CPLC honors Chavez 50 years after Phoenix fast
Members of the Latino community gathered Friday at the Santa Rita Hall in Phoenix to commemorate Cesar Chavez and his plight on the 50th anniversary of his 24-day fast to protect the rights of farmworkers in Arizona.
The hall, which 50 years ago had become the headquarters of the United Farm Workers, an organization formed by Chavez in 1962, was decorated with banners of the logo and was bolstered by the music of a mariachi group that, among other songs, played “El Son de la Negra,” Chavez’s favorite song.
Dolores Huerta, who alongside Chavez founded UFW, was the main speaker at the event and urged the younger generations to use his memory to remain motivated in today’s social justice causes.
“No nos queda de otra,” Huerta said to the crowd in Spanish, which in English means “we don’t have another choice.”
The event was organized by Chicanos Por La Causa and was attended by about 100 people who came to remember Chavez’s legacy and the decades-long history of the struggle of migrant farmworkers.
“It’s important for us to share these memories with the younger generation who may not have that connection with the sacrifice that Cesar Chavez experienced,” said Roberto Reveles, Chavez’s personal friend and founder of Somos America, a Phoenix movement that advocated for immigration reforms.
Chavez started a 24-day fast on May 11, 1972, the same day the Arizona Legislature and then-representative Jack Williams passed a bill outlawing tactics that unionized farmworkers used to demand fair working conditions.
The bill prohibited collective bargaining, secondary boycotts and strikes at times of harvest, all of which were used by Chavez and were essential to his non-violent and self-sacrifice-based protesting principles.
“Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers Union hoped that governor Jack Williams would veto House Bill 2134. But, he didn’t,” Christine Marin,
historian and professor emeritus of Arizona State University, wrote in an article for barriozona.
“I was among the many who wanted to see him, to hear him speak, to be in his presence,” wrote Marin, who went to Santa Rita Hall when Chavez was fasting there.
Reveles also said he remembers when he visited Chavez during the fast in 1972.
He was lying in bed and looked pretty weak as he might have been around the midpoint of his fast, Reveles recalled.
Yet his presence was felt strongly, Reveles said.
“The whole experience there was just unbelievable,” said Reveles. “The spirituality of Cesar was overwhelming. It was palpable as I walked in.”
Reveles remembered how large crowds gathered at the hall in support and admiration.
“Cesar Chavez showed us the way to get out and publicly, peacefully, but aggressively, push for our basic rights that are global human rights,” Reveles said. “Self-sacrifice is at the bottom of it all.” Cesar ended his fast on June 4, 1972. Eventually, Chavez’s efforts resulted in the government granting farmworkers the right to negotiate with their employers for fair wages, benefits and protections. “(Chavez) was a very humble man, and yet he was a very strong man in his belief that if you stand up for yourself and pursue your goals without letting out, recognizing that it takes time, time will work in our favor,” Reveles said.
Legacy of Chavez in today’s Latino movements
Huerta, known as one of Chavez’s closest companions throughout his activism, spoke to the crowd at the Friday event about how Chavez risked his life in support of the farmworker movement, to show the suffering of an entire group.
She said she believes younger generations should learn and implement Chavez’s
example in today’s causes.
“The only time when we lose is when we quit,” Huerta said.
According to Reveles, Chavez’s principles of non-violence and peaceful protesting to obtain the attention of the public, the media and policy-makers still persist to this in Latino social movements in the U.S. and particularly in Arizona.
“At this particular time in politics, I think that we need to make sure that the Latinos are motivated as they’ve never been motivated before,” Reveles said.