Gonzales & Rodriguez: Living the legacy of Cesar Chavez

[The Straight Story]

Gonzales & Rodriguez: Living the legacy of Cesar Chavez

Posted: June 02, 2005
by: Patrisia Gonzales and Roberto Rodriguez / Universal Press Syndicate
Like most campesinos, Cesar Chavez was the color of the earth. There's little doubt that history will one day look back on the United Farm Worker movement as an indigenous insurrection - a struggle for dignity and human rights for a people who have been here forever.

It should also be seen as a green movement, as the UFW has always warned consumers about their own exposure to toxic chemicals.

When one hears the name of Cesar Chavez, it is usually associated with Martin Luther King Jr. or Mahatma Gandhi. The late Mexican-American labor leader came into national prominence for his several historic fasts (1960s - '90s) that brought to light the plight of farm workers. Yet as we celebrate his memory, we should always recognize that he co-founded the United Farm Workers of America with his wife, Helen Chavez, and Dolores Huerta; and that their very first strike was in support of Filipino farm workers.

Perhaps one day, his name will also be associated with the likes of Zapata, Geronimo and Sitting Bull. On the day before Chavez died in Arizona in 1993, he was reading a book on American Indians. At this, he told a colleague: ''We need to work with our Native American brothers and sisters.''

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