Remembering Cesar: The Legacy of Cesar Chavez [Hardcover]

Ann McGregor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2000

In this collection of firsthand accounts by those who knew Cesar Chavez best, a portrait of an uncommonly complex man, both driven and focused, yet humble, empathic and exceedingly principled, emerges. The reader gains an understanding of the yoke Chavez chose to place upon his own shoulders, as well as the ideals he employed to accomplish for the migrant farmworkers what many predicted would be impossible.

 

The more than 45 contributors range from the famous--Edward James Olmos, Henry Cisneros, Martin Sheen, Coretta Scott King, Jerry Brown and others--to members of the Chavez family, to UFW staff, to the farmworkers themselves. Illustrated by the compelling black and white photographs of George Elfie Ballis, who began photographing the farmworker movement in the 1950s.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"..[Remembering Cesar] reminds us of who he really was ...evokes Chavez both as historic figure and as shimmering symbol." -- Jonathan Kirsch, Los Angeles Times

From the Publisher

This is the only book to receive the endorsement of the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation.

Quiet and unobtrusive, Cesar Chavez took on a seemingly impossible task with the simple admonition to those who doubted him: "Sí se puede"--yes, it can be done--he would insist.

Chavez was a migrant farmworker by birth and by trade. Although he was extremely well-read later in life, his formal education ended after the eighth grade. He never owned a house. He didn’t own a car. He never made more than $6,000 a year.

For more than 100 years, organizers, on the behalf of farmworkers, had been unsuccessfully trying to form a union. Chavez had a better idea; he took the battle from the few and gave it to the many: to the farmworkers themselves and to the American consumers in communities throughout the nation.

Chavez’s sharpest spear was nonviolence, his most devastating sword, the boycott. With these two weapons and an undying dedication to justice, Chavez awakened America to the plight of the migrant farmworker. In doing so, he improved the lives of thousands of farmworkers and taught important lessons about justice and self-sacrifice to countless others.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Linden Publishing (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1884956114
• ISBN-13: 978-1884956119
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 9.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,183,513 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fitting memorial and tribute to the man and his legacy, February 17, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Remembering Cesar: The Legacy of Cesar Chavez (Hardcover)

The late Cesar Chavez was a migrant farmworker by birth and by trade. His formal education ended after the eight grade. He never owned a house. He didn't own a car. He never made more than $6,000 a year. This quiet and unobtrusive man took hold of the migrant laborer union movement and inspired it to success against the farm owners and agribusiness interests so historically hostile to the union movement. Compiled by Ann McGregor and enhanced with photographs by George Elfie Ballis, Remembering Cesar: The Legacy Of Cesar Chavez is a fitting memorial and tribute to the man and his legacy. Composed of first hand accounts by 45 men and women those who knew Chavez best, we find a man who was uncommonly complex; who despite his limited formal education went on to become very well-red in his later life; who was both driven and focuses, humble and empathetic; and exceedingly principled. Remembering Cesar his a highly recommended biographical portrait recommended for students of the American labor movement, and the continuing struggle of the American farmworker for honest recognition, fair compensation, decent working conditions, and a better life for themselves and their children.