WEBVTT

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The

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setting is Delano California, A small
town in the san Joaquin valley some

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250 miles south of sacramento, the
state capital,

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Delano was founded in 1873 by the
Southern Pacific Railroad. For many

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years, it was a small town in an arid
valley with little to distinguish it.

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Today, it's a fertile region, the home
of wealthy grape growers. Most of

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them came from Southern Europe in the
1920s. Many of these immigrants were

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poor with their knowledge of the
grape. They're only skill.

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These yugoslavian and Sicilian farmers
carved thousands of acres of

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vineyards from the central California
desert.

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They irrigated the land, created an
oasis and they made fantastic fortunes.

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The farm workers came with the planting of the vineyards and many of them

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were mexican americans. Now, many
farmworkers are traditionally migratory.

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They follow the crops from place to
place, But because of the nature of

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the grapes, the workers of delanoe
constituted a relatively stable labor

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force for grapes are a crop which
requires attention for about 10 months

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out of the year. True, many workers
still come to Delano only during the

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season's peak, but many of the
families who tended the grapes remain

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throughout the year. They built a life
for themselves in Delano,

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a permanent mexican american community
grew in Delano across the highway

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from the main part of town,

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but working conditions and the
vineyards were disgraceful and the housing

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provided by the grower for migrant
workers was often appallingly

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substandard.

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The average worker in 1963 received a
dollar and 20 cents an hour plus 10

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cents a lug of grapes, extremely low
wages for work that requires a great

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deal of skill as well as immense
physical strength

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into this setting step. The chief
actor in the unfolding drama, the

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catalyst,

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Cesar Chavez, an articulate, soft
spoken man, a farmworker himself

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and the story of welder is the story
of this man.

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Born in Yuma Arizona, Cesar Chavez
spent most of his childhood following

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the crops Like the Children of these
migrant families, he attended at

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least 19 different schools, most of
them for only short periods of time.

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Thus he is largely self educated. Mhm
1952, Cesar Chavez had settled in

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san Jose California and there he
joined the community service organization

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the Cso. As chairman of a Cso voter
registration drive Chavez registered

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4000 mexican american voters in a two
month period And during the next

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eight years he helped 30,000 people
gain their US citizenship.

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Cesar Chavez helped organize many CSO
programs both in the san Jose area

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and in the san Joaquin valley programs
which are still active today. He

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helped people get medical treatment,
welfare, legal protection driver's

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licenses And in 1958 Chavez became
national director of the community

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service organizations.

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During the next four years Cesar
Chavez developed a dream, he began to

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dream of a union for mexican american
farm workers, he became increasingly

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concerned over the plight of the farm
workers. So concerned that in 1962

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he resigned from his cso position.
When his proposal for organizing a farm

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union was rejected, Chavez moved to
delay. No, his wife Helen's hometown

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and with his own savings of $1200 he
began creating the nucleus for his

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union, the National Farm Workers
Association or N. F. W. A.

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Gradually the union movement caught
on. In Delano 1965, Chavez had

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enrolled 1700 families in his n. f.w.
And he'd used its growing strength

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to win small pay raises for the
workers.

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Chavez knew that within a few years
his wa would have to strike, but the

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strike was to come earlier than he
expected or wanted a full three years

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before he believed the union would be
ready.

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Mm hmm. The fuse was lighted in the
spring of 1965. When filipino grape

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pickers in the Coachella Valley south
of Delanoe went on strike, they were

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joined by several 100 mexican american
workers. The strikers demanded wage

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increases to a $1.40 an hour, And
within 10 days the growers had

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capitulated. The demands were met.

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But when these same workers moved
north to delay. No, they found the old

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pay scale. The filipino workers
represented by a W. O. C. The agricultural

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workers organizing committee of the Af
of L. C. I. O. Went out on strike

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and Chavez reluctantly committed his
National farm Workers Association to

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the cause. The strike was underway,
but well go was to become more than

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just a strike. It was to become a
cause for mexican americans everywhere.

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A new and vital form of protest

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and cesar Chavez was to make of the
delay. No situation a moral issue. An

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issue of national concern, Chavez
realized that the strike could not

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succeed unless it had outside help. He
sought the support of the churches.

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The first to answer his call was the
California migrant ministry, a

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protestant organization which sends
its ministers among the farm workers.

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The local catholic clergy tried to
remain neutral. Their financial

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support came from the anglo community
support they reportedly would lose

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if they allied themselves with the N F
W A mm. After a long delay,

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California's seven catholic bishops
led by Bishop You Donohoe offered some

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support to the strikers by stating
that farm workers should indeed be

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brought under the National Labor
Relations Act. Chavez sought support from

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others adopting the methods of the
black protest movement. He called for

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civil rights Volunteers, College
students, civil rights leaders poured

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into Delanoe picket lines were
organized and the strike assumed the

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character of a non violent protest.
Not all the growers in the delay, No

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area were picketed at the same time,
Chavez wisely chose to leave some

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alone. Thus striking N F. W. A.
Members had farms they could go to for

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work. A number of workers would be
drawn off the picket line and sent to

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work in the fields for a few days.
Even so, the N. F. W. A suffered from

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lack of funds for the union paid all
the expenses of picket families, the

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rent, the food, the gasoline bills as
well as its own administrative costs.

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The union was aided by contributions from individuals from organizations,

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but funds were still short a condition
which eventually led cesar Chavez

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to merge his N. F. W. With the naval
C. I. O. Unions. Mm. As the strike

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dragged on, new tactics were needed to
focus national attention on Delanoe.

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During the next years, three steps
were taken to achieve this.

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The first tactic was the economic
boycott. The strike reason Chavez should

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affect not only the delay, no farms
but all the products. The larger

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growers produced in some cases, the
growers were part of gigantic

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corporations, most of whose incomes
came from products other than grapes.

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Mm hmm. And so the cause of weld a
spread outward from Delano Volunteers

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led the boycott effort in major cities
throughout the nation. The tactic

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worked. Eventually, the big
corporations were forced to settle with the

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union, but still more publicity was
needed to keep up the enthusiasm of

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the strikers. The second tactic was a
pilgrimage. A march of the striking

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farmworkers to sacramento.

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The workers marched 250 miles to hold
a rally at the State Capitol.

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The third tactic was a fast by cesar
Chavez. This fast was undertaken to

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reaffirm the principles of Nonviolence
which motivated the strike, non

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violence, which was sorely tried by
the growers and their supporters.

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At the end of his fast, cesar Chavez
was joined in. Delanoe by senator

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robert Kennedy. The two men attended a
special mass together and shared

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the first meal Chavez had eaten in 25
days, Kennedy hailed this leader of

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la raza as one of the heroic figures
of our time

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now. Well, God has one much for the
farm workers of delay, no wage

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increases, improved working and living
conditions have been forced from

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the growers of the san Joaquin valley.
But more important the case of

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Delanoe has set an example for farm
workers everywhere. Well go has spread

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from Delano to other parts of the
country to areas where farm workers were

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paid as little as 40 cents an hour and
it's made people as far away as new

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york and boston aware of mexican
americans perhaps for the first time

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then to weld a has provided
inspiration for Mexican americans in areas

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other than farm labor. It's the latest
step in the great awakening And

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even when the strike is one in one
area, it's still a symbol for thousands.

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For the principles apply in other
areas. It's a cause which has united

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thousands of mexican americans,
students, professional

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people. Mexican americans in every
walk of life

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and it's the future that will
determine the effects of Well, gah the

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future that will determine the outcome
of the great awakening. No mm mhm

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curry did a lock pick and

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mhm If he won away. I love farther
than you

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also. I am master Chavez, yangling

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screaming rco.

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I lost kings and he as he eggert
Moscow cole

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gonzalo seemed arista don't go of law.

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I lost Italiano

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mientras. El mariachi camba.

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Mhm.

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A novel. The old man who's coming,
Who's these ones come along. Mother

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conversation all

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yeah,

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eagerly

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enthusiast.

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You have a stuck in a fault and I see
that when it comes to go be my

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congress global somewhere or you are
elia the march was for speech therapy

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novel

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must be a cell.

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Are killed by the end of the song
Massimo keras or jump me person as love

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yet ***

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they let all the mother just saying it
a harder longer

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get a bird and I love we're moving
young

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Hells. Yes. Barrantes a bottle
Campesino into chopping board and well

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other than social media

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they learn all they learned. A cool
new mercies.

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Yeah.Mhm