1966: CESAR CHAVEZ AND HIS NFWA
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15CESAR CHAVEZ SPENT MUCH TIME, ESPECIALLY IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS JUST AFTER DAYBREAK, ON THE PICKET LINE. HE BELIEVED IT WAS THE BEST EDUCATION FOR WORKERS AND UNION VOLUNTEERS; BESIDES, HE WAS NOT THE KIND OF LEADER WHO EXEMPTED HIMSELF FROM THE HARD WORK HE ASKED OF OTHERS.
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16A TOUCHING PHOTO SHOWING ONLY THE HAND OF A STRIKING FARMWORKER - A HAND WEATHERED BY AGE AND A LIFETIME OF BACK BREAKING FIELD WORK. THE STRIKER USES HIS HAND TO STRENGTHEN HIS APPEAL TO THE STRIKEBREAKERS PRUNING THE GRAPE VINES CLOSE BY THE ROADSIDE.
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17JIM HOLLAND, A UNION CARPENTER AND ACTIVIST, FROM THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA MADE THE CIRCULAR PICKET SIGNS THAT READ: HUELGA AND NFWA ON THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE AZTEC EAGLE, THE SYMBOL CHOSEN BY CESAR CHAVEZ TO DEPICT HIS UNION. THESE UNUSUAL SHAPED PICKET SIGNS HAD THE LOOK OF SHIELDS USED BY ROMAN CENTURIONS AND WERE UNIVERSALLY ACCLAIMED PHOTO PROPS USED BY EVERY PHOTOGRAPHER - SEVERAL DOZEN OR MORE - WHO FOCUSED A CAMERA ON THE FARMWORKER MOVEMENT.
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18THE DELANO STRIKERS SACRIFICED MUCH: PAYING JOBS, NEW CLOTHES, A BETTER AUTOMOBILE AND SOME LOST THEIR HOMES, BUT THEY WERE WILLING TO FIGHT FOR A UNION BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED IT WOULD BRING MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR A BETTER LIFE FOR THEIR CHILDREN AND THEIR GRANDCHILDREN.
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19THE DELANO STRIKERS HAD NO MONEY FOR FOOD, CLOTHING, RENT, UTILITIES, ETC. THEY WERE COMPLETELY DEPENDENT UPON THE CHARITY AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF OUTSIDERS - UNIONS, CHURCHES, COMMUNITY GROUPS, AND STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS. FOOD CARAVANS WERE ORGANIZED IN MAJOR CALIFORNIA CITIES. OFTEN THEY ARRIVED IN DELANO LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON, UNLOAD THEIR GOODS AT THE STRIKE COMMISARY, AND ATTEND THE WEEKLY UNION MEETING AT FILIPINO HALL WHERE THEY PRESENTED THE FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS THEY HAD COLLECTED.
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20HISTORICALLY, MOST AGRICULTURAL STRIKES IN CALIFORNIA WERE PUT DOWN BY LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AND RENT-A-COP AGENCIES HIRED BY THE GROWERS. WHAT MADE THE DELANO STRIKE DIFFERENT WAS ITS COMMITMENT TO NONVIOLENCE AND ITS CONNECTION TO MAJOR CITIES OUTSIDE THE LOCAL STRIKE AREA. THIS REMARKABLE PHOTO OF SENATOR ROBERT KENNEDY SHAKING HANDS WITH A DELANO STRIKER BEARS WITNESS TO THE INFLUENCE OF OUTSIDERS ON THE OUTCOME OF THE STRIKE.
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21CESAR CHAVEZ BELIEVED THE POLITICALLY POWERFUL KENNEDY FAMILY FROM BOSTON CARRIED THE TORCH OF SOCIAL JUSTICE FOR THE POOR, AND IN THE CASE OF HIS FARMWORKER MOVEMENT, HE WAS RIGHT. ROBERT AND TED KENNEDY WERE OUTSPOKEN PUBLIC ADVOCATES FOR THE RIGHTS OF FARMWORKERS AND THEY DID MUCH TO FOCUS NATIONAL ATTENTION ON THEIR PLIGHT.
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22CESAR CHAVEZ KNEW THE DELANO STRIKE COULD NEVER BE WON AT THE FIELD LEVEL BECAUSE THE GROWERS AND THEIR LABOR CONTRACTORS HAD THE CAPACITY TO IMPORT THOUSANDS OF STRIKEBREAKERS FROM THE MEXICAN BORDER. HE HAD TO CONJURE UP A WAY TO TRANSFORM THE CAUSE OF THE FARMWORKER MOVEMENT INTO THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT. HIS FIRST STEP WAS TO ORGANIZE A 300-MILE MARCH FROM DELANO TO SACRAMENTO, THE STATE CAPITOL, TO MEET WITH THE GOVERNOR.
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23ON MARCH 17, 1966 - AFTER A STAND-OFF WITH THE DELANO POLICE WHO TRIED TO PREVENT THE START OF THE MARCH, CESAR CHAVEZ AND HIS RIGHT HAND ASSISTANT, (REV.) JIM DRAKE, LED THE STRIKERS AND VOLUNTEERS OUT OF DELANO AND ONTO TO HIGHWAY 99 EN ROUTE TO SACRAMENTO.
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24"PEREGRINACION" - "PENITENCIA" - "REVOLUCION" WERE THE THEMES OF THE MARCH TO SACRAMENTO. THE BANNER OF THE VIRGEN, THE FLAGS OF THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO, THE LARGE WOOD CROSS ADORNED WITH ROSARY BEADS AND HUELGA BUTTONS THAT WOULD BE CARRIED, AND THE BLAZING RED HUELGA FLAGS ADORNED WITH THE AZTEC EAGLE ALL MADE PERFECT SENSE TO THE DELANO STRIKERS. THE MARCH WAS CONCEIVED AND EXECUTED AS A PUBLIC FARMWORKER MOVEMENT PAGEANT FOR NATIONAL MEDIA CONSUMPTION.
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25DELANO STRIKERS HAD A FLAIR FOR DRESSING FOR THE OCCASION. MANUAL VASQUEZ, A MARCH LIEUTENANT, SET THE TONE WITH A RED HUELGA VEST, AN ARM BAND AND HAT BAND PINNED WITH HUELGA BUTTONS, AND A BUTTON ON HIS HAT BRIM THAT READ: "I AM AN AGITATOR" - A SWIPE AT THE GROWER PUBLIC RELATIONS PROPAGANDA, WHICH HELD THERE WERE NO STRIKERS, JUST "OUTSIDE AGITATORS." IN THE HISTORY OF EFFORTS TO ORGANIZE FARMWORKERS, THE WORD "AGITATOR" WAS A CODE WORD FOR "COMMUNIST" ORGANIZER.
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26ON THE MARCH TO SACRAMENTO, MEET HELEN CHAVEZ, CESAR'S WIFE AND STEADFAST PARTNER, IN HIS QUEST FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE FOR FARMWORKERS. CESAR AND HELEN LIVED IN VOLUNTARY POVERTY WITH THEIR EIGHT CHILDREN IN ORDER TO BE FREE ENOUGH TO FOCUS AND DEDICATE THEIR LIVES TO SERVE FARMWORKERS.
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