Cesar Chavez was born on March 31, 1927 in Yuma, Arizona. He became a migrant worker after losing his family’s farm at age 10. Chavez went from farm to farm working to gain money. In 1962, Cesar Chavez founded a world-renowned organization to protect and serve farm workers. In September 1965, Chavez made a speech to the people of America. In that speech, he recognized his organization for helping farmers in California get better wages and worker conditions. This illustrious speech, “We Shall Overcome”, draws out his idea for farm workers’ rights as he explains that he can relate to farmers since he had first hand experience on many farms and how he used his organization to start strikes and assist abused farmers. As a child, Cesar Chavez worked on a farm. After losing his farm, Chavez went around in the south working on other farms. He labored in fields and vineyards. There, he experienced the hardships of farming and how badly farmers were actually treated. Chavez, like other farmers, were exploited by their owners and were paid little money. Also, farmers were forced to …show more content…
This foundation was meant to help farmers and gain respect and dignity for themselves. Along with that, the UFWA provided fair wages, medical coverage, pension benefits, and humane living conditions. There were countless amounts of rights and protections provided. Chavez led numerous, successful strikes and boycotts as well. One strike, as stated in Chavez’s speech in September 1965, lasted six weeks as he and others were helping grape pickers in California strike for better wages and working conditions. Over the time, workers “matured” and they then knew “why and how to fight for their rights” as justice was needed. The UFWA foundation helped farmers gain rights and it helped them get back on their feet and through this, the organization received dignity and was a sign of courage for generations to
Imagine working in the hot sun or being apart of child labor. You would be exhausted or want to escape. You would want better food because they provide you with so little. You would have been wishing for a better life. No one wants to work at a young age. They just want someone who cares for them. However, two people fought to stop these unfair laws. The biography “Mother Jones: Fierce Fighter for Workers’ Rights” by Judith Pinkerton Josephson is about an elder who is named Mary Harris Jones. She protested against child labor because these children were injured and she thought it was unfair. The Cesar Chavez Foundation (CCF) wrote the biography “About Cesar” to tell us how he fought for the farmers rights to give them fair laws. Both of these people fought for justice because they wanted better rights for workers. However, Cesar Chavez made a larger impact on the world we live in.
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.
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.
The 'Moyer'. Farmworker Movement: John Moyer interviews César Chávez. Retrieved from http://www.historyandtheheadlines.abc-clio.com/ContentPages/ContentPage.aspx?entryId=1665620¤tSection=1665275&productid=41. Northouse, Peter G. (2012). The 'Path Introduction to Leadership Concepts and Practice.
Cesar Chavez was able to win the Civil Rights Battle by being dedicated and committed to his goal, having confidence that his strategic plans would work, and by influencing important and famous people to give him their support. Through his boycotts, marches, and strikes Cesar Chavez achieved what he wanted for the people, which was better working conditions, better pay, and better treatment of workers. Cesar Chavez is now recognized as the Martin Luther King Jr. of the migrant farm workers, and of the Mexican People.
Cesar Chavez was born in 1927 to a farmer in Meza, Arizona. When Cesar was 10 years old, his father lost his farm and the family was forced to become migrant farm workers in California. During this time he would encounter the conditions that dedicated his life to changing: wr...
They believed that their approaches to making changes for the workers would work if they continued practicing the same method. Oftentimes their very own methods worked, and would result in the desired way. Sometimes however these methods would lead to quite a bit of anger from those that they opposed. The opposition would call on the courts to attempt to get the union leaders to stop whatever their union was doing. When the leaders did not do this, they were imprisoned. This was the main reason for Chavez's imprisonment. While this possibly partially led to Hoffa's imprisonment, his involvement with the mafia was most likely the main reason for his arrest.
In 1939, when Cesar Chavez was 12 years old, he and his family moved to a well known barrio (neighborhood) of East San Jose, CA known as “Sal Si Puede” (“Get Out If You Can”). Chavez described it as “dirtier and uglier than the rest.” The barrio consisted of Mexican and Mexican-American migrant field workers who had very limited education and money but a strong sense of pride and family.
Latin@s both young and old worked for hours in the hot sun. Out in the fields they worked hard to earn a living, but they did not get paid what they deserved. They got paid very little by the farm laborers who profited a lot from their labor (source: University of Michigan). To fight against this unjust treatment, Chican@s went on strike and boycotted the California grapes. In document 1 it shows photographs of the United Farm Workers strike poster and the boycotts. Many people joined the strike and boycott to help support the cause and won. Both strategies showed to be very effective in getting the farm workers a fair pay and treatment (source: United Farm
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...
3. Dolores Huerta was the main negotiator during the Delano grape strike. In 1965 Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez were approached by Filipino members of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee ("AWOC"). AWOC wanted higher wages from the Delano are grape growers. AWOC wanted to negotiate new contracts with their employers but they needed the help of Huerta and Chavez. The NFWA was still new and growing although Huerta thought that NFWA was not ready to attack corporate America she could not refuse to help AWOC. The two unions formed into one union called United Farm Workers union. Under this the union Dolores began the battle with the Delano grape growers. Dolores organized over 5,000 workers to walk off their job and to strike until they could reach an agreement with their employers.
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