Cesar Chavez Part Two

0:05 Hi everyone, This is Carmen. I was forgetting that part to say my name. Yeah, I was like, are you going to keep going? Now again? I'm Christina and this is Estodia's Unknown, a podcast where we talk about Latin American history. Sometimes it's horrible and deals with heavy topics like racism, corruption, and genocide. But more than that, it's about resistance, power and community. I do have a memorized Wow, I still have to look at it. And this is a continuation of Sessar Chavis. This is part two and there will be at least to part three because I am not done. I really wanted to get to the Worre's parts of him, like the like the downfall of the Union that you know you can say he caused and Synanon, the ties to Synony on the cult. So we're not sitting on yet. We're not there yet because I have so much more to share. So this part we're starting off at the march and we're ending at the Fast. Starting at the march and ending with the fast. Okay, whenever we learn about Sessa Chevis, these are the things we learn. Yeah, that there was that march from the Leno to Sacramento and then that he fasted. So's that's what's we're doing in between. And you know, there's a little bit of good and a little bit of bad in here, but there's just you know, there's some parts that we just can't skip over. I feel wrong skipping over. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

1:38 So are we ready? We sure are all right. So, like I said, we left off at the beginning of the de Leno at the march. Basically the beginning of the march is where we were in Part one. So by now winter is nearing and everything was against the union. Their numbers were dwindling. Less and less people were attending meetings paying their dues. Even though the strike itself had received so much attention and there were all sorts of people volunteering, they needed to do something else because the movement was dying down. And if there's anything we know just from part one is that Sasa Chavis bringing back movements, bringing back things that are dying down. Specialty is going to happen. Yeah, his specialty. So the strikers had moved from picket lines at the farms to where grapes were being transported now, but still that was not enough. So this is when Sasa Chavis began thinking, what about a march.

2:38 He had read about a march in China known as Mao's Long March, and then of course the famous famous Martin Luther King March on Washington. But the idea of a moving march was more appealing to Sisa Chavis than a march to one location where then there would be like a meeting at this location. He was like, no, a moving march sounds more grand, more, I don't know, heroic or something. So he decided that they would do a three hundred mile march from Delano to Sacramento, and on the way they would pass by as many farming farm worker communities that they could to you know, have more people join the march as they're moving. And they started with fifty farm workers in Delano and they set out to march. This was March nineteen sixty six, and their plan was a twenty five day march, fifteen to twenty miles each day, making sure to pass through as many small towns as possible, and at each stop they would read out this thing they called e Plan de de Lano, which was written by Louis Valdez. I apologized last episode, I called them Steve the whole time. Oh wow, the Theatro Campesino creator. Basically, his name is Louise Louis Valdez.

3:54 This is Louise Erasia. Yeah. I don't know where I got Steve from, so my bad. I just learned that today as I was writing, Like, I was reading my book and I said Louis Valdez, and I was like, Who's Louis Valdez. And then I googled Louise Valdez and I was like, oh, you were like, oh, this is Steve. And then I said Steve Valdez, Yes, yeah, And then I searched Steve Valdez just to see what would come up, and it was some sort of random musician. I was like, Okay, someone else, Louise Sleeley, Louis Valdez, Steve. Yes. So the Plan de de Lano was written by Louis Valdez, not Steve, and the plan or a Plan de Delano, what they read out was inspired or took an inspiration from a Plan da Yala, which was read by Emilia during the Mexican Revolution. So this is what they read. This is the beginning of a social movement in fact, not in pronouncements.

4:55 We are tired of words of betrayals of indifference. We shall be heard. We are not afraid to suffer in order to win our cause. We draw our strength from the very despair in which we have been forced to live. Our revolution will not be armed, but we want the existing social order to dissolve. Our pilgrimage is the match that will light our cause, for all farm workers to see what is happening here, so that they may do as we have done. Inspirational words and it was read in Spanish and English at every stop they made, and every stop more and more farm workers joined. One thing I forgot to mention. As they were leaving Delano, they police did like gather to stop them. But with all the negative images that were released from Selma that police were setting dogs on black activists, hoses, they didn't want that attention. So they let them pass, oh, because they're like, we can't have more negative publicity, and so they just let them go at every stop. Because of this, they didn't want the negative attention. A repeat, a repeat, yeah, which is surprising because you know they could have just repeated yeah. And during the march, Sessa Chavis insisted on doing this like the most painful way possible, and I'm like, of course, he did very Catholic coded. Yeah. After the first day of marching, Luis Valdez like his feet were blistered.

6:26 He's like, all right, I am switching to sneakers, and he told Sasa Chavis, like you should too, like you know, both our feet are messed up right now. But Sasa Chevis refused. The pain was important to him. And of course it was look at the books that he took its piration from that we mentioned last episode and the whole like Catholicism angle and you know everything his mom taught him. So yeah, of course. So he went on to say, the penance part of it is to me the most important thing of the pilgrimage, and he took that to His ankles were swollen, he had blisters, He even had fevers for two days, and he continued to march.

7:07 At one point he had a cane, oh wow, and he described every step like a needle, Oh my god. But he kept doing it well, everything for the cause. And when the marchers got to Stockton, a man named Sidney Korshak, a well known mobster lawyer, reached down to Cesar Chaves representing the Shenley Liquor Company. They were ready to negotiate. This was a small vineyard in Delino and they were losing money as this march went on, and the longer went on, their whole operation was going to be brought down because this, again it was a small vineyard, and so they wanted to sell. But this lawyer was like, no, you guys should sign a contract with the union. It's going to be good publicity and in the end you're going to be able to keep company. And they agreed, surprisingly, and so this was signed. Well, they signed this recognition agreement which said that they would reach a contract within sixty days. And so this was a success. When it says such I was returned to the marchers. He stood on top of a car and he announced the news.

8:19 But then he said that now we need to move on to another target, a bigger company, the did Georgio Corporation. This was no small This was not the Shenley Liquor Company. This was a huge corporation. These are the big dogs, yes, big, biggest, Yeah, I want to say, the biggest growers in California, at least at the time. And so yeah, that was their new target, but they kept moving and as they were nearing the capitol they were now nine hundred marchers deep damn. And when they finally made it, they were met with the crowd of over eight thousand people. Want they're appointing crowd, says I spoke to them very briefly where he said, I want to introduce you to someone when we started organizing four years ago. In fact, one of the very few people that thought this could be done, my wife Helen.

9:13 They all met Helen, who liked to be in the back, in the background a little bit, but also was forced to be in the background anyway. Yeah, so it's a was she silent or was she silenced question? Right, or a little bit of both. Maybe. When they got to Sacramento, the governor declined the union's request to meet. He was at Frank Sinatra's mansion at a party instead. Not surprised. Yeah, and then he said, well what about next Sunday And then Sasachava said no, it's now or never, which what a power move. And yeah, they didn't meet with him.

9:55 They're like, we don't need you actually, Yeah, and this only made them look even stronger. All the support they had at when they arrived at Sacremento and then Sasad Travis declining a different meeting, was like, what if hower move because like we're not gonna wait for you, it's a long time or not at all. Yes, exactly, and so by now, so such I was making national news, front page on the New York Times, countless interview after interviews. This is when he started to embellish, lie a little bit about parts of his life. Oh okay, yeah, so, like we already know, he lied a little bit about when he joined the Navy to make it look like he spent some time in World War Two, which didn't happen.

10:41 He also especially started changing the way he joined the CSO and his departure from the CSO. So that's what he started lying about. Now he told people he was a humble farm worker picking apricots when he joined the CSO. We know that's not true. Yes, if you remember from part one, he was a lumber handler. When I was typing this, I accidentally wrote lumbler and I was like, that's not a word. What is the word? And lumber handler lumbler lumbler, Yeah, that's what he was working in, which was by I mean all accounts a better job than farm worker, he made more money, like a higher pain yeah, and even a higher role in like society, Like it's less dirty work than a farm worker, So that's already live number one. He also made it seem like fred Ross was begging him to join the CSO, like he was tracking him down, like join join, and he was avoiding him, which is not how it worked.

11:43 They became friends and then he became involved, right. And for some reason fred Ross went along with such a version of events, I guess to make him sound more important or something. And it is true that he and he became a member. He quickly rose through the ranks, and he proved to be like an exceptional organizer, and he improved it and actually saved it. Yeah yeah, But to say he was being begged to join the truth. No. No. He also said that he had left the CSO because they were not doing enough for farm workers, that they were only doing work for middle class Mexicans. And I mean this, it's like a half truth because we said in the last episode he was becoming disillusioned with the CSO, right, and he did have an issue with them appealing more to middle class people, right, yeah, but it wasn't a complete true truth because on the date that he announced his resignation that he was leaving the CSO, the CSO had just approved the program to help farm workers. He also began telling reporters that he quits on his birthday, when really it was like two weeks before. But it's way cooler to do something on your birthday, So I could I can understand that lie. It is not to mention his birthday would become an official holiday within the

13:13 Union first and then naturally like and you know, the whole US. It says that to have his day, right, So, I think all this just shows what a the way he wanted to be viewed like he he had a vision and he had no issue manipulating the truth to make that vision a reality, right right, And there's no denying what an important figure he is. Yeah, to say he's like, I don't know, Godlike, I think that's what he was aiming for. To b H, he was a yeah, he was like myth making Yeah. Yeah. With this newfound fame and you know, the march coming to an end, the three hundred Mile March, it was now time to focus on did Georgio and so, like I said a little bit of good, I'm sorry every time you say to Georgio, I think it's a Giorna pizza. Yeah, yeah, didorn That's why I kept typing Digorno and I'm like, that looks wrong. Now I want pizza. So they were the largest grower in California, and they also had deep ties to Bank of America and they had a history of putting down labor stranks with violence, which we already talked a little bit about in part one. You know, they would hit picking lines with their trucks. M yeah. Yeah.

14:35 Also Bank of America always on the wrong side of history, always always right. And so there was a meeting between SISA Chevis, higher members of the union and did Georgio officials because there's like this whole election process where they elect like the union that's going to represent the workers or something like that, and so did georgio goal was to undermine the United farm Workers during these elections and get the Teamsters to win. And we talked a little bit more about the Teamsters in our episode about Jesse Lopez de la Cruz. Yes, thank you. The Teamsters. The Teamsters historically fucking thorough racist. Oh yeah, there are, Yeah, okay.

15:24 They also had a history of signing contracts that benefited growers instead of farm workers, and then they take a cut of the highest seple. Like famously, the highest staff of this union drove fancy ass cars. They just they were not for the worker right ever in there since their inception. And so during this meeting where they were meeting with these officials to talk about this election that was coming up, there was picket lines going on as well already. So a security guard card for did Georgio took out his gun and pointed it at the picket line, and so a member of the farm workers, her name was Ida Casino, she was like, this is illegal, and she announced that she was going to make a citizen's arrest because he can't just point guns at picket line workers. Yeah, that's true, it is true. But when she said that, the security guard like violently pushed her down. So two other members stepped in to defend her, and I mean then there was like a little tussle, you know, a fight.

16:32 They were defending her. She was pushed and let me guess, I'll let you finished before I guess you're probably correcting your guests. So when they heard about this, like someone came and interrupted the meeting to tell them this was happening at the picket line. So then Sisa Shabis canceled all negotiations with did Georgio and left. But then he called a meeting, and at this meeting he yelled at the farm workers of the union that they shouldn't meet the violence of the growers with violence. When these poor stitched up farm workers were like, well, she was being hurt.

17:15 Were we supposed to do? We were defending her, he just you know, continued berating them. He's like, let her get rocked. Apparently, like what would you have them to? I thought he was going to kick them out of the whole movement, you would, well that's coming nah in a little bit, Okay, I was right then, Yeah, And so poor Ida, because you know, was sitting there crying while he borerates everyone that's fucked up. Like I understand, you know, wanting to keep things or having the mentality of non violence or whatever, but that doesn't work. It's like that quote from fuck who is it that says it? Oh my god, I wish I remembered who said it.

17:56 But it's like non violence doesn't work. If you're a pressor does it have morals? Yeah? Yeah, it's funny because someone loved to comment on Spotify on one of our End episodes about how he was about non violence and are you serious he was scoring up in the streets. Oh no, sorry who said that? Someone said, I'm not sure violence was like a violent uprising, wasn't the answer? All Ended did not believe in violent revolution. That was one of his major things when he was older. But in his youth he was scroying up on the streets against the exact right wing. So when and in that episode we said sometimes it's necessary, and someone said non violence is always an answer. It's not. It's not. Without Without violence, we would never have the forty hour work week, we would never have time off. Like the reason we have the work the few the limited workers rights that we have. There was legit massacres against workers. Yeah, the reason we don't have child labor violence like stop it. Yeah, sometimes it was called for, like they had a right to defend this woman who was being shoved down by this security guard. In the instances where we mentioned violence in the Jesse Lopez episode, she also was like, no, sometimes it was necessary and it was sometimes it was.

19:24 I mean there's a different famous event a strike, some sort of protests that the United farm Workers put on during this time where two farm workers were shot by police. That's gonna be some episode sometime because I don't remember when or where it happened. And so yeah, I mean, like I was saying, sometimes you have to meet it with meet violence with violence. Yeah, like it sometimes it's just impossible. But no, he was yelling at them for helping her. And so during the following months of striking, to Georgio growers continue with their violent methods, you know, hitting picket line with trucks and so on, the union had to get creative about how what they were going to do. A lot of workers didn't walk out. They continued working in the did Georgia like farms, but they were on the side of the United farm Workers. So like women that were packing grapes picked the packaging so that the grapes wouldn't be rotten faster, things like that, they had to like do. And so then there was a vote that was announced that the teamsters were winners.

20:30 And it was like at the time Sisar Chavis's people the union was striking, they couldn't have that many workers present, and so like it wasn't the vote wasn't even right. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So Cesar Chaves and Dolores Werta they called in like every political favor they could to denounce this vote, and there was a second vote. And so around this time as well, there was a merger proposed between the National Farmers Association, which is Saysa Chavis's union, and then the a WALK, which was the Filipino farm workers. They'd been working together because if we remember, they're the first who announced the strike against the greeps. So they've been working together, but now it's becoming more and more difficult for them to not be become one. So they were now going to be the United farm Workers Organizing Committee because they were a committee under the afl CIO. I don't know what that sounds for. I didn't look at it. I've seen that before. You certainly have, yes, yes, many people have.

21:40 Oh it's because you didn't explain it that. I was like, like, I feel like, in the tip of my tongue, I know what it is, but I can't remember. They're like a more official. They're just laughing because you're like, yeah, Okay, so let's go to Wikipedia. I'm so sorry everyone. So the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations so a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions unions in the United States, but a history of not great decisions, like very anti communists, especially during these years, okay, you know, the nineteen fifties, sixties, not really pro worker, not all the time, not all the time, I guess, okay, yeah, And so like the a lot of members of the union were not happy about this merger for their anti communist views, even though there was no official communists in the in either union because again it was dangerous to be affiliated with it, you know, but their struggles, their aims, their goals, very leftist in nature. Right. This merger would also help the union because they would receive a monthly subsidy, which was desperately needed because you know, yeah, striking and whatnot, like people need to make money. Yeah, it's expensive. So the merger happened, regardless of you know, people not being

23:13 happy about it. So then on September first, the union gathered to read the results of the second vote, and the Teamsters had through his thirty one votes and the UFWOC walk That's what I'm gonna call them. They had five hundred and thirty votes. So they went and the room exploded in cheers. And so as the grape strike entered its second year, Sasarchavis started to bring in new people to his inner circle, and these new people happened to be mostly white. He sold out. Yeah. People were like, oh, they're like, what the fuck? What happened to the white people? Are the devil? What about the Mexicans. It got to the point where the only Mexican that was in the senior ranks of the union was Antonio Ordine, the secretary.

23:59 I mean she had like a different role. I don't know, the organizational organizational chart. Yeah, of all this, she was always a huge part of it, and at the at the top. So Larry Ittleong, who was supposed to be second in command, as I said a little earlier, he's the you know, Filipino president of the union before it joined, So he was supposed to be the you know, second in command, but he was often being left out of decisions of meetings, and he was growing angry at this alienation because then it was also alienating the Filipino members of course, and Filipino members were not the only ones kind of being set aside. Women members were too, with the exception of the rotes Berta and his wife. Some of the women who were well, she was she was the most objugated, one could say, and other women who were like trying to do the extra work. But also in the end, they didn't receive as much recognition aside from the Rosberta, like Jesse Lopez who we've talked about.

25:03 So and this was intentional. Sisa Chavis wanted them in the background. He felt they were better at tedious work like note taking. He was a man after all, yeah, exactly, and a man who believes in traditional jungder roles and even showed off that he didn't even learn how to change a diaper. That's fucking embarrassing. He had like eight fucking kids. Yeah, that is so embarrassing. Oh my god. Yeah, but it wasn't his job. Wow. He only had them come out to the forefront to like lead protest when it was convenient to the union to put their bodies on the line and get arrested. Yeah, when he needs them. Yes, God, I was gonna say, like the forty four that were jailed in part one. That's when he needed them. And yeah, other than the reserta, they were purposely not in leadership roles.

25:53 It was also around this time, nineteen sixty seven that Sister Chavis began his first per urge of the union, his first perch Oh my god. So he justified these this purging by saying that he was kicking out Communist members of the union. But there was an FBI report, because you know, they're giving tabs on the union and such jabs. So the FBI report of the time said there was no Communist infiltration in the union. There was no communist members. So it was really people he didn't like. Yeah, oh my god, I like people that were asking too many questions or members that he deemed were not loyal enough to him. That is uh cult leader behavior, Yes, yes, it is. So. One of the first members he kicked out was a woman named Wendy Goebel, and she was a member, but also she was with the doctor who worked at the Delano Medical Clinic and she had started to urge Sasa Chaviz that the clinic should treat everyone, not just picket members picket line members, and she was like the clinic should be moved to this other place where more people that work in the farm, even if they're not picking members, can be treated. And that's probably why he kicked her out. I didn't want pick and members to be treated only them, no, no one else, And she wanted more people to be treated. So she

27:27 was probably that was probably the reason she was kicked out, not because she was a communist member. Another member that was kicked out was Ida Cousino, the one who had been pushed down. Oh my god, m hmm. Yeah, and the men who defended her probably them too, they I it wasn't like a name names that could find hers was. But so she had returned from a party. That party was thrown by someone named Sam Kushner, who was a reporter for the this communist newspaper. But the newspaper had always been a supporter of the union. They had always reported on their activities, and she was also she was also not the only one at the party. Go Lotserta was there too. Damn. That just makes the it makes it obvious the differential reading behavior or whatever like the difference. Yeah, and so really the real reason was probably because she had been romantically involved with fred Ross and he didn't like this. But I thought fred Ross was his best friend. Yeah, but he didn't like her with him for some reason.

28:35 Oh my god. So that's probably the real reason why she was kicked out. Another member, Donna Haber, was also kicked out. He said she was conspiring against union leaders in a meeting. Like. He didn't even kick her out by herself, like one on one. He invited her to a meeting in front of people. I did it in front of people. Yeah, and she left this meeting in tears and confused. Damn, she was not conspire against the union leaders. Wow. And she also happened to be the girlfriend of one Louis Valdez. I'm so confused because I thought he I thought he liked Louis Valdez. What does he want these women with them? Well he did at first, oh did at first? But then so okay, wow wow. Yeah.

29:20 And a reminder, I accidentally called Louise Steve last episode all last episode. Yeah. So and if you needed a reminder, I think I already said it, but the creator of Theatro Campino. Yeah, and Louise Valdez was not a person to back down. There had already been existing tension between him and Sasara Travis, and he was like, well, why are you kicking her out? Like you know, he demanded to know so more on these existing tensions. The theater Campsino had become a place to like air out issues through skits. I mean, I mean, what a fantastic use of theater, I think. Yeah, So such Javis didn't like this, well because they doesn't want anybody to express anything unless they agree with him exactly. So farm workers found out that some of the union staff didn't did actually receive a decent wage while they were still farm workers paying union dues. And yeah, I mean you have to pay members of an organization like this, there's no denying that. Yeah, But Sasar Chavis had expanded this myth that the pay was like five dollars a week and that everything was volunteer, that people weren't they didn't have these fancy wages, which is true, but did people Some people, some members were members through other organizations that were receiving grants, so they were able to have like a fifty dollars wage or salary, while other people are farm workers who have like, yeah,

30:52 way less, way less than that. And he created this myth that everything was volunteer work. If there was way just if people did receive pay was super super super cheap. They were sleeping on floors to keep this union running. And maybe if he'd just been honest from the beginning, it wouldn't be an issue, right, Yeah, So when farm workers learned that some people were being paid way more than them, they're like, uh, yeah, they had issues with it. They're like millers, They're like, well, are we paying you? You're being paid yeah, pretty much. So there was you know, skits about this. But also Luis Valdez set up a meeting between farm workers and so such Chaves to talk about this pay difference, and so such Ivis was not a fan of this. He's a'm not meeting with people to talk about this, and the meeting didn't go well, like surprise, surprise. At the same time, the Theatro Campeesino was getting national recognition and was about to head on a national tour. And you know, at the same time, the the theater people were like some of the ones that questioned Sasu Chavis the most, the ones who talked about this paid difference the most. They also, you know, there was a rule for no drugs in the union, and some of them did use drugs. You know, they're theater people, they're not technically farm workers. Yeah, and so such Javis didn't like that they were starting to question things, they weren't following all the rules. So Sis such Chavis

32:25 told Louis Valdez that the theatro members needed to be disciplined, and so he told them that they were going to do real work for the upcoming boycott of the Guillomarra grapes, which is the boycott after and so Louise was like, no, we can't. We're about to head on national tour which you approved. And then so such I was is like, well, the needs of the union have changed, Like what's more important your little theater or farm workers? And Louis was insistent that the performance and the tour was helping farm workers because one I would bring in money, but also it would spread awareness. Yeah, and so he was like, you know what you need to choose, like the theater people can't receive special privileges. But really he didn't like one that they were not as loyal as what he saw it as. They didn't they questioned some things more, they didn't follow the rules as much. But they also had some performances where they were criticizing one of his new inner circle buddies, Leroy Chatfield. And I didn't look into what the criticism was. I just know that there was criticism, and I'm now I regret it. I'm like wondering what it was. But they were criticizing precise yeah, exactly.

33:39 So when Luis Valdez was faced with this ultimatum, he was like, you know what, no, We're going to leave the union. And he felt betrayed because he had always supported the union. You know, he's when he started that through Campetino. He wasn't getting paid. He did it for nothing because he believed in Lacausa as well. So really it's probably his girlfriend was fired because of his size to him and that because he would question that, then it would be a reason to kick him out or force him to leave, which is exactly what happened. And so the theater left and it was becoming clear that SASA Chavis has becoming more paranoid. He would often go on and on at meetings about how members were conspiring against him. Very dictator behavior, very right if cult leaders more appropriate, because this is not like a yeah, you know whatever government right, state leadership. Yeah, very very very cold, Yeah, very cool. And so yeah, the theater Compass, you know, had gone on their tour. It was wildly successful. When it was over, lis Valdez asked if he could return, if they could return to the union, because he's still partially believed it was for it was better. Yeah, he'll accept whatever, as long as he could still be part of it. And so such jabs told him he would take it to the board when he couldn't just say yeah, yeah, this is like speak for no, yeah, it's not happening

35:10 because at the end he made all the decisions anyway, so he could have just said yeah, but no, he said I'm gonna take it to the board. Really, it's it's in the end. It's because he couldn't control the theater members and for that reason they had no part in his union. Yeah, it's it's sad because like this was a way for the Campesinos to express themselves artistically, which they you know, it can't be all about work, work work all the time, you know, Like play is a part of life too, yeah, and art is important, yeah, but not to him, And so such tabs took that away from the Campasinos. He did. He did, so members that still had ties to the members that had been kicked out had to choose. It was either leave or cut time to get in line everyone that was kicked out, Yeah, lev Orgatt. Yeah, basically. So like the doctor that I mentioned earlier, his name was David Brooks, there were members that this was their family doctor and had been for years.

36:15 They had to either pick a new doctor or leave. Oh my god, yeah, which again is very cool tea. Yeah, so either you know, people that were people were being kicked out, being forced to choose these old relationships or the union. So other people like Bill Esher sure, sure, I don't know. He had been part of the union for a while, not since the beginning, but shortly after I want to say, the marches or something like that. For some time now. He left on his own account account because he didn't approve of what SASA Chavis was doing making people choose, kicking people out. He was like, no, this isn't what it was supposed to be, like like, this isn't right. So he left. After he left, after these purges, it was becoming clear that SASA was distancing himself from people. He was becoming more isolated, more culty.

37:11 This is also when he announced something called forty acres. Do you know about forty acres? I don't think so. Okay, it's a piece of land that he acquired in like the outskirts of de Leno, that would become the new headquarters, because according to him, they were outgrowing the old headquarters of the union. It was next to the city dump and it was known as forty acres, already had that name. But he it wasn't just going to be any headquarters. It was going to be the spiritual center of the union. Okay, just getting more culte, right exactly. He wanted a chapel there.

37:52 There was already a gas station there that existed, and he wanted to make this gas station that would give provide gas at a cheaper cost for members, kind of like Costco, you know, but more culty. There was going to be a market, there's going to be a pool for members. These were his grand plans. He wanted the inside to be decorated with quotes from Gandhi in English and Spanish. So still it seems very cultly to me, it does, it does, And this seemed like something that was not attainable, Like, how would we even do this? Did people even want that? Or did he want that? You know, his more most loyal members were like, yeah, this is a great idea, This would be fantastic for the union, and other people like Larry Leong was like why yeah, I got a sign with Larry on this one.

38:42 Same same. So now we're in early early nineteen sixty eight, like January, and union meeting attendance is falling. Previous victories like against the Georgio didn't even matter because they had mass fired workers anyway after the contract signed, undermining the whole contract. The new target of the boycotts, Guyomarra, was not budging in anything. They had even filed charges against the union stating that there was evidence the union had committed crimes in the name of boycotts, things like breaking into trains that were delivering grapes. So they needed to do something new, and like we knows a sarch Javis is like, if he's going to revive a movement, yeah, he's gonna be big about it. And so this prompted Saesar Chavis to announce he was going to begin to fast and he didn't console anyone else in the union, of course, because he doesn't do that. He's the leader, right, he doesn't need to console people. No, he didn't tell anyone who was doing this, And I think when he announced it he had already been doing it for like a couple of days at least, because there had been a some sort of dinner at another member's house and he didn't eat anything. Nobody saw him. They're like, hmm, he's not eating yonder, why the which was odd? Right.

40:02 So then after a couple of days after that dinner, there was a union meeting and at this meeting he announced his fast and Larry Ilion was like, what the fuck? When don't you? You don't even tell me. He's like, bro, you don't tell me anything. It's this apparentship or not. It's not. It was no, it's not no, Larry, it was not no. So yeah, he was super mad about it. Sister Travis announced this. He talked for like ninety minutes straight about I don't know things and this fast, and then he left. The meeting was still it wasn't over the meeting. He hijacked the meeting. He hijacked the meeting to make it about the fast. Himself, and then he left the meeting and walked three miles to forty Acres, where he was going to be staying during his fast, and it was like all symbolic to him, like this.

40:52 He could have drove there, like he walked the three miles. Then he could have done the fast at his house, but no, it needed to be at forty Acres because he wanted this to be the spiritual center of the union, everything for the myth making yes, And so he left. Larry had to take over the meeting. He was mad, He's like, why didn't you tell me about this? He called for emotion to make him stop the fast, and you know, people were like, he's playing God, he's playing Gandhi. He can't just do this. Yeah, other people were worried about his health. But the motion failed. But you know what, even if it had passed, he would have would have kept listen. Yeah, no, he wouldn't because he does what he wants right. And again, like the end result is important, but it's like the getting there that you're like the enemies you made along the way exactly, Oh my god. So, just like he probably guessed it would, forty Acres became sacred ground. There was a shrine that was put up.

41:58 People brought portraits of Lavit and the Guadalalupe portraits of their deceased, like family members. They made it. They must have been a fuminge, I would have been. There were like offerings, candles, crucifixes. They had even painted the windows of the gas station to look like the same gland glass windows from church and all this was within a matter of days. Wow, I mean yes. Then they began holding masks at forty acres. People started doing pilgrigem Oh my god, pilgrimages to forty acres on their knees holding candles. No, no, that's sacrilegious. Nah. And if there's anything about Mexicans, they're sacrilegious, so, oh my god, no no. But if they're gonna if they're doing something before like Gausa, they're gonna go. They're gonna go all out. Yeah, yeah, all out, which is why this was happening. So if there's like an opportunity to martiat sees and a martiriad like for Reales, yes, and again the cause it's important, it really is. There's no denying that at all. So then they started putting up across for each day, says that it was fasting.

43:20 So then it was like even more symbolic, like this rows of crosses. Right on the thirteenth day of the fast, Sasad was called to court for the charges against the union, but then hundreds and hundreds of farm workers showed up in support and the court was like, we can't hold court like this, like it's there's too many people. They postponed it for the next day. The next day, same thing happened. The judge couldn't kick out farm workers because then they would look bad. Yeah, like, look at this white judge kicking out all these Mexicans for expressing their free or their right to speech or whatever. You know. Yeah, so he couldn't kick them out, so he postponed the court date for two months. And he also cited Sasa Chavis's medical condition as the reason, because he wasn't looking good after thirteen days of fasting. And you know, some people point to the timing of the fast and the core as like, m this is why he was doing it, but he says, no, he wasn't doing it for that reason.

44:20 And you know, it could have been for many reasons, because in the end, the court date was postponed. It got to the pointing where people were asking, begging Sasach Chavis to eat the fast. Yeah, yeah, that he had done enough, he had sacrificed enough, but he wouldn't. His wife, Helen Chavis was supportive in public, but in private she was mad as fuck, even under walk to the night he announced the three mile walk. Yeah, she was mad. She was so mad, but she did her duty anyway, you know, to support him. By the end of the third week of the fast, sa Chavis's own doctor was like, you need to stop. You're going to cause serious damage to your kidneys. He's like, yeah, wa damage, yeah, way, yeah, yeah, basically his doctor quote literal quote, yeah yeah, wait yeah, pretty much. So he added in light liquids at first, and then on March sixth, he announced that he was going to end his fast in four days. But even the the ending of the fast couldn't just happened casually.

45:28 It needed to be like a whole announcement, a whole thing. Yeah, so four days would be the end of the fast, and yeah, it was a whole event. A Robert Kennedy even attended as a guest of honor. So yeah, yeah, exactly, he gave a speech says that was handed some bread to break his fast and he ripped it in half and gave a piece to Robert Kennedy and it was like just eat, fool like people just want you to eat, but no, everything has to be like a symbol. Yeah, so he handed Robert Kennedy apiece. He was two weeks to speak, so someone in the Union gave a speech for him that he broke down. Before leaving this event, Robert Kennedy was like walking. It took him forever to get to his plane or car, what car? I think it was a car to get to the car because of how many people were there cheering Robert Kennedy on When he finally got to the car and he was about to like he was halfway in, he turned around and he yelled Viva Lael, Viva la casa, and just like a sea of chanting and cheering exploded, Like this was such a moment, and I mean for a huge like I feel like we're being silly, but this is of course, it's major, no, of course, And to have a senator uh support this movement like unheard of, and I mean it's a Kennedy like m hm. So that

46:59 meant a lot back then, now not much. So, yeah, this was a huge deal. So, you know since I left to another member's house to like heal there and recuperate, recuperate. But four days after this meeting, Robert Kennedy announced he was running for president, and Sasar Chavis, there's some insane work to make this happen. Like he went out canvassing, uh you know, back to his roots, signing people like right, yeah, let go of the coldness and went back to to uh grassroots for a moment. Yeah, And I mean because of him, farm workers came out in the thousands to vote, and Robert Kennedy did win the primary. Can the Latino Yeah, that's a meme. Reminder, Yeah, reminder that we know, correct me, I know how to say it, right, we are reverencing Jennifer.

47:58 That's a a lexicon. Now, that's not how you say it. Yeah, that literally is. It's a part of that whatever yeah language now. Yeah, So Susarch Tabas was huge in helping Robert Kennedy win the California primary. Actually didn't know that, Oh yeah, huge unless I learned it and forgot it. But right now, I didn't know that no, yeah, I didn't either when I was reading, so oh okay, he when there was they were gonna have a party to celebrate this victory, Sisar Tabas wanted mariacci. He requested a mariachi band at the party, and staffords were like, I don't know, and then he sisarch Jabs made sure to say the workers came out and voted give them their mariachi. Yeah, and they they want a mariachi and they agreed, so they hired a mariacci. And so at this celebration, Robert Kennedy even wanted sister Javis at his side when he gave a speech. Wow. For some reason though, I don't know, and I couldn't find why Sisuch Javis couldn't be found to stand there interesting and instead that oh wow, yeah yeah, And so she was a few feet away from him when he was Oh my god, I didn't know that.

49:16 This is when he right, okay, like I I see what you're talking about now, But I'd be like, we all learned about this, right, yeah, But I didn't know that was there next to him, or that Robert Kennedy was so supportive of the neither. Yeah, guys didn't know that either. And so you know, after he was killed at the forty Acres, they put up like it became like a memorial basically where they put up a like a grieving site, you know. And Sisa Chaves was even a pall bear pill pit you know when you feel. Yeah, I've always called her people say Paul Bear, Okay, thank you.

49:56 I think so. Sis such Chabas was even a pall bearer at Robert kenn at the funeral. I didn't know either, Yeah, yeah, learning so much, I know, and that's why I'm like, that's why this is so many parts unintentionally because I want to mention everything, and like I like, you know, like we said in part one, this isn't too like cancel or this is just to learn, like like I'm learning good and bad stuff. Stuff I didn't know. Yeah, so stuff like you know, he kicked out a bunch of members because they weren't listening to him, but also stuff like this. So yeah, I just I didn't know that was wort that was a few feet away from him when I was killed, either, that's it was. And once we were a few feet away from Lotusa we were did we hug her or something? I don't. I don't remember she canceled her I just know she came to her school. Yeah. What's that thing called five degrees of like separation? Yeah yeah, if we were to play that about Sistar Javis, we would be one degree away. Yeah. Anyway, enough of this, you're right past. So that was the journey, okay, Yeah, because Kennedy, you know, Robert Kennedy was killed two months after Martin Luther King, who actually also sent a note when he was doing his fast about how inside I didn't know. Oh you did, Okay, I figured you would.

51:22 I didn't I know stuff, remember, you know some things. So you know, Martin Luther King had been killed. Two months later, Robert Kennedy was killed. The Union was growing concern something was gonna happen to se Javis. But right before the funeral, which was June sixth, was the funeral. In May, Sister Javis was on the Today Show, and on the Today Show he announced the boycott of all California grapes, the famous boycott. Yeah, and that is where we will leave this part. Oh my god, I didn't even like I felt like at first, I felt like, wow, this is like long, only because I checked my recordings to make sure it was still recording, and I was like, we're like at an hour I already, I think, but then it was just like so much learning that I didn't even feel like that long. Oh my god. And that's that's what we're aiming for here, to make this fun, you know. Yeah, But I mean also too, you know, there's just there's again so much to this. Man, I didn't know, and I will get to sit and on at some point I will, but I can't. I'm not.

52:29 I'm still not ready for that. Like I can't even fathom it, Like I don't know, I can't picture it. Yeah, and even with this part one and part two, there's so much that I'm leaving out from the book. Everyone needs to check it out. And that's why I want to read that book. Yes again, The Crusades of Sysi Chavis by Miriam Powell. Yeah. So, but yeah, this brings us to the end of this part two, and I'm hoping that there's only going to be a part three that's gonna be the last part, but I don't know at this point. I don't No. Yeah, this has accidentally become a deep deep dive. It happened sometimes that's what happened with our Chile episode and we had six episodes or something. Yeah, yeah, so that is what's happening. So yeah, anything you want to share before we had this, Nope, anything you want to share, I don't think. So. Just thank you to everyone leaving comments on Spotify. I approved some that I just I forgot to check it and there there was some like a across five ish different episodes people leaving comments. So I don't know if I need to update my Spotify or what. But I'm not seeing the option to leave or see comments anymore. I think it's slowly coming back for all users. If not that you need to update. Some podcasts needs to like turn it back on too, because again they had like di able there for a while. Yeah, let me go to they started in on specifically to see if I

53:59 because I can even I don't think I can see people's comments either right now. I can just see them inside the Spotify real podcasters. Yeah. Now I'm trying to remember which was the the last one I saw a comment on, just to check that specific one, but I don't even remember. I'm like opening different episodes. Yeah, I'm not seeing for them nothing. Yeah, I don't think it's like I think they're slowly going to bring it back for all accounts, because yeah, I don't. Like I know for a fact that I turned on comments and like I've not seen them either, And I went on Spotify for podcasters and approved some comments and I can't see them. Interesting, So I don't know. Yeah, like I know that comment that I told you that there's something about violence, nonviolence is the best option always. It was left on the Brief History of Cheetah episode, and like, I can't see the comment. Oh, we should announce something. We have a Patreon.

54:54 Oh that's right. Yeah, So if you want to have ad free episodes, have them early this podcast, they usually do end up editing at least two days before it's up, so you know, if you want one or two day early access to episodes, no ads and the occasional bonus episode, no promises there. I feel like we should, and because sometimes we like read book or like related books to history, like when we read you sound like a white girl. Yeah, uh, solo migrant what is it called? What was it called migrants or our migrant souls? Yeah, that one. So maybe you can have like mini book club or book book episodes or something like that, like not book club as the other people reading with us, but like, hey you read this and this is what we thought, like something like that. Yes, yeah, no, that's good. And then our cheese mess Unknown Yes yeah, yeah I was gonna say that too. Yeah, where we'll talk about the latest goss. Yeah, because what is history but not? If not old costs? Yeah, so you could find that at patron dot com slash Estonia's Unknown podcast. You can also just go to the show notes. It's all there. We're also on Spreaker. The same things are going to be up on the Spreaker Support Club, which is just through where we host the podcast.

56:17 There's a little like support club where you can access episodes like bonus episodes, the early episodes through there, so you know which everyone floats your boats. You can do either one. They're going to be the same thing. But yeah, those are two options. Just to support us a little bit, mainly me because no, no, we both do a lot of work for this. I do research, you do that and everything. Oh oh sometimes I do post on social media, that's true. You do, you do so sometimes I don't a lot though, so so yeah, if you just want to you know, help us financially. That's those are options. But if not then oh, actually, other thing that's gonna be if you do sign up for it on Patreon because that's where I can see addresses and stuff. If you do that, I will send out one time one sticker that's just the logo of Estordia Unknown. Oh can I have one too? Yeah? I haven't made them, but you know, okay, I will if someone signs up. Yeah, we'll see, we'll see, we'll see, we'll see. We hope we do. But if not, you know, just tell people about the podcast. That's the most important way to share and to support is just to listen and share episodes.

57:30 So yeah, all right, Well, on that note, thank you everyone for listening, and we hope this is one less Estodia Unknown for you because it definitely has been for me. Yeah. Same, all right. By