STATEMENT FROM ARTURO S. RODRIGUEZ, PRESIDENT
UNITED FARM WORKERS OF AMERICA, AFL-CIO
AT MARCH FOR MAYOR JOE SERNA JR.
Nov. 10, 1999–Sacramento, Calif.
Good morning. Buenos dias. I say good because we gather to celebrate and honor the life of a man of conscience and commitment. We are not at just any place. This place symbolizes the love this man had for his hero, Cesar Chavez.
This plaza will beautify the legacies of Joe Serna and Cesar Chavez for generations to come.
* * *
Farm workers honor Joe Serna not because he was born the son of farm workers.
Or because he was brought up in impoverished farm labor camps near Lodi and knew the torture of toiling with the short-handled hoe.
Or because his roots were with the farm workers.
Lots of people worked their way out of the fields–as Joe did–went on to better lives and never looked back.
We’re here because Joe Serna never forgot where he came from. And to his dying day, he never stopped caring for the people whose plight he had shared.
For more than 30 years, Joe championed the United Farm Workers in Sacramento. He organized car caravans to Delano with food and clothing for the grape strikers. It seemed he spent much of the ’60s and ’70s organizing and picketing for the UFW.
Cesar Chavez often called on Joe for help and support of boycotts, demonstrations and political campaigns. Joe always dropped whatever he was doing to respond.
There are men and women all over America who were Cesar’s pupils going back to the ’60s and ’70s. As they matured, an incredible number of them became elected officials, leaders of labor, civil rights and social service organizations, and successful professionals. Joe was one of them.
But not as many remained true to Cesar and the farm workers all the way through the good times and the darker days. Joe was one of them.
On Saturday, the day before Joe died, Cesar’s widow, Helen, and his son, Paul, came to spend time with Joe, Isabel and the Serna family at their home in Curtis Park.
Paul was interviewed that day by a local television news crew. "My father was a hero to many people," Paul Chavez said, "and we all loved him. But Joe Serna was my hero."
I was privileged to come on Friday, and help the family bring Joe home from the hospital. That afternoon at the house, Philip Serna asked me to take a framed photo of Cesar that Joe’s brother, Reuben, had taken years ago and nail it on the wall at the foot of Joe’s bed so he could look at the image of his hero. On Joe’s shirt was pinned a UFW button with a photo of Cesar and the words, "Nonviolence is our strength."
I was moved by the reverence with which Joe held Cesar. But let me repeat, Joe Serna was our hero.
* * *
In keeping with the traditions of the UFW, Joe’s family asked that we bring him to the cathedral farm worker style–by marching behind his casket.
Many of you may not have marched with the farm workers. It all began with the 343-mile march–or pilgrimage–that Cesar led from Delano to Sacramento in 1966.
For Cesar, marches, strikes and boycotts were how he got masses of people to participate in their own cause.
Cesar was convinced that democracy is best experienced through participation and self-determination.
And Joe Serna’s entire life–from farm worker organizer to big-city mayor–was an affirmation of democracy.
The beauty of a march, Cesar believed, was that everybody can participate. Race or ethnicity or religion doesn’t matter. You can be young or old. Marching is a way to show how much you believe in what you are doing.
And it is the ultimate mark of respect for a fallen hero and leader.
You will hear another symbol inside the cathedral during Mass. The music will be provided by a choir of children from schools throughout the Sacramento City Unified School District.
Perhaps Joe’s greatest triumph as mayor was reforming the city’s public schools. Joe made a better education for the kids the biggest priority for himself–and for the entire city.
By singing, the students will symbolize the debt of gratitude this entire community owes to its mayor.
* * *
One word about the remembrances that the Serna family has requested. We are deeply humbled that Joe asked that money be contributed to the farm workers. But I want you to know that Joe didn’t want your donations used for charitable purposes.
He wanted it used to help fulfill Joe’s and Cesar’s dream–our dream–to help farm workers organize to win respect and dignity.