Cesar Chavez

1

I was born in Yuma, Arizona

in a ranch owned by my family

but we lost it in the depression.

Like many other families, we moved

to California to work in the fields.

But when we arrived, we found out that

there was more people than jobs.

We went from being farm owners

to farm workers in one day.

And at the age of 11,

I started working in the fields.

That's where I witnessed,

for the first time,

the injustice and the indignities

suffered by the farm workers.

You see the problem is that in 1936

the country changed,

because the National Labor Relations Act

went into effect.

And it gave most workers the right

to join the union and bargain collectively.

Except the farm workers,

they were excluded from this protection

and I was one of them.

I wanted to do something, so I joined

the CSO, Community Services Organization.

And that is where I learned

how to organize people.

We were working in the cities and I

realized that, to make a difference,

I had to get out

and start organizing the workers.

So, in 1962, I went back

to the fields to do just that.

(BREATHES HEAVILY)

(SPANISH)

Juan de la Cruz!

I'm a friend of your cousin, Felipe.

Are you Juan?

Can we talk?

Sure. But not here.

I'm done in about four hours.

(VEHICLE APPROACHING)

You need to leave now. They're coming.

(HORN HONKING)

(ENGINE REVVING)

Can I help you, sir?

Were you talking to those workers?

Is there something I can do for you?

I'm talking to you.

Do you own anything?

(SCOFFS)

No.

Can you read or write?

(CHUCKLES)

Well... No.

Of course not.

Who in your family works?

(SIGHS)

Me and my wife.

And my kids. The older ones anyways.

(CHUCKLES)

The other ones are still too young.

Do you want more for your kids?

Of course.

But...

Most of the people are afraid.

They have to feed their kids.

It's not easy doing it alone.

I'll return in one month

to help you start organizing.

But I need you to gather

everyone you can here.

OK, that's fine.

And you won't be alone anymore.

If we want to organize farm workers,

if we're really serious,

it's not gonna happen here, not with them.

It's just one setback, Cesar, it takes a while

to build trust, you have to be patient.

You know, they really don't care about

the farm worker, Fred.

Gilbert, that's not true.

See that's what I'm talking about, Fred,

see I have to be where it's happening.

I have to get out of Los Angeles

and go back to the fields where I started.

You know, we are doing this together, okay?

You knew this could happen,

that is why we have a plan.

But not in an office.

It's not the time to walk out now.

You know what it takes,

that is why I brought you in.

The CSO will be behind you, no matter what,

but please at least sleep on it.

I am not tired, Fred.

I want to get my hands dirty.

- Cesar...

- I'm with him. He's right.

You will go to new schools

and make new friends.

You're going to be fine.

Your father and I grew up on the fields.

Which team plays for Delano?

Your tio Ruc and tia Petra live in Delano,

so do our cousins. It's gonna be good.

HELEN:
Okay, let's take a vote.

Who wants to go to Delano?

MAN ON RADIO:
...a wonderful day

in Southern California.

- Sandy Koufax on the mound.

- No!

Sandy coming off that

beautiful no-hitter last week.

Caullison just waving that bat

back and forth.

- Pare, I am trying to listen to the game.

- Koufax trying to keep

his winning streak going.

HELEN:
Could you stop? Stop!

Top of the fourth,

Dodgers leading two to nothing.

Koufax delivers and it's

a line drive down the left field line...

Fair ball!

(MAN ON RADIO

SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)

I can't hear. Can you turn it up?

CESAR:
I think we, uh, lost the signal.

You promised me a three-bedroom house.

I said I would try, Mansi.

It was short notice.

But I gave you two months.

That's short notice!

Uncle Cesar.

- That goes in the bedroom, Chato.

- It doesn't fit.

It doesn't fit.

Hey, Cesar, we've lived in a lot worse.

We'll be fine.

Can you get the heavy stuff

in the truck please?

(SIGHS)

If you put eight kids in that one car,

you can put them in that house!

We can find a bigger one

in a couple of months.

CESAR:
And then we gotta

move all over again?

FOREMAN:
Forty-eight, forty-nine,

fifty, fifty-one,

fifty-two,

fifty-three!

That's all for today!

I hear they are looking for bodies

at the onion fields.

GILBERT:
I found the same thing in Hanford.

The workers are scared.

Then we need to hold twice as many

house meetings than we did in Selma.

(INHALES SHARPLY)

- What's the matter?

- It's my back.

(CHUCKING)

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

You can't take real work anymore.

It hurts even when I don't work.

You should take it easy.

What, and live on just

what Helen makes? No.

We are going to make the kids work

on the weekends now.

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATION)

PETRA:
but she went and told everybody

at the church,

and now everybody has...

HELEN:
Look who is here.

And very dirty.

Did you walk here from Oxnard?

Ola.

I thought maybe you weren't coming back.

- It's only been two weeks.

- It's been 18 days.

Eighteen days...

Cesar.

CESAR:
Dolores!

(GASPS)

Look at you.

You definitely got your hands dirty.

This is Angela. Say, "Hi, Cesar."

- Hey, mamita.

- (CLICKING TONGUE)

I'm gonna put her to bed.

How long are you guys visiting us?

Oh, well, word is you can't

do this without me, so...

You are staying?

Well, of course. You think I'm going to

let you mess up what you've started here?

But before you do anything,

you need to go talk to Fernando.

I need to go talk to Fernando?

Okay.

(MUSIC PLAYING OVER RADIO)

(TURNS RADIO OFF)

Hi, Poli.

What happened to your eye?

Nothing.

You wanna talk about this nothing?

Nope.

The kids here are idiots.

They hate us, you know?

They came up on me and Chats,

a bunch of them.

They wouldn't stop calling us "beaners."

Beaners? Is that the best they got?

I've been called much worse.

Greaser,

"wetback,

"spic."

That one doesn't even make sense.

"Brown n*gger."

I never heard that one.

(CHUCKLES) Uh-huh.

I learned a lot in the Navy.

Here, put this on your eye.

Who started it?

I told you, they started calling us names.

No, who started the fight?

We didn't have a choice.

You always have a choice.

I knew you wouldn't get it.

MAN ON RADIO:
although the

official military word is that

these are only mopping up operations,

in five separate actions...

GILBERT:
We need to bring the

people together, like a convention.

DOLORES:
We need to get

everybody together in one place

so they can see how strong we are.

We should start a credit union.

To loan people money?

It'll give us credibility

and it will help people during the winter.

Hey, remember me? Eli Ordonez.

I saw you in Salinas at that other meeting

you were doing.

If you want, I can help pass those around.

MAN:
I have a cousin who has no papers.

You tell your cousin,

if he works in the fields,

he has the right to representation.

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