>From: JOCELYN SHERMAN <UFWOFAMER@aol.com> >Subject: Exhibit Focuses on Chavez Legacy: LA Times & Orange County Reg. >Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 14:27:06 -0800 > >News from the Farm Worker Movement(www.ufw.org): > >http://www.calendarlive.com/top/1,1419,L-LATimes-Search-X!ArticleDetail-10609,00.html?search_area=Articles&channel=Search > >Wednesday, November 15, 2000 > >Exhibit Focuses on Chavez Legacy >Granddaughter Scheduled to Appear at Anaheim Museum > >By VIVIAN LETRAN, Times Staff Writer > > When Christine Chavez-Espinoza was 5, she stood on the front lines >with her grandfather Cesar E. Chavez, picketing, passing out fliers and >rallying for the rights of campesinos--the farm workers. That year the >pair got arrested in Detroit during a strike and were jailed. > > Such was family life with the late labor activist whose legacy is >viewed through the lenses of six photographers at the Anaheim Museum's >latest exhibition, "An American Leader, Cesar E. Chavez." > > Chavez-Espinoza, 28, will make a guest appearance at the museum on >Thursday, rekindling memories of her grandfather's joys and struggles >during a reception with photographers and the exhibition's curator >attending. > > "I think my grandfather would be taken aback by all the attention he >has gotten from the public parks and streets named after him, to the >holiday, and this exhibition dedicated in his honor," said >Chavez-Espinoza, the fourth of 30 grandchildren. > > The show, in Spanish and English, saluting Chavez as an American >hero is a move by the Anaheim Museum to reach out to its largely Latino >community, museum executive director Joyce Franklin said. > > "Most museums our size see themselves simply as storehouses. But we >see the museum as an active participant in the community," Franklin >said. "We want to have more shows that address the ethnic representation >of our community." > > The Latino population has grown substantially since 1990, according >to the U.S. Census Bureau. The agency says Hispanics number about >801,800--29% of the Orange County population. > > In Los Angeles the exhibition brought in a new audience of Latinos >who typically do not visit museums, said Denise Lugo, curator of the >original show at the Latino Museum of History, Art and Culture. > > "We're excited the Anaheim Museum wants to pick up the exhibition in >Orange County," Lugo said. "This is not just a show for Latinos but for >all Americans." > > Ninety black-and-white images spanning about 30 years document the >birth of the United Farm Workers starting with the grape strike/boycott >in the mid-'60s and continuing with Chavez's role in the civil rights >movement. > > Through the years the UFW, founded by Chavez and Dolores Huerta, >fought against the use of pesticides on grape farms and exposed poor >working and living conditions of laborers. > > The photographs chronologically capture Chavez from his early years >as a charismatic young leader to a time just days before his death. > > Guest curator Kent Kirkton selected the photographs. > > "I've always wanted to put together a visual history of the union," >said Kirkton, who is director of the Center for Photojournalism and >Visual History at Cal State Northridge. "So we selected photographers >who worked closely with Chavez and the UFW." > > Some of the earliest photographs were taken in the tumultuous '60s >by John Kouns and Emmon Clarke. The '70s, a time when labor unions >gained steady ground, were mostly covered by George Rodriquez and Oscar >Castillo. The latter part of Chavez's life is photographed by Victor >Aleman and Jocelyn Sherman, who still works for the UFW. > > In one image, cigarette smoke encircles Robert F. Kennedy, who is >entrenched in heated debates during a Senate subcommittee meeting on the >arrest of dozens of picketing farm workers in Delano, Calif. In another, >Kennedy is sitting beside Chavez, handing him bits to eat after a 1968 >fast. > > The show also has a replica of a migrant worker's wooden cabin. The >images are as much about the present as the past, said Chavez-Espinoza, >a Los Angeles resident who continues her grandfather's work at UFW. > > "The leaders of unions such as the hotel restaurant employees union, >the janitors union and the MTA union workers who were just on strike, >and other working people have either worked with him or were inspired by >his message." > >* * * > "An American Leader, Cesar E. Chavez," Anaheim Museum, 241 S. >Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim. Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; >Saturday, noon-4 p.m.; Sunday-Tuesday and holidays by appointment only. >Special reception: Thursday, 5-7 p.m. Through April 7. (714) 778-3301. > >Copyright 2000 Los Angeles Times > > >http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/discoveroc/chavez0s1111cci4.shtml > >ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER > >Exhibit shows his life's work >NINETY-SIX PHOTOS capture a man -- Cesar Chavez -- and his time. >November 11, 2000 > >By FELIX SANCHEZ >The Orange County Register > >One of the most striking images at a photographic retrospective of Cesar >Chavez hits as visitors round a corner just inside the Anaheim Museum. > >A larger-than-life black-and-white photo of Chavez's weathered, >contemplative, slightly smiling face returns your gaze. The effects of >years of clashes with California farm owners, protest fasts and his >personal bonds with struggling Hispanic farm workers are etched clearly >on Chavez's face in this photograph that dominates the entire room. > >That's the effect that museum director Joyce Franklin and guest curator >Kent Kirkton want the 96 black-and-white photographs at the exhibit to >have. The retrospective opened at the Latino Museum of Art, History and >Culture in Los Angeles. > >The pictures were culled from hundreds taken of Chavez during the >tumultuous time surrounding farmworker strikes by six photographers: >Victor Aleman, Oscar Castillo, Emmon Clarke, John Kouns, George >Rodriguez and Jocelyn Sherman. > >Chavez with Bobby Kennedy in 1968, as Chavez, wrapped solemnly in a >blanket and accepting a tiny piece of bread from Kennedy, ended a 25-day >fast in Delano. Chavez with a vibrant-looking Dolores Huerta, a Hispanic >farmworker with whom he founded the United Farm Workers union. Chavez >with actor Martin Sheen, singer Joan Baez and other personalities and >politicians. > >Most of the photos show striking farmworkers, some throwing themselves >in front of oncoming trucks during a series of strikes in the 1960s. >Others show the life the workers lived, Chavez standing side by side >buoying them for the political battle for worker rights. > >The exhibit also re-creates the living conditions many farm workers >endured, through a makeshift shack visitors can walk through. > >In a 1969 photograph, Chavez is shown with thick black hair, combed back >in a rich mat of youthfulness. A 1988 photo nearby shows a dramatically >weathered face, the mop of hair still thick, but significantly grayed. > >The show shies away from taking a political position, Franklin says. >It's the images that tell the story, reveal the man and paint a picture >of the 1960s through the early 1980s. > >"It is so powerful. This show needs to be in Anaheim," Franklin says. >"This will build bridges to the (Latino) community."Cesar Chavez > >Copyright 2000 The Orange County Register > >CESAR CHAVEZ > >Born Cesar Estrada Chavez, March 31, 1927, near Yuma, Ariz. Died of >natural causes April 23, 1993, San Luis, Ariz. > >Worked in fields after parents emigrated to United States. Experience >inspired him to work for reforms for farmworkers. > >Set goal to increase wages averaging $1.50 per hour so farmworkers could >pay for housing and health care. > >Helped outlaw the short-handled hoe that symbolized the backbreaking >work of field workers. > >Helped California pass 1975 landmark law that guaranteed union elections >for farmworkers. > >Founded United Farm Workers of America. > >Led two-year nationwide boycott of California-grown table grapes in 1970 >to improve working conditions. > >In 1986 fought careless use of pesticides blamed for causing cancer and >birth defects in farmworkers and their families. > >Honored by holiday for state workers signed into law this year by Gov. >Gray Davis. >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >YOU'RE THERE > >What: "An American Leader, Cesar E. Chavez" > >Where: Anaheim Museum, 241 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim > >When: Noon-4 p.m. Saturdays, by appointment Sundays-Tuesdays, 10 a.m.-4 >p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays and holidays. Through April 7. > >How much: $2 donation > >What's in: 96 black-and-white photos by six noted photographers document >the life and times of the founder of the United Farm Workers. >Photographs also on display at Anaheim City Hall, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., >and the Central Library, Broadway at Harbor Boulevard. > >Call: (714) 778-3301 > >Web site: For Cesar Chavez's biography, see ufw.org. > >http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/discoveroc/chavez01111cci3.shtml > >discover orange county > >Hail, Cesar >NAMING PUBLIC WORKS after labor leader Cesar Chavez brings a message of >hope to Hispanics, activists say. > >November 11, 2000 >By FELIX SANCHEZ >The Orange County Register > >Seferino Garcia looks over a nondescript five-acre lot on Anaheim's >north side -- a plot of land half-paved with concrete, with sprouting >weeds over the other half -- and sees potential. > >The potential to spread a message about a man whose life and work >touched many of Orange County's Hispanics, and the immigrants who work >the orchards and vegetable fields along its highways. > >The potential to give youngsters -- whose lives have been disrupted by >gangs or their specter -- a chance to play. > >For several years, Garcia has lobbied the Anaheim City Council and city >parks and recreation officials to name a planned park at Santa Ana >Avenue and Walnut Street for the late United Farm Workers union founder, >Cesar Chavez. > >Garcia and other Hispanic activists want to name a school and a street >after Chavez, whose hunger strikes and organized grape boycotts and >huelgas (strikes) by Latino farm workers in the 1960s and '70s lead to >revolution and reform in agriculture. > >"People against it say Cesar Chavez didn't live in Anaheim. But we need >to have our students and people understand that he built one of the most >powerful unions in the country," Garcia says. > >With the opening this month of a photographic retrospective of Chavez's >life and union work at the Anaheim Museum, Garcia sees the opportunity >to build momentum. During the next few weeks, Garcia will work with the >museum to bring groups of students to the Chavez exhibit. To show them >his legacy and effect on their lives. To inspire them. > >"I think the exhibit is really long overdue for our people. I think it's >going to build a lot of self-esteem for our youth. It will motivate kids >to understand their history and culture," says Garcia. His work to honor >Chavez took him to Tucson last week, where he helped promote >construction of a park to be named after the labor organizer, in a >gang-infested area. > >"Chavez was a nonviolent man and that's going to help a lot of the gang >members in our community to understand that violence is wrong," says >Garcia, who founded the nonprofit organization Solevar and works closely >with gang members in the predominately Hispanic north side neighborhood >in Anaheim. > >He also hopes the exhibit spurs community leaders in Anaheim, Santa Ana >and the rest of Orange County to look more favorably at proposals to >name a school and several streets after Chavez. > >So far, a continuation school in the Santa Ana School District and a >building at Santa Ana College honor Chavez. Activists are happy with a >new law that gives state workers a paid holiday to honor Chavez, but >they note that it only encourages school districts to have a day of >information about the leader. > >Benny Diaz Jr., state district director of the League of United Latin >American Citizens, says Chavez inspired him to move into community >service when he appeared at the University of California, Irvine, where >Diaz was a student. > >"Without Cesar Chavez, we would not have the number of Latino elected >officials we have right now. His influence and fight for justice have >really motivated a lot of people to make changes, to make differences >for the many people in Orange County's Latino community," Diaz says. > >Jose Solorio, a community activist and member of the Santa Ana Planning >Commission, worked alongside Chavez's parents, Federico and Guadalupe, >harvesting crops from cotton to pistachios, citrus fruit to hay, sugar >beets to almonds, peaches and carrots in the fields surrounding Delano. > >The community in the San Joaquin Valley was the center of Chavez's most >high-profile work. Solorio saw Chavez at his last hunger strike in >Delano. Many people aren't aware of the sweeping changes Chavez brought >to farmworkers, he says. > >Solorio hopes the exhibit will increase interest in the leader's >actions, which prompted farm owners to install portable restrooms for >workers, schedule water breaks and give workers longer hoes so they >didn't hurt their backs stooping over short hoes -- changes that were >boons to his parents. > >YOU'RE THERE > >What: Solevar community group > >Where: Anaheim > >What's in: Working to get Anaheim park named for late union organizer >Cesar E. Chavez > >Call: Solevar, (714) 535-1542 > >For more information on the Farm Worker Movement visit our web site at >http://www.ufw.org and/or subscribe to the Farm Worker Movement list serve >by sending an e-mail to UFW-subscribe@topica.com. To unsubscribe send an >e-mail to: UFW-unsubscribe@topica.com.
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