The Fight In The Fields

Synopsis

This documentary traces the history of the United Farmworkers Union and the life of its founder, Cesar Chavez, from his birth in Arizona, his education into organizing and non-violence, his formation of the union, to his death in 1993. It includes newsreel footage of the Delano grape boycott, Senate hearings conducted by Robert F. Kennedy, Chavez's fasts, encounters with growers and rival Teamsters. Recent interviews with Chavez family members, Ethyl Kennedy, Roger Cardinal Mahony, Governor Jerry Brown, and current and past UFW leaders round out the history and assessment of Chavez and the Union.