As we celebrate the holiday season and prepare to mark the birth of the Prince of Peace it is all the more difficult to make sense of the senseless violence that claimed the lives of 26 innocent people, most of them small children, Friday in Newtown, Connecticut. This is but one of too many mass shootings that seem to occur all too frequently in America. The spirit of comfort and peace that this season brings, and the commitment to nonviolence that Cesar Chavez ingrained within our movement lead us to work for the day when people will turn from violence to nonviolence in redressing their grievances and resolving their differences. Meanwhile, our nation’s elected leaders need to actually lead us and, in President Obama’s words, "come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics." Until then, we offer our prayers for the bereaved families and for the profound loss our entire country is suffering.
Arturo S. Rodriguez, President
United Farm Workers of America