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.

La Paz

This is a giant picture of Bobby Kennedy and Cesar sharing mass after his first fast. We watched a video here at the center that talked about the relationship the Kennedy family and the Chavez family have to this day. That the two men shared a common vision - and despite the vast differences in their backgrounds, they shared a dedication that was mutually appreciated.

Here is the fountain that flows beside Cesar's grave. It might be a little hard to see these carvings - but I'm told it was designed to represent all the peoples of the world. It's an amazing piece of art. Early this morning the monks invited us to come to a 6am prayer session at the gravesite. And so here in this space we chanted namu myoho ren ge kyo, Bonnie sang a peace song, a couple of our Native friends offered prayers and Kenaida, one of the Japanese monks, did us up a southern spiritual (you should hear him sing "swing lo, sweet chariot").

climbing "Cesar's Mountain"

This morning some of us took a hike up the hill behind La Paz to see the place where Cesar Chavez would go in the morning to meditate, do yoga and have some time to himself before his work day began. A man named Danny, who worked alongside Cesar for many years took us up there.

This little rock setting was a favorite spot of his to sit. There was a little clear patch of grass nearby that he would walk around as well. Danny said that this is the first time they've allowed a group to come up here as it's considered hallowed ground to family and friends of La Paz. He said that he knew we would understand the significance of this place and honor it as such.
This Japanese man in the middle has been learning Native songs, and to honor Danny and his son (who also walked up with us) - they sang a couple of songs for them. While they were finishing up the second song, I decided to walk down on my own. The morning was just warming up, the sky was clear and blue and suddenly I was struck with tears as I realized where I was and whose path I was walking in. I was so thankful at that moment for people like Chavez who were inspired to devote their lives for others.

I found myself coming out of the footpath onto the road at the same time as Chavez' grandson Fernando was walking down as well. We walked back to La Paz together and talked about the Walk and what it means for people when we come through towns. For him, he remembered as a small child how much community there was here - it was a much more bustling place - so he likes when the groups come through. He said our Walk is giving a lot of hope and energy to every place we visit. I told him the feeling was mutual. He's a lovely young man, I wanted to take his picture but it wasn't the right time. We were told a story yesterday about Fernando.
They bring a lot of youth groups here to La Paz - kids that need a little extra direction. One day two of the youths were fighting and Fernando stepped between them and stopped the fight, using the non-violence techniques he's grown up on (he's still a very young guy..maybe in his early twenties) - he told them that "we don't even play fight here" - and he was able to talk these guys down. Can you imagine growing up with that much awareness?
It's amazing being here in this place. When I met up at lunch with the folks I climbed the mountain with they told me that after they finished singing all of their songs, a Red-Tailed Hawk came down and flew right above them, gliding in the wind, checking them out.

Uncle Dennis

The terms "uncle" and "auntie" are honorifics in Native tradition - it's a way of respectfully referring to your elders - no matter if your blood related or not..so I'm using it here.
I have a lot of respect for this man. It's hard not to respect someone who's given his life to his work. He's also a pretty funny guy - he's Anishinabe,and he's also Minnesotan; so he's got that beautiful folksy quality that makes people from that state somehow magically wonderful. The man knows how to work a crowd that's for sure. It's the perfect blend of corny humor to loosen us up..and then before you know it you're in the middle of a deeply impassioned speech about using your life to serve the greater good. He got off on a tangent this morning about language:
"you know...I don't use the f-word --I don't even use it in joking around. Language can be hurtful and violent -- and language that is that way is not welcome here. And I will tell you...that if you want to use that kind of language, if you want to go up to the top of that mountain over there and use the f-word - go ahead, but you will be standing alone! If you want to go up to the top of that mountain and yell that you want to make positive change in the world - people will climb up there to join you!"
He stops...this is after about 15 minutes of talking about language and unity...he turns to Henry an says, "I got carried away again didn't I?" He laughs, and then the phone rings and he looks at it, "Hey it's the L.A. Times! And you too L.A. Times!! Whatever it was I said!"

He just told us another story about when he was on the run from the FBI.
"Nine years I was on the run - I even stayed here with Cesar for a couple of days and he welcomed me warmly. After 9 years of running across the country - they never caught me - I turned myself in. In South Dakota I surrendered to the law and went to jail. Before I was released I needed to find a job. So I applied to be a drug and alcohol counselor. I also applied to be a cross-country running coach. And on that application it asked what kind of experience I had. I told them I had run across the country for 9 years from the FBI and they never caught me! And they gave me the job!"

laurie huerta

I wanted to write a little about Laurie - she's been visiting us on and off over the last week. I haven't gotten to sit and talk with her, but I have been able to greet her often and I just really like her energy. She is the daughter of Dolores Huerta who worked closely with Chavez over the years. Dolores is still alive and continues to do the work she and Chavez started.
Laurie often stopped by during our lunch breaks to tell us stories. On this day she was telling us (and that's a japanese interpreter with her) that the road we just walked was the same road that the Okies walked during the depression - starving and looking for work. She told us this entire valley was filled with the spirits of farm workers, of the Chinese laborers that were brought in to build the railroad tracks - that Steinbeck, Woody Guthrie and Dorothy Day travelled these roads as well.
She also told us this story, which moved all of us..including her...to tears; and she's probably told it several times! It goes like this:

"Cesar's work brought about the Agricultural Farm Workers Act. It gave basic human rights to the farm workers, things like making sure they had water in the fields to drink, a decent wage, a place to use the bathroom. So this act passed and Cesar knew that many of these workers would never know about it. So he went on a 1000 mile march all up and down California telling these workers of their new rights. By the time he got to Sacramento to the Capitol Steps he had maybe 25-30,000 people marching with him to celebrate. And for many people, that would've been it - their work would've been done.
The next morning I had to get up very early and drive back home to take care of something for my children. So here I am driving down HWY 99 - 4:30a.m. - it's still dark outside - and walking by the side of the road is Cesar - and he has maybe 5 people with him - on his way to the next farm.
Never forget what you are doing here when you are on this journey - remember who has come before you and keep that in your hearts."

bakersfield

We recently spent 4 nights at a CHP Firing Range in Bakersfield, California. Other than it was nice not to have to break camp every day, then energy of this place was bleak, man.
See that little sand berm in the distance? It surrounded our camp on three sides. If you climbed up it you had an incredibly great view of the surrounding valleys and the foothills. Unfortunately the surrounding valley was filled with active oil drilling machines. And the sand berm itself was basically built out of lead shell casings from all of the rifles and guns.
Creepy.
But...in a weird way, a lot of healing took place here because a lot of stuff came to a head at this camp. A lot of the young non-native people had been feeling put upon and disrespected and vice-versa. The Native people were feeling like they weren't taking this Walk seriously.
So there were a lot of hurt feelings, but we finally started talking about it in small groups. Some with Native elders, some without. Eventually we started talking to each other and began getting somewhere.
We also had an incredible violent incident happen out here. One of our Walkers had an episode around his mental health. It happened late at night and the people that walked into it became scared and called the police who came out and were incredibly brutal in their dealing with this guy. It was horrific to hear about, and I'm not going to go into the details. We caught it on video though - and lawyers have been retained.
But, due to the seriousness of this incident we also started talking as a group as to how we want to handle folks who are coming in who may be having difficulty with their mental health. This young man will not be the last one.
So last night we ha our first non-violence training and will be continuing them as a group for the rest of our time. It will give people a chance to talk about their fears, and give those who have experience with this kind of thing try to help. I'm sorry this had to happen to this person, but there is good to counter it.
Jun-san reminded us that our society is sick, and to remember that we are all the police. A lot of folks are still mulling that one over.

since we're talking about the monks

You know, we're losing two of our monks this morning. They have monk business elsewhere.
These guys are really fun to have with us - they bring such grace to our days - and a lot of laughter


Some of the funniest people I know are deeply spiritual people. Folks who have dedicated their lives to missions of peace and love seem to have the lightest hearts, even though they are constantly in front of the darkest sides of human nature.
This guy on the right, he's going to be remaining, and he's just the coolest dude. He is Makino Shonin from Japan. I haven't been able to speak to him much due to the language barrier - but we've exchanged this and that. I watch him a lot though because he cracks me up.
Yesterday he was challenging some of the young Japan people to arm wrestling matches and winning. e's incredibly strong and trucks along up at the front of the line at a brisker pace than I can keep up with on some days. On this day - we were having a short break and it was really hot. I think Jun-san started the water fight...it seems like something she would do. That's why these guys are laughing.
And here's Bonnie in pre-throw - I couldn't quite capture the full-on throw, so you'll have to imagine it.
Oh, Makino also one morning jogged up on one of the students and body slammed into here. For fun.
Gotta love it.