Cesar Chavez

Carol Cortes
Mr. Armstrong
History 1301
November 14 , 2015
Cesar Chavez Cesar Estrada Chavez was a founder of the National Farmer Workers Association, later to become the United Farm Workers-The UFW. The story of Cesar Chavez begins in the year 1927 near Yuma Arizona and ends in 1993 in a small village near Yuma Arizona. Mr. Chavez was named after his grandfather Cesario. Early in his life he learned about justice or rather injustice as his home was swindled from them by dishonest Anglos. Cesar 's father agreed to clear eighty acres of land and in exchange he would receive the deed to forty acres of land that adjoined the home. The agreement was broken and the land sold to a man named Justus Jackson. Cesar 's dad went to a lawyer who advised him to borrow money and buy the land. Later when Cesar 's father could not pay the interest on the loan the lawyer bought back the land and sold it to the original owner. In 1938 Cesar and his family moved to California for a short period of time and moved back to Arizona, and in June 1939 moved to San Jose California. They lived in the barrio called Sal Si Puedes -"Get Out If You Can." In 1942 he graduated from 8th grade and attended 37 schools. As a child he didn 't like school probably because he only spoke Spanish at home. The teachers were mainly Anglos and Spanish was forbidden in schools. In integrated schools he felt like monkey in a cage, and in segregated schools he remembers reading signs that read whites only. After he graduated from 8th grade he became a migrant worker, because his father was in an accident. In 1946 he joined the U.S Navy, which was then segregated, and served for two years. Once he returned home from the Navy he met and married Helen Fabela in 1948.They settled in Delano, where they eventually had 8 children and 31 grandchildren. Cesar returned to San Jose where he met and was influenced by Father Donald McDonnell. They talked about farm workers and strikes. Cesar began reading about St. Francis and Gandhi and nonviolence. After Father McDonnell came another very influential person, Fred Ross. Cesar became an organizer for the CSO "The community Service Organization." His first task was voter registration. Cesar founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962, that same year Richard Chavez designed UFW Eagle. Cesar Chavez choose the black and red colors for the eagle. Later Dolores Huerta joined NFWA and the UFW "United Farm Workers" was born. The NFWA was fighting for "La Causa" (the cause" and organized strikes to get state government to pass laws which would permit farm workers to organize into a union. Cesar made people aware of the struggles of farm workers for better pay and safer working conditions. He succeeded through non violent tactics like boycott pickets and strikes. By 1970 the UFW got grape growers to except union contracts and had effectively organized that industry. Cesar Chavez fasted in 1968 for 25 days on a water only diet. In 1972 he fated for 24 days and 1988 he fasted for 36 days. Cesar said about the fast, " A fast is first and foremost personal. It is a fast for the purification of my own body, mind, and soul. The fast is also a heartfelt prayer for purification and strengthening for all those who work beside me in the farm worker movement. The fast is also an act of penance for those in positions of moral authority and for all men and women activists who know what is right and just, who know that they could and should do more. The fast is finally a declaration of non-cooperation with supermarkets who promote and sell and profit from California table grapes. During the past few years I have been studying the plague of pesticides on our land and our food," Cesar continued "The evil is far greater than even I had thought it to be, it threatens to choke out the life of our people and also the life system that supports us all. This solution to this deadly crisis will not be found in the arrogance of the powerful, but in solidarity with the weak and helpless. I pray to God that this fast will be a preparation for a multitude of simple deeds for justice. Carried out by men and women whose hearts are focused on the suffering of the poor and who yearn, with us, for a better world. Together, all things are possible." In April of 1993 Cesar Chavez was helping UFW attorneys defend against a lawsuit against the union brought by Bruce Church Inc., a giant Salinas, California based lettuce and vegetable producer. Church demanded that farm workers pay millions in damages resulting from a UFW boycott in the 1980 's. The lawsuit was taking place in Arizona rather than in a state where the boycotts actually took place like in California or New York. Arizona was a much more friendly court for Church because it was a conservative, agribusiness-dominated region. Cesar believed in his heart that the farm workers were right in boycotting Bruce Church Inc. and was determined to prove it in Court. Eventually Bruce Church Inc. 's lawsuit was thrown out of court and signed a UFW contract May 1996. On April 23 1993 Cesar E Chavez 's life was sadly ended. According to Cesar Chavez successor, UFW president Arturo Rodriguez, Cesar gave his last ounce of strength defending the farm workers in this case. He was found lying on his back with his head turned to the left. His shoes were off and he still wore his clothes from the day before. In his right hand was a book on Native American crafts. There was a peaceful smile on his face. Cesar Chavez was honored in death by more than 50,000 mourners at the sight of his first and last public fast at the United Farm Delano Field Office at "Forty Acres" it was the largest funeral of any labor leader in the history of the U.S. The death of Chavez marked an era of dramatic changes in American agriculture. His contributions would be eroded, and others would have to shoulder the burden of his work. But, Cesar Chavez, who insisted that those who labor in the earth were entitled to share fairly in the rewards of their toil, would never be forgotten. The body of Cesar Chavez was taken to La Paz, the UFW 's California headquarters, by his family and UFW leadership. He was laid to rest near a bed of roses, in front of his office. On August 8, 1994, at a White House ceremony, Helen Chavez, Cesar 's widow, accepted the Medal of Freedom for her late husband from President Clinton. In the citation accompanying America 's highest civilian honor which was awarded posthumously, the President lauded Chavez for having "faced formidable, often violent opposition with dignity and nonviolence Cesar learned a lesson about injustice that he would never forget. Later, he would say, "The love for justice that is in us is not only the best part of our being but it is also the most true to our nature."

Work Cited
Cesar Chavez Biography."The Biography Channel website.2011.01 March 2011 http://www.biography.com/people/cesar-chavez-9245781 Cesar Chavez. "Wikipedia website.2012.7 November 2012 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesar_Chavez Day, Mark. Forty acres: Cesar Chavez and the farm workers. New York : Praeger, 1971. http://clnet.ucla.edu/research/chavez/bio/ Cesar Chavez
Biography

Carol Cortes
History 1301
November 16,2012

Cited: Day, Mark. Forty acres: Cesar Chavez and the farm workers. New York : Praeger, 1971.