In the Margins: Speaking Truth to Power

In my grandmother’s living room when I was growing up hung three portraits: one of the Virgen of Guadalupe, one of President John F. Kennedy, and one of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. These were later joined by a portrait of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. My grandmother, along with my whole family, was decidedly apolitical, but fully committed Democrats. This seemingly contradictory environment was part of my family culture. I grew up blissfully unaware of the rapid societal and cultural upheaval our country was experiencing in the 1960’s. At least until high school, when one man, who embodied the three strands of religion, politics and Latino culture, ignited my passion for social justice.

Born on March 31, 1927 to a Mexican-American family living in Yuma, Arizona, César Chávez worked as a manual laborer before spending two years in the U.S. Navy. Later, he moved to California and became involved in the Community Service Organization, which sought to register laborers to vote. In the mid-1060’s he and Dolores Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) based in Delano, California. Together, he and Huerta began successfully organizing farmworkers for healthier working conditions and fair pay. In 1967, the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) was formed when the NFWA merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee. Always advocating for better living and working conditions for farmworkers who had little legal recourse or support for their deplorable conditions, César Chávez was a tireless organizer.

A lifelong Roman Catholic, César Chávez infused his Catholic Latin American culture into his campaigns, using the Virgen of Guadalupe as a unifying symbol, along with public processions, Masses and fasts. He was greatly influenced by the non-violent teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, relying on pickets and boycotts, rather than violence, to pressure farm owners into granting strikers’ requests. Through his unrelenting quest for social justice and equity, César Chávez became an icon for organized labor and is a “folk-saint” among many Latino cultures. His birthday, March 31 is celebrated as a public school holiday in commemoration of his civic service in several states, including California.  In 1994 he posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

César Chávez gave voice and agency to those most in need of an ally. The farm workers who make it possible for us to have access to fresh fruits and vegetables have traditionally been invisible and disenfranchised. And for one young girl living in San Francisco’s Mission district, he awakened the understanding that we as Catholics are not just called, but mandated, to advocate for those who have no voice.