CESAR

CHAVEZ
FROM FARMER TO FACILITATOR
By: Jonah Sanders
FULL NAME AND YEARS OF LIFE

Cesar Chavez, born Cesario Estrada Chavez to

two farmers in Yuco, Arizona on March 31st,
1927, (F&W New World Encyclopedia) and
passed in bed on April 23rd, 1993 at 66, after tolls
from repeated hunger strikes weakened his
health.
PARENT’S NAMES AND PROFESSIONS

Chavez’s parents, Librado Chavez and Juana Estrada Chavez originally owned a farm
in Yuma, AZ. They were forced off of their farm in 1937 (Bruns, Roger A.) and moved
to California to take up farm labor there to survive. They joined a large force of
migrant laborers in California who operated under the “bracero” program, (though
they themselves were not, rather they worked and toiled in parallel with the
braceros) a system in which Mexicans were imported seasonally to do manual labor
on farms throughout CA as well as Texas. The Bracero program promoted lower
wages for farm workers overall, as the higher standard of living in America
encouraged Mexican workers to accept starvation wages, and as such was banned
federally- yet the practice remained against federal regulation, undercutting wages.
FORMAL EDUCATION

Cesar was enrolled in the Laguana Dam School in 1933,

but after his paternal grandmother passed away and the
farm was sold, he began working full time in the fields as
opposed to going to school, ending his education around
the 8th Grade. (Pawel, Miram) Throughout the period of
turmoil that was his family’s migration to California, he
spent small stints in almost 50 schools. (Bruns, pg. 4)
CONTRIBUTIONS

Chavez was the primary founder of the National Farm Worker’s Association (NFWA). He left
the Community Service Organization in 1962, leaving a position as it’s national director to
spend his entire life savings on founding a farmworkers union. It was through this organization
he led the successful Delano Grape Strike. After the Agricultural Workers Organizing
Committee went on strike for higher wages and better conditions, Cesar aligned the
thousands that he had in his organization to the cause against the grape-growers of California,
and by the beginning of the 1970’s the strike was a nationwide issue, as NBC had aired a
television special in 1965 about the harsh conditions faced by migrant workers that brought
more attention to their plight, and in 1969 an international grape boycott day had also been
established. After an additional march by Chavez to protest the use of undocumented workers
as strike breakers, the first tentative agreement was finally ratified and then signed with
California grape growers on May 29th, 1970.
CONTRIBUTIONS

The 1975 California Labor Relations Act was a direct

result of the continued strikes and boycotts led by
Chavez, and this law stands to this day. It is still the
only statute protecting the rights of farm workers to
unionize and take other organizational actions, such
as discussing unionization. (Martin and Egan, P. 3)
QUOTES FROM DIRECT SOURCES

"He was for his own people a Moses figure… The farmworkers who
labored in the fields and yearned for respect and self-sufficiency
pinned their hopes on this remarkable man, who, with faith and
discipline, with soft-spoken humility and amazing inner strength, led
a very courageous life. And in so doing, brought dignity to the lives
of so many others, and provided for us inspiration for the rest of our
nation's history.“ – Bill Clinton, presenting Chavez a posthumous
Medal of Freedom in 1994 (NPR, Pao, Maureen. Paragraph 13)
QUOTES FROM DIRECT SOURCES

“…Like the hundreds of supporters who followed him, I did not want to
leave Chavez’s presence. I thought of the crowds who followed Jesus and
Mahatma Gandhi and understood how people could become so dedicated
to a leader who offered them hope for a better life. I was amazed as
hundreds of workers joined the march and followed Chavez on the
highways of California. Cesar Chavez was their hero. The people loved him.
By the time the march reached Salinas, California, the crowd of supporters
who attended the evening rally had swelled to an estimated 10,000 people.”
– Cathy Murphy, Former Staff photographer for Chavez and the UFW.
MY INTEREST

I believe that it is unionized efforts that lead to real progress in wages and the rights of
people. Every major reform we’ve seen throughout this unit has always been born out
of union workers oftentimes sacrificing their lives for things like the 40-hour workweek
or the end of child labor in America. This country is on the cusp of unions rejoining
popular conversation after 50 years of union membership decline and a gradual
rollback of some of the strongest protections that unions have seen. Cesar Chavez
embodies the success of broad-base organization as opposed to single-issue
organization, the latter of which is what we see more often than the former, and thus is
one of the reasons labor movements like Chavez’s have not gained traction in recent
years. Study of this man, to me, indicative of the change that people can make
together, against seemingly insurmountable odds.
MAJOR EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF CESAR CHAVEZ

The Great Depression and WWII: The Great Depression was the major influencing factor that
saw Chavez’s family lose their homestead. Following years of labor after this loss, Cesar
Chavez spent two years in the US Navy Serving in WWII before he achieved any kind of status
via organizing actions. Having been exposed to such severe hardships early in life served as a
basis for understanding the struggles of others and built the foundation of his desire for
peaceful protest.

The Assassination of MLK JR: Chavez took much inspiration from Martin Luther King Jr. and
the Civil Rights movement, and he was profoundly saddened by the death of King. Chavez’s
speech “Lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” speaks to the deep impact that King had on his
life and philosophy, stating “Just as Dr. King was a disciple of Ghandi and Christ, we must now
be Dr. King’s disciples.” and dedicated himself to a carrying of the torch for a greater unified
humanity.
INFLUENCES

Clearly illustrated by Chavez was his inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi and MLK jr.,
who he referenced frequently after being introduced to their writings via a priest.
Chavez himself took direct inspiration from Gandhi’s civil disobedience and
dedication to non-violence in the face of British occupation (Bruns, Pg. 18) and later
viewed his own Grape boycott through the lens of the ongoing Montgomery Bus
Boycott by another scholar of the nonviolent protests of Gandhi, MLK jr. (Bruns, Pg.
48) When it came time to unify behind the cause of nonviolent protest, Chavez took
great inspiration from this strike. He would eventually receive support from this
inspiration of him directly - when Chavez was jailed for a time due to his civil
disobedience, he received correspondence from MLK himself expressing support for
his efforts.
THOSE INFLUENCED

Cesar Chavez left a legacy of p0wer to the working man that few
throughout American history could ever be able to near. His efforts
in seeing the 1975 California Agricultural Labor Relations Act passed
are still felt to this day among any farmer seeking unionization
efforts, as the previous law of the land saw union protections for
other types of workers but specifically excluded farmers. Any farm
worker seeking to take union action has Cesar Chavez’s organization
to thank for getting the policy through. (Pawel, NYT, Paragraph 7)
HOW DID CHAVEZ’S EXPERIENCES AS A CHILD INFLUENCE HIS LIFE’S
WORK AS A LABOR ORGANIZER?

Chavez had a hard life growing up, as the Great Depression took his
family farm and forced him onto the road. He was forced from a very
young age to face the economic and social inequality beset upon farm
workers at the time and lived through poverty wages himself. Within
his first year as a migrant worker, Chavez’s family was scammed out of
pay for an entire harvest (Bruns, pg. 5) when the contractor that had
hired them was nowhere to be found on the day of payment. Being a
direct witness to continuous injustice lit a fire under him as a stalwart
defender of workers’ rights.
HOW WAS PASSIVE RESISTANCE PART OF HIS PROFESSIONAL AND
PERSONAL APPROACH TO LIFE?

Chavez implemented Passive Resistance in every leg of his

journey as a union leader. He constantly disavowed violent
action, accepting prison sentences for his civil disobedience
while fighting for his fellow worker. Chavez did very little to
separate his professional life from his private life; as hunger
strikes and personal investments took the main stage of his
routine during times of strike or boycott. (Pg. 66, Bruns)
WORKS CITED

Bruns, R. A. (2005). Cesar Chavez: A biography. Greenwood Press.

Garcia, Cecilia M. “César Chávez.” Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, 2023. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=88801420&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Martin, Philip L., and Daniel L. Egan. “The Makewhole Remedy in California Agriculture.” ILR Review, vol. 43, no. 1,
Oct. 1989, pp. 120–30. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ccproxy.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/001979398904300110.

Murphy, Cathy. “Marching Through History With Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers.” Beliefs & Values (Springer
Publishing Company, Inc.), vol. 1, no. 2, Oct. 2009, pp. 230–37. EBSCOhost,
https://doi-org.ccproxy.idm.oclc.org/10.1891/1942-0617.1.2.230.

Kim, Inga. “Lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. By Cesar Chavez.” UFW, 7 Mar. 2017, https://ufw.org/lessons-dr-
martin-luther-king-jr-cesar-chavez/.

Pawel, Miriam. The Crusades of Cesar Chavez: A Biography. First U.S. edition, Bloomsbury Press, 2014.

Pawel, Miriam. “Who Will Fulfill the Vision of Cesar Chavez?” The New York Times, 1 Apr. 2021, p. A20. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgit&AN=edsgit.A656963718&site=eds-live&scope=site.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baer, Barbara L. Nation, vol. 221, no. 13, Oct. 1975, pp. 406–08. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=ulh&AN=11198006&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Chavez, Cesar, et al. The Words of César Chávez. Texas A&M University Press, 2002. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=71502&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Matthew Garcia. From the Jaws of Victory : The Triumph and Tragedy of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement. University of California
Press, 2012. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=480726&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Pao, Maureen. “Cesar Chavez: The Life Behind A Legacy Of Farm Labor Rights.” NPR, 12 Aug. 2016. NPR,
https://www.npr.org/2016/08/02/488428577/cesar-chavez-the-life-behind-a-legacy-of-farm-labor-rights .

Pawel, M. (2014). The crusades of Cesar Chavez: A biography (First U.S. edition). Bloomsbury Press.

Peter Matthiessen. Sal Si Puedes (Escape If You Can) : Cesar Chavez and the New American Revolution. University of California Press, 2014.
EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=683245&site=eds-live&scope=site.

“The Complicated Legacy of César Chávez.” KUT Radio, Austin’s NPR Station, 17 Oct. 2022, https://www.kut.org/texasstandard/2022-10-17/cesar-
chavez-complicated-legacy-united-farm-workers-immigration.

Winans, A. D. “Poem for the Immigrants on the Corner of Cesar Chavez in San Francisco.” Paterson Literary Review, no. 50, Jan. 2022, p. 163.
EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=159317631&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Yates, Michael. Nation, vol. 225, no. 17, Nov. 1977, pp. 518–20. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=ulh&AN=11207203&site=eds-live&scope=site.