Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1993 18:46:56 -0700 (PDT)
From: GSANTOS@CSBINA.CSUBAK.EDU
Cc: GSANTOS@CSBINA.CSUBAK.EDU
Subject: CESAR CHAVEZ'S FUNERAL, PART III
Status: OR
             CESAR CHAVEZ'S FUNERAL, PART III

Upon arrival to the 40 Acres UFW compound outside Delano, a huge Catholic
Mass was held in and around the tent structure set up for the occassion. Most
people had to hear it from outside still under a hot sun. Nobody minded.
 Inside
the tent,the Cardinal presided, deliverying a message from the Pope and reading
a long speech, first in Spanish and then in English, in which he called Cesar a
"very special prophet for the farmworkers of the world," called upon all move-
ments for social justice to follow the Latin American example of always remem-
bering their hero's and martyrs by saying their names and yelling "PRESENTE!",
and include Cesar Chavez in the list. 

To the side, and not much interested in the Mass, was a large troupe of dancers
dressed in impressive Aztec and other Native American costumes that had danced
in honor of Cesar the entire length of the march. They made a large circle and
placed their children in the center, allowing no one to cross into the circle,
despite the crush of people. The children, as well as their parents, had lots
of incredibly loud "cascabeles" or shells, wrapped around their feet, and went
on making a terrific noise oblivious to the Cardinal's speech and upsetting a
lot of sen~oras y sen~ores -- the clash of five centuries present at the very
heart of a farmworkers' movement key moment. I thought it most appropriate...

The Mass included Mariachi music and eulogies by two of Cesar's sons and Dolo-
res Huerta, co-founder with Cesar of the UFW. Her speech was very moving, not
only for what she said, but because she was so hoarse she could barely speak.
She spoke of when they first started, when her task was to sign up people and
ask them to contribute $3.50 a month when it was obvious they were living in
the most extreme poverty, barefooted, their clothes in shreds, without barely
anything to eat -- so extreme was their exploitation by the growers. And yet,
somehow, they payed. The first thing the Union did was create a fund to provide
simple pine caskets to deceased members... She went on and on, talking about
how Cesar never owned a house, or a car, how he did not took any money other
than the bare minimum to subsist, how he did not believed in the ownsership of
the land and how he always called people to love and nourish the land, not
degrade it with chemicals. He did 120 years of work in 66 years, she said. He
never waivered from his conviction that LA CAUSA was just and must be waged.

Jesse and Dellums delivered the very best oratory, full of fire for the cause
Cesar represented and admiration for the humble man, placing him "with the
giants of the planet involved in non-violent struggle for justice". People
remembered Jesse came to Cesar when in 1988 Cesar held a 36-day fast that
almost killed him, and how Jesse kneeled at his sight and kissed him.... He
was given an enourmous ovation.

Joseph Kennedy III spoke in the name of the K-family in typical populist-li-
beral manner, his mom seated next to Cesar's widow, and the audicence loved it,
their memory of Robert Kennedy's support for Cesar etched deeply. Jerry Brown,
who stayed just behind the coffin during the march, was deeply affected and
could not say more than he was going to miss Cesar greatly. The representatives
of both Salinas and Clinton gave bland, bullshit speeches that got polite 
applause. Olmos and Paul Rodriguez got ovations for their speeches, the former
calling on a renewal of EL MOVIMIENTO and the latter poking fun of Anglos say-
ing, in reference to the demographics of California, "if you are not Latino now,you will be Latino soon", and after speaking in Spanish turning to "all of you
who are Spanish-impaired, my message to you is .... learn it!"

The celebration of Cesar's life and works went on and on, with teatros and songs(under the direction of Luis Valdes), many other testimonials, etc., until late
into the afternoon. The whole events went off like clockwork: zillions of flags
chairs, ropes, food & water, toilets, sound systems, etc., were distributed or
made available by huge numbers of community volunteers. People came into this
tiny town, raised an enormous dust storm with their feet, assembled, and left,
all without a hitch and on an moment's notice! And the union's years of organi-
zational experience and community backing payed off: the whole affair was aired
live in the region's tv and radio channels, a union film crew taped everything,
fund-raising went on effortlessly and very successfully, and the coverage of
the big California press like the LA Times was very good.

Cesar would have loved it!

And everybody left with "NO GRAPES" buttons and videos, given freely. The union
people said it over and over again: in his dying, Cesar gave the farmworkers
movement a last great push forward. I believe this is true, for it left no
doubt as to the breath and depth of support the UFW continues to have, and the
great place Cesar has now taken side by side with the great labor leaders and
visionaries of our time.

I call upon ALL of you to do one thing: persuade just FIVE of your closest
friends and associates to henceforth, and consistently, boycott table grapes!

QUE VIVA CESAR CHAVEZ!!  NO GRAPES!!  QUE VIVA EL UFW!!  QUE VIVA LA CAUSA!!

In solidarity,

Gonzalo Santos
GSANTOS@CSBINA.CSUBAK.EDU
Cal. State Bakersfield