Caminos: César Chavez is still remembered
Printer-friendly version
Send to friend
Born to a family of five children, César Chavez was born on March 31, 1927 on a small farm near Yuma, Arizona. After losing the family farm during the Depression, his family joined other migrants following the harvest across Arizona and California.
He grew up in many labor camps and attended more than thirty elementary schools in his youth. He finally dropped out of school when he was in the seventh grade. At that time he could barely read and write.
He would later be self-educated by spending his extra time in libraries where he went to read Gandhi’s autobiography, “The Story of My Experiments With Truth.” He was so impressed with Gandhi that he would use his philosophy for the rest of his life.
In an interview about his youth: He remembers walking barefoot to school through the mud, fishing in the canals to keep from starving, collecting tinfoil from empty cigarette packages to sell to a junk dealer for a sweatshirt or a pair of shoes.
He remembers his parents getting up at 5:30 in the morning during the Depression to go pick peas all day in the fields and then not earn the seventy cents to pay the cost of their transportation. He remembers living under bridges for protection against cold and rain, being forcibly ejected from the ‘Anglo’ section of a movie theater by Police, working seven days a week picking wine grapes only to have the contractor disappear with his pay.
When his father and uncle began attending meetings to improve their situation, César was exposed to union meetings and picket signs. When he was nineteen he joined the National Agricultural Workers Union. As the other unions, there was very little success. During World War II, in 1945 and 1946, he served in the U.S. Navy and after the war, he returned to migrant work.
After being recruited to serve as an unpaid volunteer and later as a staff member of the Community Service Organization, Chavez led a successful voter registration drive in San Jose; he helped workers with immigration authorities, welfare boards and organized C.S.O chapters in Oakland and in towns throughout the San Joaquin Valley.
In 1962, when the C.S.O. voted down his proposal to create a Farm Workers union, he resigned. He would withdraw his savings of $1,200 from the bank to start the National Farm Workers Association on his own.
While trying to build up his union, Chavez took ditch-digging jobs to help feed his family, but even that was not enough.
While touring the fields in behalf of his union, Chavez began asking for food from the workers. “It turned out to be about the best thing I could have done,” he recalled, “although at first it’s hard on your pride. Some of our best members came in that way. If people give you their food, they’ll give you their hearts.” On September 8, 1965 Chavez and his union joined migrant Filipino farm workers who went on strike for higher wages in Delano, California.
In discussing unions, he did not want to have his union patterned after other unions, where the power was in the hands of a few officials. The United Farm Workers organization would later have its headquarters in Delano, in the heartland of the grape industry. The building was marked with the symbol of the union, a red and white flag with a thunderbird. Chavez’s office was decorated with pictures of Ghandi, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and religious themes.
I remember in the seventies when a local community activist, Dr. Ladislao (Larry) Lopez commented how special it was to experience a presentation by César Chavez. His eyes have been described as having a look of “sadness,” but his voice was said to be extremely articulate and had a keen sense of humor. Wherever he spoke or appeared, Chavez inspired love, dedication, and loyalty. His wardrobe usually consisted of plain slacks, sport shirt, and a cardigan sweater. He continued his commitment to the practice of non-violence as taught by his model Ghandi even though his union members were subject to confrontations.
Chavez attempted to bring attention to the cause of the farm worker by taking part in long fasts – which some have thought contributed to his unexpected death. Commenting on his past work experiences Chavez said, “Working with low income people is a lot different from working with professionals, who like to sit around talking about how to play politics…. We found out that the harder a guy is to convince, the better leader or member they become.”
Chavez also said “And I learned quickly that there is no real appreciation. Whatever you do, and no matter what reasons you give to others you do it because you want to see it done, or maybe because you want power. And there shouldn’t be any appreciation. I know good organizers who were destroyed, washed out, because they expected people to appreciate what they’d done.”
When one seriously considers the accomplishments of César Chavez, we can only contemplate what we will miss. He did what he could for the poor, by bringing attention to a segment of American society that was invisible to most Americans. Anyone who has done the hot, backbreaking work of the farm worker or has observed first-hand the unhealthy working conditions, or the poverty wages has to feel apprehensive for their future.
Unfortunately, there is still much misinformation concerning the Hispanic poor in this country. According to a report by the Children’s Defense Fund which appeared in June 1991, the rising numbers of the 12 million poor children in the United States are more likely to be Hispanic and living in the areas away from large cities. The authors of the report were hopeful that they would be able to show the nation that they are wrong in their poverty stereotypes. One can only hope that another César Chavez will emerge soon.
As a volunteer producer of a television program on the Public Television station in Kansas City, I had heard that César would be in town to spread the word about their new concerns of toxins which were being sprayed on the vegetables and fruit orchards in California.
I called a local contact and asked about the possibilities of César appearing on the “Hoy En Kansas City” program. I added that the program was conducted in Spanish and that I understood that César was well versed in Spanish. It was later confirmed that he would be most pleased to be a guest on the program.
When I informed the TV crew that they would be working with César Chavez, they were very excited. Television technicians usually do not get very excited when they are developing a program – but this was a person who was of national prominence and they definitely wanted to be a part of the program. On May 2, 1986 the day scheduled for taping the program had arrived.
I had developed the script carefully, making sure that certain questions were asked – and leaving time for discussion of his choosing. The time was drawing near for taping, when a certain amount of nervousness started to set in. I had covered all of the possible details, and even after producing this program for three years, I should have been confident that everything would work out.
At thirty minutes before the scheduled taping time I received a call from his assistant who informed me that César was behind in his schedule and would be thirty minutes late. I could observe that after receiving that information, the people in the studio were now wondering if he would show – maybe they thought César was not going to show – maybe he was too big a personality for us.
César did arrive to do the program. He was everything we expected – as he shook your hand, he would hold your attention by looking you directly in the eye and would carry on a conversation, which would make you feel as though he was an old friend. He was surrounded by admiring Hispanic and non-Hispanic people who wanted to shake his hand.
He was part of the 30 minute program in which he asked for understanding and support for his union. His voice was soft, pleasant and perfectly modulated. His presence on the screen was what could be considered magnetic and he was very gracious in his interaction with everyone at the station. Because of his busy schedule, César had to be at another meeting and would have to leave. He sincerely, appeared to be enjoying his visit with those associated with the Station, but just as quickly as he arrived – he was off to another appointment – what a beautiful day it turned out to be.
Even after his death, César Chavez is remembered for his sincerity, his perseverance, a spokesperson for the poor and a truly great leader. The late Robert F. Kennedy referred to him as “one of the heroic figures of our time.” He was also committed to non-violence even though faced with occasional violence in the fields and cities.
As he once stated “the truest act of courage, the strongest act of manliness, is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally non-violent struggle for justice.” He was a religious person and one can only conclude that he thought we should be the people who we say we are – and in the hearts of many – he surely was.
Historia: April 29, 1540 – 470 Years ago
(The following entry is from the book, Kansas Day By Day, by Roy Bird)
The people of Culican, Mexico, turned out en masse to see off one of its most distinguished padrones – Francisco Vasquez de Coronado – when he departed in search of the fabled seven cities of Cibola. After a grand review, Mass was celebrated and Spanish notables gave speeches. Then the whole party – standard bearers, captains, gentlemen, and the rest – swore fealty to Captain-General Coronado.
So began the epic journey of Coronado’s entrada to the farthest frontier of the new Spanish Empire. Marching north out of Mexico with some three hundred Spaniards and a large body of Indian allies, Coronado and his men were the first Europeans to explore what is now Arizona and New Mexico. After wintering in what is probably now Texas. Coronado’s expedition continued on to the buffalo-covered plains of Oklahoma and Kansas in 1541.
Herbert Bolton wrote of the column as it departed Culican: “Coronado’s straggling caravan of men and animals … must have been as picturesque as one of the bands of pilgrims now sometimes met on the same stretch of camino, bound for a fiesta at the shrine of the Virgin….”
Rudy Padilla is a columnist for the Kansan and can be contacted at opkansas@swbell.net.