"The 15th is the day of our trial. Observe a fast on that day." -Gandhi, August 1947
February’s fast for peace commemorates one of Gandhi’s students, Cesar Chavez, who co-founded the United Farm Workers. As a boy, he picked cantaloupes for $0.08 an hour, working in the fields alongside adults earning $0.12/hour. They could be paid less than half of the federal minimum wage because Congress had explicitly exempted agricultural and domestic workers, two occupations held predominately by people of color.
After two decades of observing back-breaking working conditions and generational poverty, Chavez went all in on organizing a union. He and his wife would call on the homes of farm workers in the afternoons and evenings, then be back out in the fields at 6am. They had eight children, and the family struggled to make ends meet. But Chavez refused to give up.
After three years of work, Chavez’s union joined with a group of Filipino pickers in a strike against California grape growers. Tensions grew, and in February 1968, the Guimarra company filed a complaint in court. They alleged the union had been threatening and intimidating its employees, picketing illegally, and spreading roofing nails on ranch driveways. Railroad cars full of grapes had been ruined by sabotage to their refrigerator units. With a cloud of negative publicity looming overhead, Chavez looked for a way to shift the conversation and inspire the union.
On February 15, Cesar Chavez began an indefinte fast, explaining to strikers, staff, and volunteers that it was to rededicate the union to the principals of nonviolence. No matter how worthy the cause of improving the lives of the farm workers, violence was unacceptable as a means to an end. As head of the union, he accepted the responsibility to lead by example - or as his role model Gandhi had said, “if you really want to do something, be willing to die for it.”
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Today begins the next 30-day Gandhi challenge. (If you haven’t signed up yet, use this link.) Over the coming weeks, these short posts will look at the tactical use of nonviolence on the days they happened; stories from history will unfold in real time. Each post ends with a question you’re invited to discuss in the comments.
In hindsight we know Cesar Chavez ultimately prevailed in improving the lives of hundreds of thousands of families, but the struggle to reach critical mass took many years. Should he have quit organizing when his children became malnourished?