Rev. James M. Lawson Jr. consistently championed the cause of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers beginning in the 1970s for the same reason he became a trusted advisor to Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on militant nonviolent resistance since 1957. He joined the UFW’s strawberry organizing drive in the late 1990s, helped the union fight for state standards to combat heat deaths and illnesses in the 2000s and most recently supported the UFW legislative campaign that won the farm worker majority sign up law in 2022. We honor Rev. Lawson’s lifetime as a selfless defender of civil and labor rights.
