Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Struggle

Tourists to California seldom venture beyond the state's luxurious coastal plane and glitzy urban areas. The other California--the California of endless, rich crop expanses and factories in the fields--lies hidden in the state's vast Central Valley. For over a century, those fields have been primarily worked by a progression of migrant laborers--at first, from Asia, and later, from Mexico and Latin America. The history of those workers in the first half of this century was often filled with exploitation, poverty, and brutality. Fight in the Fields recounts this tumultuous history using archival photographs, newsreel clips, interviews, and a spare but powerful narrative line. The primary focus of the video, however, is on the epic story of how this culturally diverse and downtrodden workforce was, in the course of several decades, united into a remarkably potent political and economic force, largely through the charisma, vision, and organizing genius of one man--Cesar Chavez. Chavez' life and work is truly the stuff of legend, and this video brings these events dramatically to life: his boyhood in the migrant labor camps of California during the Depression; his conversion to community activism as a young man; his seminal role in the formation of the United Farm Workers; his philosophy of non-violent engagement; the organization of the landmark Delano grape boycott and similarly successful strikes. If there's one problem with Fight in the Fields, it's the tendency toward smoothing out the rough spots in Chavez' personal and political life and turning this material into a kind of homespun hagiography--perhaps a forgivable fault considering his remarkable achievements. A must for any library interested in Latino studies, labor studies, or California history. Also worth checking out on the same topic are Chicano!: The History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement (VL-11/96) and the earlier The Golden Cage: A Story of California's Farmworkers (avail. from Filmakers Library). Aud: H, C, P. (G. Handman)