The Fight in the Fields

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The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers' Struggle is the first film to cover the full arc of Cesar Chávez' life. The film is not a traditional biography. It is social history with Chávez as the central figure, and the stories of many ordinary people who were part of the movement. Using archival footage, newsreel, and interviews with Ethel Kennedy, former California Governor Jerry Brown, Dolores Huerta, and Chávez' family, among others, the documentary traces the remarkable contributions of Chávez and others involved in this epic struggle.

The Fight in the Fields follows the first successful organizing drive of farm workers in the United States, while recounting the many failed and dramatic attempts to unionize that led up to this victory. Among the many barriers to organizing was the Bracero Program, which flooded the fields with Mexican contract workers between World War II and the 1960s.

Chávez and many others helped bring about important changes in farmworkers lives. Many of these things are now taken for granted, such as getting fresh water and public toilets in the fields, and larger reforms like ensuring fair labor practices and ending the bracero program. The Fight in the Fields pays tribute to the tremendous advances made by Chávez and all the men and women of the United Farmworkers Union who fought for a stake in the American dream.

"A thorough, compelling two-hour examination...Artfully utilizing a treasure trove of archival film footage and photographs, the filmmakers incorporate interviews with two of Chavez's siblings and two of his children to personalize the man who would become the icon of the Chicano movement." —Los Angeles Times

"This vivid two-hour tribute to the life and work of Cesar Chavez is told in the context of the hard lives of the migrant farm workers whose cause he forced upon the nation's conscience." —New York Times

* * * 1/2 "A must for any library interested in Latino Studies, labor studies, or California history." —Video Librarian

"As the nation navigates many challenging issues, The Fight in the Fields is a gripping historical documentary that inspires us to strive for justice for all. This is a glimpse into the turbulent history of the United Farm Workers, led by Cesar Chavez, Larry Itliong, and others, fighting for basic rights for the workers in the fields - a fight that continues today. The Fight in the Fields takes us on through the racism, violence, strikes, fasts, boycotts, legal challenges, pesticides, and more. As UFW leader Dolores Huerta says, 'I'm old now. But I'll fight to the end.'" —Kevin R. Johnson, Professor of Law and Chicana/o Studies, Director, Aoki Center on Critical Race and Nation Studies, UC-Davis, Co-Editor, ImmigrationProf Blog

"Praised for its comprehensive scope, The Fight in the Fields retains great value for students and broader audiences. The film features more than thirty movement leaders, participants, and supporters who affirm the importance of Chávez's leadership. Their inclusion suggests the breadth, diversity, and complexity of the movement itself. This film can serve as a starting point for asking and exploring questions about the movement's strengths, internal dynamics, and lasting legacies." —Ray Rast, Associate Professor of History, Gonzaga University

"The Fight in the Fields is essential viewing for anyone interested in the history of Cesar Chavez and the farmworkers movement. Not only does the film recount a critical part of modern American history, but the ongoing plight of migrant workers is sadly still of contemporary relevance in the twenty-first century United States." —Timothy Paul Bowman, Professor of History, West Texas A and M University, Author, Blood Oranges: Colonialism and Agriculture in the South Texas Borderlands

"No film in recent years has moved me as much as The Fight in the Fields. At a time when the history of our working people is being erased, this marvelous movie rekindles our memory of this gallant battle. Most important, it will be a revelation to the young, who must not be deprived of their history." —Studs Turkel, American writer, historian, actor, and broadcaster

"The Fight in the Fields provides a unique portal into one of the most important justice movements of the 20th Century. Its beautiful use of archival footage and interviews with movement participants offers penetrative insights into the life of Cesar Chavez and how he helped to organize a multi-racial coalition that took on, and won against, some of the most powerful corporate interests in the United States. This is a timeless and indispensable tool for those of us who utilize stories of labor and social justice organizing to teach about the requirements of democracy and civic action today." —José-Antonio Orosco, Professor of Philosophy, Oregon State University, Author, Cesar Chavez and the Common Sense of Nonviolence

"An excellent film about the life of César Chávez...with a keen eye for the multiracial solidarity that weaves through the long struggle...A fine film, rich in details, told mostly from the point of view of the organizers and farmworkers who made the history." —Zinn Education Project

"The Fight in the Fields, the first comprehensive documentary on the subject, weaves the story of Mr. Chavez and the labor movement through the Great Depression, the McCarthy Era, the civil rights movement and Bobby Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign. Yet the film is never less than crystal clear. It's far-reaching scope is only exceeded by the filmmakers' ability to make sense of the intersections between the farmworkers' struggle and what was going on around it." —Dallas Morning News

"The filmmakers have constructed a multifaceted and vivid examination of a leader whose journey parallels the movement that affected a nation's conscience, and ultimately changed its understanding of a world that previously had been invisible. The Fight in the Fields is film history well worth watching." —Geoffrey Gilmore, Sundance Film Festival

"Shows us more clearly than any film before the man - and the boy - who was Chavez. So easily digestible, it plays like a drama instead of a documentary." —San Antonio Express-News

"The film is diligent, dignified, and serious. Makes effective use of vintage photos and news footage and recent interviews with the likes of former Gov. Jerry Brown, Ethel Kennedy, two of Chavez's grown children, activist Dolores Huerta, attorney Jerry Cohen and Teatro Campesino founder Luis Valdez." —San Francisco Examiner

"Skillfully traces the history of the United Farmworkers Union by snapping a thoroughly researched portrait of Chavez...Chavez's climb to prominence is well-chronicled." —Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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Main credits

Telles, Ray (film director)
Telles, Ray (film producer)
Tejada-Flores, Rick (film director)
Tejada-Flores, Rick (film producer)
Darrow, Henry (narrator)

Other credits

Cinematography, Vicente Franco; editing, Herb Ferrette; music, Pete Sears.

MARC Record See Worldcat record

Keywords

Cesar Chavez,Cesar Chávez,labor history,labor studies,farmworkers,worker rights,workers rights,labor organizing,labor unions,unions,Bracero Program,migrant labor,United Farmworkers Union,labor practices,American History,Mexican Americans,working class,Community Service Organization,organizing,non-violence,nonviolence,California; "The Fight in the Fields"; Bullfrog Films

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- I think they're used to
treating the Mexican American

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and the Filipino like slaves,
I would say so.

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And they don't wanna treat us like humans.

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- I had a dream that the
only reason the employers

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were so powerful was not
because they, in fact,

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had much power in terms
of dealing with the lives

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of their workers at will,

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but that what made them truly powerful

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was that we were weak.

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[tools clanking]
[lively Norteño music]

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- And it's not just a question of wages.

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It's a question, a basic
question of hope for the future.

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- Don't you believe in democracy?

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Then why don't you let
us have an election?

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[Protestors] Boycott grapes!

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Boycott grapes!

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Boycott grapes!

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- Cesar comes along and
says, "Hey, wait a minute.

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This is America.

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Everybody's equal, and we want our power."

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[Protestors] Boycott grapes!

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Boycott grapes!

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Boycott grapes!

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[protestors chanting]

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[protestors yelling]

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- And here's who aided us,
we had priests,

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and nuns who frequently had mini-skirts,

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and hundreds and hundreds
of Ivy League students

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who were out here for the
fun of fighting the growers.

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[vocalists singing in Spanish]

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- [Narrator] The story
of organizing farmworkers

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started long before he was born,

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and will go on long after his death.

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But during his lifetime,

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Cesar Chavez came to
represent that struggle.

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He brought the farmworkers' faces

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and stories to the American public

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and, in the process,

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helped them achieve a measure
of dignity and respect.

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This is the story of the
farmworkers' movement

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and of the man who inspired it.

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[vocalists singing in Spanish]

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- [Vocalist] Viva la huelga!

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[relaxed country-rock music]

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- [Narrator] California's
great Central Valley,

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glimmering in gold and green.

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This great valley provides
much of the food for the nation

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and great wealth for a few.

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For well over a century,

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agriculture has reigned as the largest

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and most powerful industry
in this golden state.

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But as you travel up the
valley spine, Highway 99,

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there is nothing which reflects

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a 100-year battle in these fields.

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No public tributes to the field workers,

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the Native American, the Chinese,

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Japanese, Mexican,

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Filipino, Black,

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and white,

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men, women, and children who
built this agribusiness empire

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with their backbreaking labor.

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[tense country-blues music]

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Hidden from view are the migrant camps,

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the homes and the union halls

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which generated long, bitter,
and often bloody struggles

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against conditions approaching slavery.

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California's agricultural boom

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began in the 1860s with
the end of the gold rush.

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Workers were needed to cultivate
huge, undeveloped tracts.

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With no jobs in the mines,

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unemployed Chinese men
provided an instant labor pool.

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Then, the Japanese and
the Filipinos arrived.

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They provided a skilled
and stable workforce

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for these factories in the fields.

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But whenever they
organized for higher wages

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or attempted to operate their own farms,

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they were met with shootings,
beatings, and deportations.

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[gentle country-folk music]

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A new wave of Mexicans
joined Mexican Americans

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whose ancestors had worked these lands

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a century before them.

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The newcomers provided a
large, cheap labor force

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which could be brought
in for temporary work,

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then returned to Mexico when
they were no longer needed.

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From 1910 to 1930, more
than one million people

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made the journey north to work

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and to escape the ravages
of revolution and war.

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For most, it was a journey
into a familiar homeland,

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a land which once had been Mexico.

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Once they embarked on the migrant trail,

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they would find that their
lot would be no different

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than those who had come before them.

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[gentle country-folk music]

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[wistful Norteño music]

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The North Gila Valley near Yuma, Arizona,

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an arid desert that starts
in the Sonora range in Mexico

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and stretches northward towards Canada.

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It was here that Juana and
Librado Chavez met and married,

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and it was here that their second child,

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Cesario Estrada Chavez, was
born on March 31st, 1927.

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- Well, we lived in a farm.

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Actually, it was a homestead

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that my grandfather had homesteaded,

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and then he sent it on to my dad.

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And we had a lot of fun.

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Like during the summer, we
just hike all over the place

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and swim in the canal
all day long, and fish.

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And so it was very nice.

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[birds chirping]

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- Well, all that summer before school,

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we played, you know, school.

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I was a teacher, of course,
and they were the students.

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And I got Cesar ready, and I told him,

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"When you go to school, the
teacher's gonna ask you,

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'What's your name, little boy?'"

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"Cesar Chavez."

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"How old are you?"

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"I'm six."

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You know, all those questions.

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He was ready.

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We went to school,

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and the teacher says,
"Okay, Cesar, let's sit here

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and, you know, your sister has to go."

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"Oh, no," he says, "I'm
sitting with my sister."

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Then he took off the
door and I ran after him.

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Then, finally, he agreed

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he had to go with the first graders.

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But he won that first
battle, right? [laughs]

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[contemplative piano music]

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- [Narrator] Juana
Chavez was a gentle woman

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with a deep religious faith.

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She gave young Cesar his
first lessons in nonviolence.

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- She didn't believe in violent.

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She would always say, you know,

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"If somebody wants to fight with you

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and you go ahead and fight back,

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that fighting will never end.

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So, you have to be the one to
stop it right then and there.

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Don't continue the fight."

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[wistful piano music]

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- [Narrator] Although the Chavez children

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were barely aware of it,

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the country was in the middle
of the Great Depression.

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All across the country,
factories were shut down,

00:08:02.250 --> 00:08:06.853
and millions had lost their
jobs, farms, and homes.

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The Chavez family still had their farm,

00:08:09.900 --> 00:08:12.020
but many others had nothing.

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[wistful piano music]

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[dog barking]

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- I even hate to think back to it.

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We lived on tents that
didn't have a floor.

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Just dirt.

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Mud, I would say.

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And we went cold and
hungry during the winter

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because there was no work.

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We survived by going
out on the ditch banks

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and picking mustard greens,

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and my brothers would go out
getting fish from the canals.

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[somber country-blues music]

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- [Narrator] California
seemed like the promised land

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to thousands of small
farmers and sharecroppers

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from Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.

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[wind howling

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Driven from their farms by winds, drought,

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and bank foreclosures, they
formed a never-ending stream

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of broken-down jalopies heading west.

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[car engines rattling]
[gentle orchestral music]

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- [Archive Film Narrator] But
they go to the lettuce fields.

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And what do they find?

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Filipinos and Mexicans do the work.

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While the work is hard,

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and Filipinos and Mexicans are strong

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and can do it better.

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[gentle country-folk music]

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- [Narrator] In 1938, the
Chavez family lost their farm.

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They packed everything they
owned into an old Studebaker

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and set out for California.

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- It was awful.

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It was really bad,

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'cause we had never worked,
you know, for anybody else.

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We never lived out of our home.

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Here we came to California, and
we were lucky we got a tent,

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but most of the time we
were living under a tree

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with just a canvas on top of us,

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and sometimes in the car.

00:10:25.066 --> 00:10:27.721
[gentle country-folk music]

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[truck engine rumbling]

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- [Narrator] Cesar left
school after the eighth grade

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to work with the rest of the family,

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following the crops north
from Oxnard to San Jose.

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Sometimes they moved on
when the job was over,