Today in Labor History March 31, 1927: Cesar Chavez was born. Famous for his role in leading the United Farm Workers and, now, even more infamous for his sexual assaults on women and girls in the movement, it should be pointed out that there were numerous other abusive and rotten aspects to his leadership style that affected both women and men. For example, in 1967, he launched his first of several purges of the UFW, ostensibly to remove Communists. However, there was no evidence of communist infiltration of the union and it was most likely a move to solidify his autocratic rule.

In the 1970s, he blamed “illegal immigrants” and “wetbacks” for UFW failures and launched the "Illegals Campaign" to identify illegal migrants so that they could be deported. His cousin Manuel Chavez established a UFW patrol, or "wet line," along Arizona's border with Mexico to stop illegal migration into the US. Actions such as these led to conflicts with many progressive groups that had previous collaborated with the UFW, including the National Lawyers Guild and the Confederation of Mexican Workers.

In 1977, Chavez became infatuated with the religious cult, Synanon and used Synanon’s “game” to punish union members and enforce conformity and obedience to his authority by subjecting members to harsh, profanity-laced criticism from the rest of the community.

He also expressed support for the brutal Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and specifically his declaration of martial law, which alienated Filipino members of the union, as well as many of the religious organizations that had supported the UFW. Ironically, Chavez had originally travelled to the Philippines in order to win back support of Filipino farmworkers. And, contrary to the official mainstream narrative, it wasn’t even Chavez who had started the UFW, or the Delano Grape Strike. Rather the 1965 grape strike had been initiated by Larry Itliong and the Filipino-led AWOC. The nationwide protest lasted five years and ended with the first union contract for U.S. farm workers outside of Hawaii.

You can read more about the Filipino roots of the farm workers labor movement here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2026/03/25/larry-itliong-and-the-filipino-roots-of-the-united-farm-workers-movement/

#LaborHistory #workingclass #CesarChavez #FarmWorkers #ufw #chicano #mexicanamerican #union #strike #boycot #filipino #hungerstrike #communism

New content just dropped on MexicansArentGoingAnywhere.co Fresh updates, new perspectives, and more voices worth hearing. Come take a look and stay connected.

#MexicansArentGoingAnywhere #LatinoVoices #ChicanoPride #MexicanAmerican #NewContent #WebsiteUpdate #Cultura #Community

Today in Labor History March 14, 1954: Salt of the Earth premiered. The film depicted the 1951 strike of Mexican-American workers at the Empire Zinc mine, in New Mexico. The film was one of the first to portray a feminist political point of view, particularly through Actress Rosaura Revueltas’s role as Esperanza Quintero. When the Company uses the new Taft-Hartley Act (which also bans General Strikes) to impose an injunction preventing the men from picketing, their wives go walk the picket line in their places. LGBTQ and labor activist Will Geer (Pa Walton) also played in the film. Writer Michael Wilson, director Herbert Biberman and producer Paul Jarrico had all been blacklisted for their alleged communist ties. Only 13 of the 13,000 theaters in the U.S. showed the film.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #SaltOfTheEarth #strike #union #generalstrike #lgbtq #TaftHartley #communism #feminism #MexicanAmerican #chicano #film #blacklist

https://youtube.com/shorts/O-8yGvyRKx0?si=z198pl5PwsJlAWSK

Selena Was a "No Sabo" Kid? Viral Video Reveals Her Early Days

Linktr.ee/562AlexD

#SelenaQuintanilla
#Selena
#TejanoMusic
#LatinoCulture
#MexicanAmerican

Chicano artist Lalo Alcaraz is clever and talented. He’s worked on some big projects and is published in big papers. But I think his personal art is the best.

He has a shop. Maybe you’ll want to gift something to someone. Maybe even yourself. 😉

https://lalo-alcaraz-art-shop.myshopify.com/

#Art #Artist #Illustration #Latino #Latin #Hispanic #MexicanAmerican

New Substack! 😎📔⁠
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The Zoot Suit: A Marker of Men's Self-Expression ⁠
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https://maskulinitypod.substack.com/p/the-zoot-suit-a-marker-of-mens-self?r=5jv6zj&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true
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#fashionisresistance #masculinity #mensfashion #blackdandyism #dandyism #fashion #menswear
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A Girl in Trouble

Yolanda Montes, better known as Tongolele, was a Mexican–American dancer, actress and vedette - the main female artist of a cabaret show. Born in Washington State in 1932, she passed away im Mexico earlier this year at the age of 93. Video is Mamba de la Muerte, 1951

#tongolele #yolandamontes #cabaret #mexicanamerican #vedette #mambodelamuerte #romeovoid #deborahiyall #agirlintrouble #halloween #halloweenvibes #halloweenweek #halloweenseason #awaytowalkthatsaysstayaway

Overheard in Texas:

At a bus stop: "Hispanic? That's amazing, you don't look at all Hispanic!"

In a library: "So I told them, we're not like that, we're not white, we're Mexican."

I've lived in Texas for years, but I still find ethnicity here hard to understand.

#USCulture #Texas #Ethnicity #Hispanics #LatinAmerican #MexicanAmerican #Mexican #Latino #Tejano