Labor Day falls this year on the anniversary of a truly historic labor victory. Forty-eight years ago today, workers gathered in a hall in Delano, California, nervously awaiting the results of the first election in the fields: The fight to represent farmworkers who picked grapes at giant DiGiorgio Company. It was an election, Cesar Chavez later said, that […]
The Robert F. Kennedy health insurance plan illustrates two extremes of Cesar Chavez’s legacy for farmworkers. In the early 1970s, the UFW-sponsored plan provided much-needed health care for farmworkers and epitomized the audacious triumphs that grew from Chavez’s soaring vision. But within a decade, the insurance program came crashing to earth in a bureaucratic mess. Staffed […]
The weeks following publication of a book are crammed with conversations about the book – what it says, how you wrote it, why you wrote it, what people think. And those conversations about “The Crusades of Cesar Chavez” have been intense and wonderful. But among the most enjoyable parts of the just-having-published-a-book-time for me are […]
“Crusades of Cesar Chavez” has gone on the road, to Texas and soon on to Arizona, and I’ll have more news about some great encounters in another post soon. In the meantime, I wanted to quickly post links to two terrific conversations about the book and Chavez that have been preserved as audio podcasts. […]
An Op-Ed piece I wrote that was published in the Los Angeles Times today, comparing the drama of the real events in the early years of the Delano grape strike to the way they are portrayed in the movie. One of the stories is about the arrest of Helen Chavez. Here is the real Helen Chavez on […]
It’s been a whirlwind first week! I’ve done about 25 interviews with local and national print, radio and television media — in studio, skype podcasts, and phone interviews. The conversations have been thoughtful and thought-provoking, touching on issues including immigration, movement-building, and of course, details of Chavez’s life. I’ve also written a couple of pieces, […]
Sometimes truth is more dramatic than fiction. If you want to watch the best movie made about Cesar Chavez and the farmworker movement, all you need is an internet connection. Several old movies now online capture the spirit and action of the times — not to mention the vintage cars, hairstyles, dress, and music – […]
Forty-six years ago today, Cesar Chavez broke a 25-day fast in Delano, California, with Senator Robert F. Kennedy by his side. The picture of the rising political star and the weakened but equally charismatic farmworker leader became probably the most famous and enduring image of the movement. The photo has been used repeatedly throughout […]
…to the producers of the Cesar Chavez biopic. Opening weekend is a make-or-break time for a movie, a trend that has accelerated in recent years. In the 1980s, opening weekend accounted for only about 15 percent of a movie’s box office; now it can be more than twice that much. “A bad opening will usually […]