This book offers an illuminating story of how social and political change can sometimes result from the vision, leadership, and commitment of a few dedicated individuals determined not to fail.

Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers Movement chronicles the drive for a union of one of American society’s most exploited groups. It is a story of courage and determination, set against the backdrop of the 1960s, a time of assassinations, war protests, civil rights battles, and reform efforts for poor and minority citizens.

American farm workers were men and women on labor’s last rung, living in desperate and inhumane conditions, poisoned by pesticides, and making a pittance for back-breaking work. The book shows how these migrant workers found a champion in Chavez and the United Farm Workers Union. With the help of quotes from documentary material only recently made available, it tells the story of the boycotts, marches, and strikes-including hunger strikes-used to force concessions for better conditions and pay. It also shows how the farm workers movement helped set the stage for growing Latino cultural awareness and political power.

Interviews, speeches, congressional testimony, diary entries, and firsthand recollections from the early 1960s to the present

Profiles of men and women who played important leadership roles in the farm workers movement