Saturday, Sept. 26, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Grape strikers & boycotters mark 50 years since Delano walkouts as farm workers live their legacy today by organizing and negotiating with UFW
U.S. civil rights milestone celebrated at Delano’s historic ‘Forty Acres’
Delano, Calif.—Celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the start of the Delano Grape Strike will commemorate the present as well as the past on Saturday, Sept. 26 just outside Delano at the farm workers’ “Forty Acres” complex, now a National Historic Landmark. Grape strike veterans who walked out of wine and table grape vineyards in September 1965 will gather to observe a milestones of the American civil rights movement begun by Filipino and Latino farm workers in a dusty Kern County farm town that spread across North America and western Europe as millions boycotted grapes and other products.
The 1960s strikers and boycotters will be joined by representatives of farm workers who are living out the legacy today, including those from companies under United Farm Workers’ contracts, workers fighting for union contract protections and some who have recently walked out on strike. They represent thousands of workers in wine and table grapes, tomatoes and vegetables, and strawberries and mushrooms.
Highlights of the day will be ceremonies and programs, entertainment—including singing of old Huelgista songs by the famed El Teatro Campesino and Danny Valdez—historical exhibits of period photographs from the 1960s and tours of historic sites preserved at the Forty Acres where many landmark events took place. (http://www.ufw.org/_board.php?mode=view&b_code=cc_his_research&b_no=8988&page=1&field=&key=&n=31 ) For more on the Sept. 26 UFW event: http://delanograpestrike.org (click on “News” and “Come be a part of history…”)
The Delano strike followed by six months another civil rights breakthrough, “Bloody Sunday,” the 1965 Selma voting rights march. The Delano strike is a pivotal event of the Latino civil rights movement, inspiring a revolution in Latino empowerment plus political and social activism by millions of Americans from all walks of life.
Who: Grape strike and boycott veterans plus delegations of farm workers from ranches organizing and negotiating UFW contracts who are living out the legacy today.
What: All-day 50th anniversary celebration of the 1965 Delano Grape Strike.
When: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015.
Where: Just outside Delano at the farm workers’ “Forty Acres” complex, now a National Historic Landmark, 30168 Garces Hwy. (corner of Mettler Ave.), Delano, CA 93215.
– end –