The Fight in the Fields (1997)

Сюжет кино: The authors note in the Preface to this 1997 book, "Cesar Chavez was the most important Latino leader this country has ever The connection that the farmworkers forged between the haves and the have-nots created a remarkable moment in American history---an era in which people who would not normally meet connected and worked together to correct terrible injustices. The film and the book are an attempt to capture the intensity and focus of this remarkable movement and to help people learn its powerful lessons. With the death of Cesar Chavez in 1993, there is an urgency to preserve these memories while they are still "
They note, "Coworkers began to shun Chavez because they had heard repeated rumors he was a Communist, an accusation that flew in the face of his Catholic The observant Cesar hit upon a countermeasure: he already knew the church wielded great authority and power in the Mexican community, so he went to Father McDonnell and some of the other priests in San Jose and asked them to issue a statement in his defense and offer him their blessing publicly before worshippers." (Pg. 49)
They point out, "Not everyone was comfortable with the emphasis on Catholic imagery. Epifanio Comacho, the caustic hero of the first rose strike, refused to carry any images of virgins, crosses, or saints. (He'd already scandalized the more religious among the strikers with a bumper sticker on his truck that read, `I too was a virgin once.') By the time the group reached Sacramento, however, Camacho would be there as well, wearing an expansive Mexican sombrero and waving a union flag." (Pg. 119)
They observe, "Although some Chicano dissidents accused him of `cowardice' for refusing to attack or harm growers, Chavez would not budge, repeating that patience was a surer path to victory than He had to do something drastic to make the union recommit to nonviolence and humility. He decided to simply stop eating. Moreover, Chavez resolved not to break his fast until union members renewed their pledges of nonviolence. The inspiration for Chavez's protest was whose writings Chavez had read over and over. Chavez's own pronounced Catholic faith and its tradition of made Gandhi's concept of overcoming enemies through `moral juijitsu' appealing." (Pg. 141) They add, "Cesar had lost more than thirty pounds. He had already fasted longer than Gandhi's hunger strike in 1924, but his message about nonviolence seemed to have gotten across to the union's rank and file. Chavez decided it was time to publicly break the [Robert] Kennedy sat next to Chavez, who was wrapped in a The two men, both Catholics, shared a piece of bread blessed by a priest." (Pg. 144-145)
This is a fascinating and inspiring story, that will be of tremendous interest to anyone studying Chavez and the farmworker's movement.