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 set a message a multitude of people support: it was about farm workers' rights. In the 1960s, hard working farmers were paid low salaries and were often mistreated by their leaders. Chavez was one of the many who were brutalized; however, unlike others, he stood up for the workers' rights. All his efforts of eliminating this misery was reflected in his powerful speech "We Shall Overcome".
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...
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.
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.
Ferriss, Susan, Ricardo Sandoval, and Diana Hembree. The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1997. Print.
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.
Cesar Chavez just helped with the worker’s pay and not very much physically. In the end in my opinion Mother Jones helped a little more than Chavez. I already said why I think this. Cesar Chavez did a lot of things for farm workers but not very much physically. I know that physically is better since people won’t get hurt as much. This concludes my essay on Mother Jones and Cesar
In the early 1960’s, the Civil Rights Movement was rearing its head amongst ethnicities other than African Americans. The mid-60’s saw the flowering of a movement for legal rights among Mexican-Americans, as well as a new militancy challenging the group’s second-class economic status. The aptly named ‘Chicano’ movement had many similarities to what the ‘Black Power’ movement also advocated. It primarily emphasized pride in both the past and present Mexican culture, but unlike the Black Power movement and SDS, it was also closely linked to labor struggles. The movement itself found one of its leaders in César Estrada Chávez, the son of migrant farm works and disciple of Martin Luther King Jr. César Chávez would become the best-known Latino American civil rights activist through his use of aggressive but nonviolent tactics and his public-relations approach to unionism. In 1965, Chávez led a series of nonviolent protests which included marches, fasts and a national boycott of California grapes. The boycott drew national attention to the pitifully low wages and oppressive working conditions forced upon migrant laborers, and in 1969, Chávez addressed a “Letter from Delano” to agricultural employers, defending his own movement’s aims and tactics.
It is crucial to have an awareness of the early beginnings of his life in order to understand Cesar Chavez’s development into becoming the celebrated leader he is known as today. One of the noteworthy aspects of his life is that he was not what some would consider a “natural-born” leader, meaning that he was not born into a family of great wealth or power. Chavez was born on March 31, 1927 near the town of Yuma, Arizona to a humble, hardworking Mexican immigrant family. His grandfather, Cesario Chavez, for whom he was named after, had worked hard to save enough money to be able to buy land in Arizona and raise his thirteen children, which included Cesar’s father. His father, Librado Chavez, grew up, got married, and opened up a couple of small businesses to help provide for his family and build a better life for his own children. According to biographical accounts about Cesar, this is when and where he began to learn and...
Also as a young boy during the 1930’s he saw how many people lost their jobs and homes, and had to basically walk around the country in order to find a new job (“Cesar Chavez” 1). When Cesar was ten, due to the drought in the southwest, his parents were forced to become migrant farm workers (“Cesar Chavez” 1). After his parents became migrant farm workers Cesar Chavez had attended over thirty different schools and was only able to obtain a seventh grade education (“Cesar Chavez” 1). Through all of these harsh and tiring experiences, Cesar Chavez decided to start a migrant farm workers movement that would be very successful. Cesar Chavez was able to win the civil rights battle by being a strategic leader, having perseverant hope, and by gaining the support of common people, politicians, and Hollywood stars.
Chavez is one of the greatest Civil Rights activists of times. As a child he watched workers be mistreated and misused. He follows King and Gandhi’s principles of nonviolence and lives by their standards. He also believes that the highest form of freedom carries with it the greatest measure of
... 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.
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
Tejada-Flores, Rick. "Fight in the Fields - CESAR CHAVEZ | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 12 February 2012.
During the 1960s there were many civil right movement activists such as Cesar Chavez. Cesar Chavez was born on March 31st in the North Gila River Valley outside Yuma. During his years, Chavez has accomplished many things that have changed farm laborers for the better. When he was young his family lost their farm due to the Great Depression and they became migrant workers. They had to move to several different places so that they could find work, which meant that every time they moved, Chavez had to change schools. By the time he finished the 8th grade he dropped out of school to become a full time migrant worker to help his family out.