The Fight in the Fields

March 31, 1997
The companion book to a PBS documentary of the same name, this is, for its genre, a substantial and broadly documented (photos, interviews) portrait of a worthy subject. Given that Chavez (1927-1993) built the United Farm Workers with a combination of humility, grit, faith in nonviolence and savvy, this book's admiring tone is understandable. Dispossessed of their Arizona farm, the Chavez family became poor migrant harvesters; their experience fueled Chavez's 1962 decision to move from community organizing to start an independent farm workers' union that would right injustice in the fields. The authors' textured narrative provides good detail on UFW strikes, demonstrations and negotiations; a letter from Chavez explaining the union's 1960s grape boycott shows him to be a true counterpart of Martin Luther King Jr. The authors also explain the UFW battles with the Teamsters and Chavez's own struggles with his staff. While the book skimps on Chavez's private life as well as on the current state of farmworker activism, it does leave the reader with the sense that Chavez--whose catch-phrase "Si, se puede" (Yes, it can be done) still rings in the Latino community--was a crucial contributor to bettering America. Ferriss covers Latino affairs for the San Francisco Examiner; Sandoval is a business editor for the San Jose Mercury News. Photos.