Letters from Tomis

My Socialist Hall of Fame

During this chaotic era of vile rhetoric and manipulative tactics from our so-called bourgeois leaders, I am invigorated by the opportunity to reflect on Socialists, Revolutionaries, Philosophers, Guerrilla Leaders, Partisans, and Critical Theory titans, champions, and martyrs who paved the way for us—my own audacious “Socialism’s Hall of Fame.” These are my heroes and fore-bearers. Not all are perfect, or even fully admirable, but all contributed in some way to our future–either as icons to emulate, or as warnings to avoid in the future.

Introduction

César Estrada Chávez (1927–1993) stands as one of the most consequential labor and civil rights leaders in twentieth-century American history. As co-founder of the United Farm Workers (UFW), Chávez’s decades-long struggle for the rights of migrant farmworkers transformed the landscape of American labor organizing, embedding the fight for dignity, justice, and collective power at the heart of national consciousness. His legacy is not merely that of a union leader, but as an organizer who fused nonviolent resistance, community organizing, and a vision of social justice rooted in working-class solidarity and the broader Chicano movement.

Early Life and Formative Experiences

Born near Yuma, Arizona in 1927 to a Mexican American family of farmworkers, Chávez’s early years were shaped by the twin experiences of rural poverty and racism. The Chávez family lost their small homestead during the Great Depression and joined the ranks of migrant laborers, moving through California’s agricultural valleys. These formative experiences instilled in Chávez a profound sense of injustice, as he endured segregated schools, economic exploitation, and the relentless grind of seasonal work.

Dropping out of school after the eighth grade to support his family, Chávez joined the U.S. Navy during World War II but saw only brief service. The persistent discrimination against Mexican Americans both within and outside the military confirmed his belief in the necessity of collective action for social change.

Awakening to Organizing: CSO and Early Activism

Chávez’s formal political awakening began in the late 1940s with the Community Service Organization (CSO), a Latino civil rights group founded by Fred Ross, a disciple of Saul Alinsky’s school of community organizing. Under Ross’s mentorship, Chávez learned the nuts and bolts of grassroots mobilization, voter registration, and political advocacy, quickly rising to the position of national director. However, the CSO’s reluctance to tackle the specific plight of farmworkers catalyzed Chávez’s decision to dedicate himself to labor organizing.

Founding the United Farm Workers and the Grape Strike

In 1962, Chávez co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) in Delano, California with Dolores Huerta, which would later become the United Farm Workers (UFW). Operating on a shoestring budget, Chávez and Huerta built the union by visiting farmworkers in their homes, organizing house meetings, and forging bonds of mutual trust. Their approach combined classic labor tactics—strikes, boycotts, and picketing—with the participatory democracy and community-based activism of the Chicano movement.

The union’s defining moment came with the Delano Grape Strike of 1965–1970, when Filipino and Mexican farmworkers united to demand union recognition, higher wages, and better working conditions. Chávez’s commitment to nonviolent direct action, inspired by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., shaped the movement’s tactics: marches, hunger strikes, and national consumer boycotts. The “NFWA-UFW Grape Boycott” galvanized national support, drawing clergy, students, and middle-class consumers into the cause, and ultimately forced powerful agribusiness interests to negotiate.

Ideology and Social Justice Vision

While often associated with Catholic social teaching and nonviolence, Chávez’s worldview was also shaped by socialist principles and a critique of capitalism’s exploitative nature. He was influenced by leftist Catholic thinkers, the traditions of Mexican revolutionary nationalism, and the legacy of the American labor left. The UFW not only fought for better wages and working conditions, but also for broader goals: education, housing, healthcare, and political empowerment for working-class Chicanos.

Chávez’s organizing methods emphasized collective leadership, rank-and-file participation, and the creation of alternative institutions such as union-run clinics and cooperatives. While Chávez could be a charismatic and sometimes autocratic leader, he remained committed to building grassroots democratic power. His famous maxim—“Sí se puede!” (“Yes, it can be done!”)—became a rallying cry for the marginalized and dispossessed.

Challenges, Legacy, and Critique

By the late 1970s and 1980s, the UFW faced a series of setbacks: mechanization, legal assaults, the rise of anti-union sentiment, and internal conflicts. Chávez’s controversial use of fasts, the centralization of union authority, and disputes with rival unions and undocumented workers have all been subject to critical scrutiny. Yet, even as union membership declined, the broader impact of Chávez’s work continued to ripple through American society.

Chávez’s legacy lies in the transformation of farmworkers from an “invisible” labor force to a nationally recognized movement for economic and social justice. He inspired a new generation of Chicano and Latino activists, contributed to the development of intersectional social movements, and helped embed the principle of collective bargaining in American labor law.

Conclusion

César Chávez’s life and work epitomize the struggle for dignity, power, and justice by and for the most exploited workers in the U.S. His legacy endures not only in the fields of California, but in the ongoing fight for workers’ rights, immigrant justice, and racial equality across the country. He remains a symbol of the capacity of ordinary people, through solidarity and struggle, to remake the world.

Select Bibliography

• Bardacke, Frank. Trampling Out the Vintage: Cesar Chavez and the Two Souls of the United Farm Workers. Verso, 2011.

• Chávez, César. An Organizer’s Tale: Speeches and Writings. Edited by Ilan Stavans, Penguin, 2008.

• Ferriss, Susan, and Ricardo Sandoval. The Fight in the Fields: César Chávez and the Farmworkers Movement. Harcourt Brace, 1997.

• García, Matt. From the Jaws of Victory: The Triumph and Tragedy of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement. University of California Press, 2012.

• Griswold del Castillo, Richard, and Richard A. Garcia. César Chávez: A Triumph of Spirit. University of Oklahoma Press, 1995.

• Levy, Jacques E. César Chávez: Autobiography of La Causa. W. W. Norton, 1975.

• Pawel, Miriam. The Crusades of Cesar Chavez: A Biography. Bloomsbury Press, 2014.

• Shaw, Randy. Beyond the Fields: César Chávez, the UFW, and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century. University of California Press, 2008.