Si Se Puede!

Here's a photo of Cesar's library.

He went to work in the fields with his family as a child and only completed school to the eighth grade. He self-educated himself by reading. His favorite teacher was Ghandi and many of his methods of non-violence comes from those teachings.

There was a story told about him - that as a young man - maybe 10 or so, his father lost his house because he couldn't pay the taxes on it. They left Arizona and migrated to California to become migrant workers. Because they weren't very experienced, they had a hard time at first, losing jobs to more experienced people. One day they were trying to pick peas - but they kept showing up too late to get a basket for picking. Even if they got there before dawn - other people had beaten them too it. So Cesar told his mother, "I'm going to stay here all night and wait for the truck to get here and get us two baskets so we can work tomorrow." His mother said no - too dangerous -- but Cesar did it anyhow - stayed at the farm all night and met the truck early in the morning and was able to get the baskets for work. His family remembers him learning the ways of the migrant workers and was always able to keep them in work - that he was always deeply driven.
His brother tells the story of when they were young, married men. Picking apricots in San Jose. Working 10 -12 hour days for very little money - trying to raise and feed their families. As they were in the fields, Cesar began talking about their plight and began to muse;
"Someone has to do something to help all of these poor families earn a decent living."

Thank you so much.