By Kyle Grew, Staff Reporter.
As part of Hispanic Heritage Month the Society of Hispanic Leaders (SOHL) played the movie “Cesar Chavez” directed by Diego Luna for the public. The film was the story of the human rights activist Cesar Chavez’s fight for the migrant farm workers in the California area who were severely mistreated.
The film captured the hardships endured by the migrant farm workers and those who dared to stand up for them. It gave us a glimpse into the journey of Cesar Chavez, his family and the National Farm Workers Association(NFWA) later known as the United Farm Workers (UFW).
The movie shed light on men and women whose names had been forgotten or never known, who were heroes and pioneers; people like Robert Kennedy and Helen Fabela Chavez. On the other side of the coin it darkened the reputation of several political figures such as Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. It depicts the obstacles put in front of Cesar Chavez and the rest of the NFWA whether it was rich farm owners with government officials or racist unlawful police enforcement.
The film had some light moments but it kept a very serious and sometimes emotional tone throughout. It almost felt like you were there as Cesar Chavez struggled through his 25 day hunger strike to end violence within his union, or as if you sharing the joy when the farm owners finally agreed to the terms of the NFWA of fair wages and treatment for farm workers in the California area.
Babel and Adella Lopez attended the event, and although they did not participate directly in the strikes they were aware of them during the later high school and early college years. There was no direct impact on them because they were fortunate enough to have to work in the fields only as a summer job.
Adella said, “my siblings and I were fortunate because our dad was able to go work for General Motors, but [for] the people in California that was their only source of income and without this happening they would have never been paid fairly.”
They did go on to recall vividly their parents joining in on the boycott of Victoria Grapes grown on the farms of owners who mistreated their workers.
“Cesar Chavez” showed its audience the greatness of the man and the work he did while the reactions after the movie showed just how much that work impacted the whole country.