César Estrada Chávez: Lost But Not Forgotten Photographs

When I get really bored, I scan old negatives and slides. Recently I found a series on César Estrada Chávez. I remember printing, publishing and exhibiting many of them. This one in particular, I never reproduced. I felt it was about time.

This series of photographs were taken in San José, California in the early 70s. It was at a benefit concert for the United Farmworkers Union. Chavez was in attentendance. I have seen the UFW leader many times before. He was not a stranger in San José.

I have two examples of the photo. One is full frame and the other is cropped. Since I shot the black and white photograph with my Hasselblad medium format camera. The pictures are quite sharp. Feel free to contact me should you have any questions about this and any of my photographs. My website is www.JMMGarza.com. 

Copyright 2022 Jesús Manuel Mena Garza. All rights reserved. JMMGarza@Gmail.com

Another Documentary Photography Exhibition

Just finished installing a photography exhibit at the Fort Worth Central Library. The 31 black and white photos will be up until April 30, 2015. You are invited to a reception the evening of April 14. I look forward to seeing you.

Click photo to enlarge

A very short video

2015 Fort Worth Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Committee’s 30th Annual Parade and Rally

Thousands, including the César Chávez Committee of Tarrant County took part in the Fort Worth Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Committee’s 30th annual parade and rally on Monday, January 19, 2015. My wife Dr. Ann Marie Leimer is the one in the hat, waving. Si se Puede. 

Click photo to enlarge.

Copyright 2015 Jesús Manuel Mena Garza. All rights reserved.

Jerry Brown Hands United Farm Workers a Setback

By Dan Walters

dwalters@sacbee.com

Photo courtesy of the OC Register

What goes around comes around.

Jerry Brown devoted much of his first governorship to seeking other offices, so his record of accomplishment was scant.

He’s often touted a 1975 deal to give farmworkers, excluded from the National Labor Relations Act, union rights in California, supposedly settling years of strife between the United Farm Workers Union and growers.

However, it merely ignited decades of new strife, which continues with Brown’s recent veto of a new farm labor bill.

Brown erred 39 years ago by having the law take effect immediately and by appointing an obviously pro-UFW Agricultural Labor Relations Board, including the auxiliary Catholic bishop of Fresno, Roger Mahony, as chairman.

Farmers bristled at the board’s makeup, it struggled to organize while being deluged with UFW election petitions, and the union was frustrated by not immediately gaining contracts.

The UFW did score some wins during the early years, thanks to having a pro-union board and staff, but then went into a decades-long skid.

UFW leader Cesar Chavez and his successors contended that Republican governors emasculated the ALRB and growers stalled on contract negotiations. The union’s critics say that as Chavez pursued other causes, the UFW failed to supply seasonal workers under contract “hiring halls.”

In 2002, Democratic legislators and then-Gov. Gray Davis tried to help the UFW with mandatory mediation of stalled negotiations.

Three years ago, after Brown had returned to the governorship, he and lawmakers empowered the ALRB to certify a union if it found employer misconduct.

The legislative activity was largely spurred by a conflict between the UFW and Gerawan Farming, a huge, Fresno-based fruit grower with thousands of workers. The union won a Gerawan representation election in 1990 but never got a contract. Both sides say the other stalled.

Using the new ALRB powers, the UFW tried to get back in the game with mediation, but Gerawan said it would be unfair since only a handful of current workers voted in the 1990 election.

The company and its anti-union employees petitioned for a new election in 2013, but the ALRB never counted the ballots and earlier this month, its chief prosecutor issued a 28-page complaint alleging that Gerawan interfered.

The farming company denies the charges, saying they were trumped up to void an election that the UFW had lost, and the whole issue is now in the courts.

Meanwhile, the Legislature passed still another bill requiring the ALRB to implement its mediation order while reviews are pending and limiting the ability of courts to intervene.

Over the weekend, Brown vetoed Senate Bill 25, saying he wanted a “balanced and fair” process.

“We should look at the entire process before making further changes,” he said, handing the UFW a big defeat and farmers a victory.

Movie Mañana

Text and photographs by Jesús Manuel Mena Garza

Click Photo to enlarge
Copyright 2014 Jesús Manuel Mena Garza. All rights reserved.

Tomorrow is a big day. A movie about César Chávez will be shown across the USA. I feel it will be a great teaching tool. An opportunity to explore the transcendent nature of the UFW movement and its charismatic leader. For many of my generation, Chávez was a source of inspiration. Living in San José I had many opportunities to meet the soft-spoken leader. His modest dress and easy going manner made him approachable. 

He often asked the community to help his fledgling union. College campuses were an especially fertile ground for his message. Many Chicana and Chicano students at SJSU came from the Central Valley, from towns like Fresno, Modesto and Bakersfield. You have to also remember that before there was a Silicon Valley, San José was called the Garden City. 

My Tejano parents, brothers and sisters worked the farms of the region since the 40's. My family picked fruits, nuts and vegetables throughout the year. So did I. This UFW cause was not some abstract or esoteric movement to us. I feel this new film is an opportunity to witness the hardscrabble farmworker experience. To learn about a man and his union. To see how we fought against entrenched commercial interests, ignorance and racism. I will be at a Fort Worth theater tomorrow with others to see our history revealed. I can't wait.

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Photo of Cesar Estrada Chavez Gets Ripped Off Again

I hate it when people rip me off. My photograph has been repurposed by many designers and photographers. Of course I never get a bit of cash or even a 6 point photo credit. 

I guess I can sue them, but what if they only made $50? I wonder if he sold the "art" to the San Jose union for their poster at the bottom of the page?

Here is a link to the dudes price list:

http://fineartamerica.com/pdfartworkmenu.php?artworkid=1758398

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/cesar-chavez-jeff-nichol.html

My original photograph

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Diego Luna on ‘Cesar Chavez’: ‘The Story of Farm Workers Matters’

Photo Kevin Winter/Getty Images

By Andrea Seikaly @AndiSeikaly

The life and works of activist Cesar Chavez were remembered both on the big screen and through the testimonies of those who knew him at the Los Angeles premiere of helmer Diego Luna’s biopic “Cesar Chavez.”

Photo:Latin Post/Bonnie Martinez)"Cesar Chavez" premiered at the AMC Empire 25 on Monday, March 17, 2014.

In addition to cast members Michael Peña, America Ferrera and Rosario Dawson, Luna was also joined Thursday at the TCL Chinese Theatre by Chavez’s son Paul and 83-year-old Dolores Huerta, who founded the National Farmworkers Assn. with Chavez.

Paul Chavez said this film, produced by Mexico’s Canana Films, distributed by Pantelion Films and co-financed by Participant Media, was made after 30 years of searching for the right opportunity to tell his father’s story of standing up for the rights and dignity of migrant workers.

“Shortly after my father passed away, we were approached by people that knew my father, marched with him and loved him. But for different reasons it didn’t happen,” he said. “Sometimes they couldn’t get the screenplay right, other times they couldn’t get the financing together or put together the production team.”

Chavez added that working with scribe Keir Pearson, who also penned “Hotel Rwanda,” helped bring out the humanity in his father’s story.

Huerta said seeing the film for the first time was a very emotional experience, and she is glad that audiences will get to learn about the story of Chavez’s wife, Helen, played by Ferrera.

Though he described the process of helming this film as tough and “painful at times,” Luna said the daily reminders of the importance of the Latino community and Chavez’s story kept him and the crew going.

“We were shooting in the fields looking at the actual workers going through that struggle, and (we had) the reminder of making sure everyone knows that the story of farm workers matters,” Luna said. “Our community needs to be not just represented in film, but there should be a chance for us to go to the cinema and reflect on who we are. Cinema in this country celebrates almost every heroic story, but I don’t think they have been fair with the Latino experience.”

Luna also cited the White House screening of the film on March 19 as the highlight of his experience.

Both Peña and Dawson, who play Chavez and Huerta, described their roles as “intimidating,” but Dawson said she hopes this film could lead to more opportunities to tell Huerta’s story in the future.

“She’s in her eighties and she’s still on the frontline of this work,” Dawson explained. “I really hope that this film is successful if only just for the fact that maybe we could open up the doors to maybe doing a film about Dolores, because I think she deserves it.”

In an effort to continue bring the Latino experience to the big screen, Participant CEO Jim Berk said the company’s social action advocacy campaign will work to ensure that “Cesar Chavez” lives on and is shown in schools.

Pantelion CEO Paul Presburger said “Cesar Chavez” will be the studio’s biggest release to date, to be followed up by “La Vida Robot,” starring George Lopez, at the end of this year.

In his introduction of the film, Luna wasn’t shy about asking the audience to promote the film via Twitter, Facebook or “whatever you guys fancy doing.”

“Talk about it when you’re having sex, when you go out. It’s a great way to start a conversation in a bar, for example. I promise you no one does it,” Luna joked, before adding, “If you don’t like the film, you just have to promise you’ll shut up until April 15.”

Following the screening, guests made their way across the street to the Hollywood Roosevelt for the after party, where attendees enjoyed tacos and sangria and showed off their salsa moves on the dance floor. Peña, Ferrera and Huerta posed for photos while Luna mingled with guests. Later in the evening, Grammy-winning alternative rock group La Santa Cecilia took the stage for a special performance.

Other guests in attendance included “Cesar Chavez” cast members Gabriel Mann, Yancey Arias and Jacob Vargas as well as actress Amber Tamblyn, Mexican singer and former “X-Factor” judge Paulina Rubio and actress Dayanara Torres.

“Cesar Chavez” bows in theaters nationwide March 28.

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Jesús Garza's Photo of César E. Chávez Repurposed Again

Yes, again my photo of César E. Chávez was used without my permission. I am sort of getting used to it. It would be nice if they asked to use it or gave me a photo credit.

Click graphic to enlarge

Copyright 2014 ... Photo by Jesús Manuel Mena Garza. All rights reserved.

MEChA organizes march in Chico, California for César Chávez Day

Article courtesy of ChicoER.com

 Photo of César Estrada Chávez by Jesús Manuel Mena Garza

The memory of farm labor activist César Estrada Chávez was honored Saturday with a march through downtown and neighborhoods near the Chico State University campus.

About 40 members of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán gathered at City Plaza during a break in the rain. Some used whistles to raise awareness as the group traveled down Main Street, chanting, "What do we want? Justice."

Student Stacy Rios said the march for César Chávez Day was to honor the hard work of the man who formed the National Farm Workers Association with Dolores Huerta. The group later became the United Farm Workers union.

Rios said it's unfortunate that some students in the community misunderstand the holiday, or even believe it is a Mexican holiday. Some students have used the day off from classes to dress up in Mexican costumes and attend theme parties.

Juan Guzman, director of MEChA, said he believe it's more ignorance than disrespect for the work of Chávez, who worked for farm laborers of all countries of origin.

"It's more for people as a whole," he said.

Letters were sent to bars and student groups to help educate people about the meaning of the holiday.

Saturday afternoon in the student neighborhood, there were a few groups of young people walking and wearing sombreros. At one point during the march, the MEChA students were chanting "Long Live César Chávez," alternating between English and Spanish. One man yelled, "English, please," as the group marched by.

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UTEP community remembers civil rights leader Cesar Chavez

Being one of the largest Hispanic-majority universities in the United States in one of the largest border cities in the country, celebrating Cesar Chavez is a major event for the University of Texas El Paso’s Chicano Studies program, as shown by their three-month series of events dedicated to the occasion.

“The goals of the event are to raise consciousness about the status and condition of the agricultural workers that put food on our table,” said Dennis Bixler-Marquez, professor and director of the Chicano Studies program. “Also to instill in our university, community and the greater El Paso area, an appreciation of the legacy of Cesar Chavez as a civil rights leader and an advocate for human rights.”

Chavez, a Mexican-American farm worker, labor leader and civil rights activist, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, now known as the United Farm Workers (UFW) in 1966. Chavez and his unionist non-violent methods were popular with American labor activists. After his death in 1993, he became an icon for union laborers. Chavez’s birthday, March 31, has been made a state holiday in Texas and California, and is an optional holiday in Arizona and Colorado.

“I do think Cesar Chavez Day is an important event for our culture so we know who we are and where we came from,” said Sergio Seley, sophomore history major. “It’s not just a day off. I think it’s important for younger generations to know who he was, what he did and how we should help him with his dream of giving rights to immigrant workers and help with their families who went through all that.”

To celebrate Chavez, the Chicano Studies program has helped in organizing a series of events that will run until May.Bixler-Marquez organizes the UTEP portion of the calendar. Various student organizations such as MEChA and multiple community organizations such as the Centro de Trabajadores Agrícolas Fronterizos, Mercado Mayapan, St. Pius X Parish and a variety of local public and private schools are hosting events and fundraisers.

Events that have already occurred include a car show at Riverside High School, a lecture from Carlos M. Montes of the Southern California Immigration Coalition, a screening of the documentary “Precious Knowledge,” which addresses current civil rights tensions in Arizona, and a farm workers mass at St. Pius, among others.

“The Librotraficante stop in El Paso was most successful and it placed El Paso in the national spotlight,” said Bixler-Marquez. “It featured a caravan of authors and students delivering banned books to Tucson, and it featured local authors, like UTEP’s Ben Saenz, and it involved several UTEP students and alumni at the evening reading at CaféMayapán.”

On March 26, Amnesty International screened the Frontline special “Lost in Detention,” which explores the Obama administration’s controversial choices when it comes to immigration policy. After the film screening, a panel consisting of members from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Border Network of Human Rights, MEChA and former city council member and congressional candidate Beto O’Rourke, answered questions and discussed immigration myths, facts and potential solutions.

“It was a panel where we had an opportunity, and I think the operative word is opportunity, to meet Beto O’Rourke and ask questions in an open environment in a university setting,” said Patrick Rabb, senior double major in Chicano studies and political science. “There were also student organizations represented like MEChA, Los Americas, theLGBT organizations as well, and so it seemed like something you’d want to be a part of because you had more opportunities than you would in a class where you’re just listening to a lecture.”

Rabb, who came to El Paso a year ago from South Carolina, said he walked away from the event with a clearer picture of both O’Rourke and border issues. Rabb came to study in El Paso because he believes that all the issues the country has to confront in the near future can be found here in El Paso.

Upcoming events to continue the celebration include the screening of the program “Celebrating Cesar Chavez: Its Message and Impact” March 30 on the monitors of the Liberal Arts and Union East buildings, a march for Chavez March 31 at the Centro de Trabajadores Agrícolas Fronterizos as well as a rally for the International Peasant’s Day of Struggle April 17.

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Download 2010 César Chávez Calendar. It's Free!

[Click on image to download printable JPG. A higher-quality PDF version is available for download at my website jmmgarza.com. Viva César Chávez.]

Download 2010 César Estrada Chávez calendar. Be the first in your neighborhood, barrio or gated community to download a FREE/GRATIS Super Chicana/o calendar. You don't have to be a Super Chican@ to own this fantastic calendar. Hispanics and others are also welcome to share in the glory.

Downloading Is Easy

All you have to do is "click" on the thumbnail image of the calendar to download. Save your downloaded 11x17 inch JPG and print two copies (a laser or inkjet printer works fine). By the way, you can easily downsize the JPG to make a letter size (8.5 x 11) print. Generously give one poster to your Chicana/o Studies (Hispanic Studies may not count!) or photography professor. They will be absolutely impressed by your excellent taste.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to phone me at (909) 557-7151 or send me an email.

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