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Cesar Chavez, Champion of Farmers and Apostle of Peace |
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Written by admin
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 Cesar Estrada Chavez, more than any other American human rights activist, expressed more closely the personal philosophy of Gandhi, especially in the way he lived his personal life. Born in 1927 to a poor family of Mexican origin in Yuma Arizona, Chavez grew up well acquainted with poverty and discrimination. Because of the migrant nature of his family life, he attended over 37 different schools growing up. But as he matured into an adult, education became his passion. He once said, "The end of all education should surely be service to others," a belief that he practiced all his life.
In the 1950’s Chavez met Father Donald McDonnell in San Jose, California. Father McDonnell had a profound influence on Chavez, and it was at this point that Chavez became deeply influenced by the lives of St. Francis of Assisi and Mahatma Gandhi, accepting non-violent resistance as the best means of transforming society and addressing social ills. Chavez founded the United Farm Workers union in 1962, choosing a stylized eagle as the union’s symbol. Chavez once explained, "A symbol is an important thing. That is why we chose an Aztec eagle. It gives pride. When people see it they know it means dignity.” Like Gandhi, Chavez recognized that taking pride in one’s own heritage was an important step on the road to achieving dignity.
Cesar Chavez's tireless leadership and nonviolent tactics included the Delano grape strike, the Gandhi-inspired fasts he undertook which focused national attention on farm workers problems, and the 340-mile march from Delano to Sacramento in 1966. He worked to force the state government to pass laws permitting farm workers to organize into a union and allow collective bargaining agreements. His efforts made people aware of the struggles of farm workers for better pay and safer working conditions. He succeeded through nonviolent tactics, such as boycotts, pickets, and strikes. Cesar Chavez and the union sought recognition of the importance and dignity of all farm workers everywhere.
Like Gandhi, Cesar Chavez was willing to sacrifice his own life so that his work would continue and to ensure that violence would not be used. Cesar fasted many times. In 1968 Chavez went on a water-only, 25-day fast. When asked about his motivation for fasting, he said, " A fast is first and foremost personal. It is a fast for the purification of my own body, mind, and soul. The fast is also a heartfelt prayer for purification and strengthening for all those who work beside me in the farm worker movement. The fast is also an act of penance for those in positions of moral authority and for all men and women activists who know what is right and just, who know that they could and should do more. The fast is finally a declaration of non-cooperation with supermarkets who promote and sell and profit from California table grapes.”
He fasted again in 1972 for 24 days, and in 1988 for 36 days. Speaking again about his motivations for fasting, Chavez said that farm workers everywhere were angry and worried that would not be a victory without violence. He fasted to prove that is was possible to win without violence. He said, “We have proved it before through persistence, hard work, faith and willingness to sacrifice. We can win and keep our self-respect and build a great union that will secure the spirit of all people if we do it through a rededication and recommitment to the struggle for justice through nonviolence.” Turning to the problem of poisons in the pesticides used, he continued "The evil is far greater than even I had thought it to be, it threatens to choke out the life of our people and also the life system that supports us all. This solution to this deadly crisis will not be found in the arrogance of the powerful, but in solidarity with the weak and helpless. I pray to God that this fast will be a preparation for a multitude of simple deeds for justice. Carried out by men and women whose hearts are focused on the suffering of the poor and who yearn, with us, for a better world. Together, all things are possible." |
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