I usually send these messages as president of the United Farm Workers. Today, I’m speaking as a father. My son, Arthur S. Rodriguez, has been participating since early October when he wasn’t in college with Occupy L.A.’s encampment outside City Hall in downtown Los Angeles. Like so many others, he joined the global Occupy Wall Street movement because he feels strongly about the tremendous economic inequality plaguing this country and the world. Arthur pitched in by organizing trash disposal in an environmentally sustainable, zero-waste manner and helped arrange workshops for occupiers on environmental, labor and economic issues.
Early Wednesday morning, Arthur decided to join a group to make a firm statement about their commitment to Occupy’s chief aim of exposing economic inequality by being arrested when police closed down the Occupy encampment at City Hall. Since then, he has stayed in jail, joining with his fellow occupiers in remaining true to that commitment. He will hopefully be released by Friday at the latest.
We are proud of Arthur for his activism and commitment in the tradition of his grandfather, Cesar Chavez, and the farm worker movement. We are proud he and his fellow occupiers maintained their discipline of nonviolence both during their arrests and while at the detention center.
Si Se Puede!
Arturo S. Rodriguez, President
United Farm Workers of America