Picture a boy no older than ten, bent over in the rows of a lettuce field in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The sun hasn’t yet crested the horizon, but César Chávez is already at work—hands blistered, his small frame weighed down by a burlap sack filled with crops he’ll never afford to eat. The Great Depression didn’t just steal jobs; it shattered families. When César’s parents lost their Arizona farm to foreclosure, they joined the legions of migrant workers who became America’s invisible backbone—brown hands in white-owned fields.
This was César’s America. And in a small town a few hundred miles away, a young girl named Dolores Huerta watched her mother run a hotel and feed struggling families—even when they couldn’t pay. Dolores was no stranger to justice. And neither of them would stay silent for long.
Explore the revolutionary activism of César Chávez and Dolores Huerta and how the fight for the dignity of farming communities is still happening today in a town you’ve probably never heard of, but have absolutely eaten food from.
From their humble beginnings in migrant worker families to their leadership in the United Farm Workers (UFW), discover how they ignited a national movement that transformed labor rights in America. This episode dives deep into the 1965 Delano grape strike, the nationwide consumer boycott that followed, and how Chávez’s nuanced stance on undocumented labor evolved over time.
We also shine a spotlight on Dolores Huerta’s fearless leadership and her powerful advice on resisting authoritarianism, as shared in her Democracy Now! interview. Plus, learn how Portland, Oregon came to honor Chávez with a street bearing his name—and what it means for community activism today.
🎙️ Whether you’re a union organizer, a student of history, or just curious about how everyday people changed the course of American labor, this episode is packed with vivid storytelling, historical insight, and ways to take action today.
🔧 Support the Cause – Follow, Donate, and Learn:
📱 Follow These Union & Advocacy Accounts:
• @UFWupdates (United Farm Workers)
• @DoloresHuertaFDN (Dolores Huerta Foundation)
• @oregonrural (Oregon Rural Action)
💸 Donate to Organizations Fighting for Farmworker Justice:
• United Farm Workers Foundation
📚 Want to Learn More? Start Here:
• 📹 UCLA Labor Center: César Chávez’s Legacy – YouTube Video
• 📘 The Crusades of César Chávez by Miriam Pawel
• 📗 A Dolores Huerta Reader edited by Mario T. García
• 🎞️ Dolores (2017 documentary, available on streaming platforms)
📎 Sources & Citations (APA-style):
• García, M. T. (2008). A Dolores Huerta Reader. University of New Mexico Press.
• Pawel, M. (2014). The Crusades of César Chávez: A Biography. Bloomsbury Press.
• Chávez, C. (1968). “The Mexican-American and the Church” speech. Published in Commonweal Magazine.
• Huerta, D. (2017). Interview with Democracy Now! Retrieved from
https://www.democracynow.org
• United Farm Workers. (n.d.). History of the Grape Boycott. Retrieved from
https://ufw.org
• UCLA Labor Center. (2022). César Chávez’s Legacy [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com
• Oregon Historical Society. (2009). The renaming of Portland’s 39th Avenue to César E. Chávez Boulevard. Retrieved from
https://ohs.org
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