César Chávez as a Social Justice Leader
"Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot un-educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. And you cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore."—From "Lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." speech by César Chávez, January 12, 1990
One of the most celebrated migrant workers of all time, César Chávez, triumphed as a leader because he knew how to be a servant first and those who followed him respected that. He was a quiet, devoted and religious man who was able to identify with his audience because he was in their shoes. The definition of leadership has been discussed in detail in this class, but our search for the final definition has continued to complicate the issue. The leadership topics that have been studied this semester that apply to César Chávez and that will be concentrated on during this paper are: the ideas of inside and outside leaders, level 5 leadership, situational leadership, service leadership and social justice leadership. César Chávez exemplifies ‘leadership’ in his own way and has created a new way to define what a real leader is. This essay focuses on the relationship between Chávez’s life and work, as well as the idea of ‘Social justice leadership’ and ‘servant leadership’. In his vision of peace, he represented the idea of nonviolence and the importance of believing in a cause and following through with what you promise. Chávez founded a group that supported and fought for the rights of farm workers, acting to increase wages and improve the working conditions and safety of farm workers, which was called the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) and was later renamed the National Farm Worke...
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...s and therefore had little prior knowledge of César Chávez. There have been many trends, trends and themes that have been continued throughout the semester. A noticeable a trend forming throughout this class was in some books (Like MLK’s book) it introduces you to the movement rather than to the leader, which is the case also when studying César Chávez’ An Organizer’s tale where this is even more evident. Just the introduction notified me that César Chávez was a poor farm worker who had been raised in substandard conditions and did not have many years of education. These facts are the most important and were very useful in making sure to understand the remainder of the chapters I used. From the video I learned he was of small stature and soft spoken. These were traits that I had not yet associated with leadership, even though Gandhi could be described the same way.
Cesar Chavez, a civil rights activist, was a major proponent of workers’ rights in Hispanic history. Cesar was born in 1927, in Yuma, Arizona, as a Mexican- American. He grew up in a large family of ranchers and grocery store owners. His family lived in a small adobe house, which was taken away during the Great Depression. In order to receive ownership of the house, his father had to clear eighty acres. Unfortunately, after his father cleared the land, the agreement was broken, and the family was unable to purchase the house. Since Cesar’s family was homeless, they had to become migrant farmers. In order to find work, they relocated to California.
When Chavez became a full time worker, he was exposed to the hardships of a farm workers life. This sprang his dream of helping other farm laborers that were like him. On his birthday, March 31st 1962 he founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became known as the United Farm Workers of America. It started off with 10 people in the group, him, his wife, and his eight children but soon he started ...
After having read and watched the video about Cesar Chavez’s union, I gained an understanding about his long struggle to gain rights for field workers. But after having attended the event “What I learned about Cesar Chavez” I even gained a better understanding about how Cesar Chavez accomplished what he did. Throughout Grossman's lecture I was able to form several connections to what I learned from the book. Grossman spoke about Cesar Chavez’s determination and ability to inspire others. These characteristics inspired me to fight for what I believe in.
Barr. Cesar Chavez put a quote about Martin Luther King Jr. “Letter from Birmingham Jail” which give the message to the reader that Cesar Chavez had no intentions of having a rebellion but to just exposed of the injustice that it was given to the immigrant workers because by exposing those inequalities to the union is when it can be cured since it was done before. It also tries to explain to the reader that they will not give up on getting equal right for the people because Cesar Chavez stated that “They have been under the gun, they have been kicked and beaten and herded by dogs” this shows to the audience that the people of Cesar Chavez will not give up even if there are gun pointed into their heads. It also stated into the “Letter of Delano” that “Time accomplishes for the poor what money does for the rich” what this is trying to say and what it is trying to reach for the audience is that even if the immigrants are poor and they can’t afford not to work they are willing to do it because with that time they were getting prepared, prepared for what it was coming in the nest years to come they had a
In 1938, the Chavez family lost their farm due to the Great Depression. They were forced to relocate to California and become migrant workers. Chavez was distressed by the poor treatment that migrant farmworkers endured on a daily basis. His powerful religious convictions, dedication to change, and a skill at non violent organizing cultivated the establishment of the United Farmworkers (UFW). It was also referred to as “La Causa” by supporters and eventually became a vital movement for self-determination in the lives of California's farmworkers. The astounding nationwide lettuce and grape boycotts along with public support revealed the atrocities of California agribusiness and resulted in the first union hiring halls and collective bargaining for migrant workers. The details of the childhood of Cesar Chavez and how they would later shape his actions are a vital aspect of this book and the establishment of the farm workers movement.
One of many reasons that Cesar Chavez fought for equality was “Because farm workers were often unseen or ignored, he would make them visible—to place them in the public’s attention and keep them there” . He already knew how life was when he was a farm worker, so he knew he had to do anything to get the publics attention. When he had that he would again do his best to keep them there. This was one fight that he didn’t want to lose, since he understood how hard it is being a farm worker.
Chávez’s leadership was based on an unshakable commitment to nonviolence, personal sacrifice and a strict work ethic. He emphasized the necessity of adhering to nonviolence, even when faced with violence from employers and growers, because he knew if the strikers used violence to further their goals, the growers and police would not hesitate to respond with even greater vehemence. Despite his commitment to nonviolence, many of the movement’s ‘enemies’, so to speak, made efforts to paint the mo...
Even though, this is a fictional book, it tells a true story about the struggle of the farm worker to obtain a better life for themselves and their families. There are two main themes in this book, non-violence, and the fight for dignity. Cesar Chavez was a non-violent man who would do anything to not get in a fight while they where boycotting the growers. One, incident in the story was when a grower pulled out a gun, and he pointed it at the strikers, Chavez said, “He has a harder decision to make, we are just standing here in peace…” The picketer were beaten and put in jail before they would fight back and that is what why all farm workers look up to Cesar Chavez , along with his good friend Martin Luther King Jr. Non-Violence is the only way to solve anything. The growers in that time did not care about their workers, if people were striking, the growers would go to Mexico and bring in Braceros, mean that they would not have to sign the union contract and not take union workers, who were willing to work if the grower would sign the contract.
Cesario Estrada Chavez, or Cesar Chavez, as he is more commonly known, was an American farm worker, community organizer, and civil rights leader who co-founded the National United Farm Workers Association in 1962. His accomplishments as a leader have been chronicled in numerous literary works and have upheld him as one of the most recognized Mexican-American leaders of the last century. In this piece, I aim to analyze Cesar Chavez's leadership style by looking at his accomplishments as a leader, and explore some of his many enduring contributions to society. I will use Peter Northouse’s book, Introduction to Leadership, to help examine Cesar Chavez’s approach to leadership.
The purpose of this memo is to compare the similarities and contrast the differences between Jimmy Hoffa Sr. and Cesar Chavez. Both Hoffa and Chavez were great charismatic labor organizers who had different methods of achieving their goals for their union. They had vastly different attitudes and personalities which aided them both in different ways. To fully understand each individual, a bit of background information is necessary.
... we live in do not entitle us to behave any crazy way we want, in fact our circumstances mandate we be responsible in our fight for equality, otherwise the next generation will live through the same hell. There is no right way to do wrong! The cry of a frail, 5’6, 130lb man starving himself to challenge the lie of justice through violence; the courage of a man wrongfully beaten and incarcerated, terrified of public speaking his whole life and uneducated, is the same rallying cry made famous around the world as the greatest nation on Earth elected its first non White leader. Barack Obama got his start in community organizing as well and was very well educated thus I believe it was no accident he chose “Yes we can” as his campaign slogan in the 2004 Illinois Senate race and kept it afterwards even though he lost. Change can happen-but it starts with the individual.
“In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.
Chavez had a harsh childhood, he had toil over work since he was a young child. This hero experienced the event himself; the passage shows his parents lost their land and farm, so all the family had to work hard all day being exposed to the scorching sun for unfair wages they needed to survive. Chavez's speech clearly stated the
Chavez was a major leader in the Chicano movement that all started when he was nineteen years-old when he joined the NFLU (National Farm Labor Union). From then, he moved on to the CFO, where he moved up in rank quite easily which he eventually quit. After his nine year stint with the CFO, he then founded the union of t...
Senator Robert F. Kennedy described him as “one of the heroic figures of our time” (Cesar Chavez Foundation). This shows that Cesar Chavez made a difference in people’s lives, including Senator Robert’s. Some people may say that immigrants are bad people but Cesar Chavez was an immigrant himself yet, also a hero to the country. Experts say he was an American farm worker, labor leader, and a civil rights activist. This shows that he fought for what he believed in. Being a farm worker wasn’t something he planned on doing but he had no choice because he was an immigrant. He saw how cruel Americans were treating immigrants so he fought for their rights. He spoke for all the immigrants everywhere. The Cesar Chavez Foundation mentioned that at age 11, his family lost their farm during the great depression and became migrant farm workers. This shows how and why Cesar Chavez fought for farmworkers rights. He grew up not having the best childhood but he took others lives into consideration and fought for them to have a better and brighter