers and a farm workers’ union in United States’ history.

HERE

The Fast

Like most farmworkers, Chavez was a devout Catholic. His vision of religion was a progressive one, that prefigured the “preferential option for the poor” of liberation theology. In the UFW, the attendance to the Catholic Mass was a call to action as well as a rededication of the spirit.

In 1968 Chavez began the first of several fasts over his lifetime. In many ways the fast epitomized Chavez’s approach to social change. On one level it represented his spiritual values, his willingness to sacrifice and do penance. At the same time, he and his lieutenants were extremely aware of the political ramifications of his actions, using the fast as a way of both publicizing and organizing for their movement. This 1968 fast became a national event and marked the beginning of Chavez’ emergence on the national political scene. Letters of support came from all over the country. Leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy sent him encouragement. The entire country became aware of what César stood for: nonviolence, unity, and La Causa. Kennedy came to Delano to break bread with Cesar at the end of his fast. Chavez responded by committing UFWOC to campaign for Kennedy in the California primary. Their voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts would provide Kennedy’s margin of victory in California.

Chavez decided to end the fast after 25 days. The fast ended with an outdoor Roman Catholic Mass. Although too weak to stand or speak, César had a friend read a message he had written earlier which expressed his powerful spiritual reasons for his fast. These are perhaps the words that best epitomized Chavez' life:

“Our struggle is not easy. Those that oppose our cause are rich and powerful, and they have many allies in high places. We are poor. Our allies are few. But we have something the rich do not own. We have our own bodies and spirits and the justice of our cause as our weapons. When we are really honest with ourselves, we must admit that our lives are all that really belong to us. So it is how we use our lives that determine what kind of men we really are. It is my deepest belief that only by giving of our lives do we find life. I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of manliness, is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally nonviolent struggle for justice. To be a man is to suffer for others. God help us to be men.”

Politics and Political Support

Over the years the UFW would become a significant political force, demonstrating that Mexican-Americans could and would participate in electoral politics when their concerns were at stake. Chavez’ understanding of the relationship between economic issues and political participation was the starting point for a growing wave of Latino activism and electoral activity, that would eventually lead to the election of thousands of Latino officials and a major shift in the American political landscape.

In 1969, Chávez and members of the UFW marched through the Imperial and Coachella Valley to the border of Mexico to protest growers' use of illegal aliens as temporary replacement workers during a strike. Joining him on the march were both Reverend Ralph Abernathy and U.S. Senator Walter Mondale. Chávez and the UFW would often report suspected illegal aliens who served as temporary replacement workers as well as those who refused to unionize to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Broadening Goals, Visions and Strategies

In the early 1970s, the UFW organized strikes and boycotts to protest for, and later win, higher wages for those farm workers who were working for grape and lettuce growers.

During the 1980s, Chavez’ goals and vision began changing. He began to focus on the dangers of pesticides, which had always been a major source of illness among farmworkers. It was a subject that drew a positive response from an environmentally conscious public. He led a boycott to protest the use of toxic pesticides on grapes. He again fasted to draw public attention.

Instead of continuing to use volunteers, he relied more and more on direct mail. He built low-cost housing for farmworkers, and considered starting an urban organizing campaign in Mexican-American communities. He became interested in modern management techniques and group dynamics, including the group therapy techniques of Synanon, a drug rehabilitation program.

Legacy

Chávez’s concern for his people continued until the end of his life. He continued to organize political action into the early 1990s. He continued to coordinate strikes and spoke at rallies and colleges, continually spreading the message that the battle for human rights and human safety was not yet over. He battled in the Courts, as growers tried to use legal loopholes like switching ownership rights to void previous contracts with the union. He went from town to town in the effort to convince consumers not to eat grapes until grapes were pesticide-free.

Although questions were raised about his effectiveness in later years, Cesar Chavez had become a remarkable symbol — for Latinos, community activists, the labor movement, young people, and all who valued his values and commitment. He had accomplished something that no one else had ever been able to do; build a union for farmworkers. In the process he trained a generation of activists who would apply their skills in other communities and struggles.

César’s body finally gave out in April, 1993. When he died in his sleep of natural causes, he was in the middle of defending the union in a court action. He was sixty-six years old. His funeral took place on April 29, 1993. More than 30,000 people came from all over the United States to pay their last respects. In his funeral mass, Cardinal Roger M. Mahoney described Chávez as, “a special prophet for the world’s farm workers.”

The body of Cesar Chavez was taken to La Paz, the UFW's California headquarters, by his family and UFW leadership, where he was laid to rest near a bed of roses, in front of his office.

Chavez's successor, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, stated, "Every day in California and in other states where farm workers are organizing, Cesar Chavez lives in their hearts. Cesar lives through the Americans he inspired to work nonviolently for social change." [5]

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Levy, Jacques E. and Cesar Chavez. Cesar Chavez: Autobiography of La Causa. New York: Norton, 1975. ISBN 0-393-07494-3
• Dalton, Frederick John. The Moral Vision of César Chávez. Maryknoll, N.Y. Orbis Books, 2003. ISBN 1-57075-458-6
• Ross, Fred. Conquering Goliath : Cesar Chavez at the Beginning. Keene, California, United Farm Workers: Distributed by El Taller Grafico, 1989. ISBN 0-9625298-0-X
• Soto, Gary Cesar Chavez: a Hero for Everyone. New York: Aladdin, 2003. ISBN 0-689-85923-6 and ISBN 0-689-85922-8
• Ferriss, Susan and Ricardo Sandoval. The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1997. ISBN 0-15-100239-8
• Holmes, Robert L. Nonviolence in theory and practice Belmont, Calif. Wadsworth Pub. Co., 1990. ISBN 0-534-12180-2
• Prouty, Marco G. Cesar Chavez, the Catholic Bishops, and the Farmworkers' Struggle for Social Justice, Tucson, University of Arizona Press, 2006. ISBN 0-816-52555-2

External links

• "The Story of Cesar Chavez" United Farmworker's official biography of Chavez - Observed Dec. 22, 2006
• "Cesar Chavez Timeline", Napa Valley Register, March 30, 2006.
• Cesar Chavez - County of Los Angeles Public Library- Observed Dec. 22, 2006
• Spectrum Biographies - Cesar Chavez Observed Dec. 22, 2006
• Cesar Chavez Public Charter School for Public Policy in Washington, DC Observed Dec. 22, 2006
• "The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworker's Struggle"; PBS Documentary Observed Dec. 22, 2006
• Cesar E. Chavez Foundation Official Website - Observed Dec. 22, 2006
• A Musical inspired by the life of Cesar Chavez Observed Dec. 22, 2006
• Cesar Chavez Student Center at S.F. State University Observed Dec. 22, 2006
• Handbook of Texas History, Online Edition Observed Dec. 22, 2006

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