1 ACT I Scene 1: La Junta Jose Carlos/Worker 2/UFWU Members/Dolores Huerta/Cesar Chavez Cesar Chavez is addressing the United Farm Workers Union at a meeting in the fields. The hot burning sun doesn't stop the farm workers from showing up to this Delano Grape Protest meeting. We hear the chatter of the members from the UFWU gathered around the field, as more people come to join the meeting. Everyone is excited to see what Cesar Chavez has to say. Most men are still in their working clothes and covered in dirt and mud. Lots of people have turned out despite the hot sun today. What is so important that Chavez has called on us all to gather here? WORKER 2: I heard that he is organizing a strike in protest against the growers. He is going to lead us all in our fight against the health and labor violations that are levied on us, the workers of these fields. How does he hope that this gathering of workers, who are continually exploited by the agricultural industry, can stand up to these powerful growers? WORKER 2: Amigo, if we act as one, in solidarity, the voice demanding change becomes louder. If we organize together,this industry's dependence on our labor can be used as a weapon against them. I don't know...the Delano Grape Companies is the main source of work for labors in the Central Valley. Working for them is my only opportunity to provide for my family...despite the problems, I feel like I need them. Cesar Chavez enters from stage left to address the crowd. The lights focus on him. Hola trabajadores! Gracias por venir! The wrath of Delano Grapes is a plague born of selfish men. It is indiscriminately and undeniably poisoning us all. Our only weapon is to boycott these grapes and our justification is the truth. If we unite we can triumph for ourselves, for
2 our children and for their children. We gather here today in pursuit of justice! UFWU: Cheering in response. We are ready to give up everything, even our lives, in our fight for justice. We shall do it without the use of violence because that is our destiny. To the growers, and to all those who oppose us, we say, in the words of Benito Juarez, EL RESPETO! AL DERECHO! AJENO ES LA PAZ. UFWU MEMBERS: EL RESPETO AL DERECHO AJENO ES LA PAZ! EL RESPETO AL DERECHO AJENO ES LA PAZ! HUELGA! HUELGA! [talking in the crowd to Worker 2] Non-violence? I thought this was a fight? If we sit back and remain passive, they will easily crush your movement! WORKER 2: Amigo, non-violence is not inaction. It is not for the timid or the weak, and it is not a garment to be put on and off at will. From the depth of need and despair, people can work together, can organize themselves to solve their own problems and realize their own goals with dignity and strength. So your fight must embody your goals...and your goal is justice and respect for all. Dolores Huerta enters stage left and stands with Chavez. They are facing the UFWU Members, who are gathered in the field Lights are on Dolores as she walks onto stage left. UFWU members start chanting. Dolores talks to the members. Everyone is excited about the protest. DOLORES HUERTA: Hola a todos. Soy Dolores Huerta, y yo peleo con Cesar Chavez y todos de los trabajadores. Hello everyone. I am Dolores Huerta, and I fight alongside Cesar and all workers. Thank you for coming to this meeting. Like Cesar says, we are going to stage a strike based on our demands for better working conditions and wages. Cesar Chavez claps his hands.
3 Jose Carlos listens to Cesar and Dolores speaking about the protest. He is really excited about participating, but he is also worried that they might lose to the growers and he is concerned about the well-being of his family, who depend on his wages. Jose has an excited look on his face. Lights remain focused on Cesar Chavez and Dolores. I see us all as one family! We cannot turn our backs on each other and our future. We farm workers are the closest to food production. We were the first to recognize the serious health hazards of agriculture pesticides to both consumers and ourselves, and we will be the first to fight back! DOLORES HUERTA: People everywhere will be motivated by our actions here. The revolution is growing. It has inspired us to take action today, and will inspire other farm workers to join our huelga. UFWU: HUELGA, HUELGA, HUELGA! Lights are still on Cesar. We stand here today to impact everyone for the better. Not just for us farm workers, but for every human out there...and it begins with us. DOLORES HUERTA: Don't be a marshmallow! Stand up and walk the streets with us into history. Get off the sidewalk. Stop being vegetables. Work for Justice. Viva the boycott! I've gone everywhere around the west, from the farms in Yuma to the fields in Delano, organizing farm workers from all over, all with the same vision of achieving equal rights for all. United in action, we will achieve change! UFWU MEMBERS: NESESITAMOS CAMBIO! Ahora estoy comprendiendo. If we we're able to unite all farm workers then we will have a strong, single voice, so loud that the nation cannot ignore it. There are so many different people here, but our plight is the same...if we organize, together, to withhold our labor, it will paralyze the production of the Delano Grape Company. If we all refuse to buy their products, it will destroy their profits.
4 Our voice, of the people, is strong. We come here united as family and together we must support each other and stay strong for one another to create a better future for our children! AFWU: Si se puede! Huelga! Huelga! Huelga! We have known for many years that pesticides used in agriculture pollute the air, earth and water, contaminate animals and humans and are found in the tissue of newborn infants and mothers milk. This March, the New York Times reported that the Environmental Protection Agency finally considers pesticide pollution its most urgent problem, noting that virtually everyone is exposed to pesticides. Clearly, the evils of the Delano Grape Company extend well beyond thier labor violations. They infiltrate our childrens bodies! I have worked all day, every day, for many years now and I have felt the consequences of what we farm workers suffer due to the pesticides and harsh working conditions. Maybe we can come together and end this. I believe we can end this. I believe we must end this! We are here not just to demand justice for the farm workers, but for all citizens...citizens as defined by justice, not by the law. AFWU: Para Humanidad! Para Humanidad! Para Humanidad! Jose Carlos joins in, enthusiastically, with the chanting. The lights and sound dim to dark silence. Scene 2: La Cena Jose Carlos/Maria/Lalo Pablo/Juanita Jose is eating dinner with his family. He is talking to them about how dry his mouth is. All day at work, he had to refuse the dirty water available to him, the immediate reason he shares with his family about why they should join the protest. He is telling his kids about the words of Chavez and Huerta. His daughter, Juanita, is rubbing his shoulders, which ache from another long day of working in the fields. Jose's kids are having doubts about whether they will
5 win the protest and what will happen to their income if Jose participates. Jose becomes frustrated because his kids are not looking how much this protest could change their lives. Jose's two kids, Juanita and Lalo Pablo, are 7 and 15 years old respectively. Ahhh mi garganta...my throat feels better with some cool water. I worked the whole day without anything to drink; my throat became coated with dust. I'm surprised that I did not pass out. [Critical of Jose not drinking all day] Ay Jose, no te mal pases tanto. It's not my fault. It's either drink the dirty water out of my hands or wait for clean water here. Imagine what is in the water they provide us to drink. [to Juanita] Ya no me ciento mi brazo. El trabajo, Mija, es muy duro. How was the meeting today? What is Senor Chavez planning? Amor, Chavez's words struck me today. I am finding real confidence that if we, all workers, unite and organize ourselves against the Delano Grape Companies we can realize the conditions and wages that all humans deserve. Truth and justice are on our side...and they are more powerful for fighting the growers than nuestras manos can ever be. LALO PABLO: Papi, I don't think another Huelga is going to change anything. We have gotten our hopes up in the past and this strike is just going to fail like the rest. JUANITA: Papi, I heard mama say that the protest might not work, and that you could lose your job in the fields. What are we going to eat? Were are we going to live? I can't believe my own familia doesn't have any faith in the protest, or in Cesar's words. Believe me I have doubted this struggle myself we have alot to lose but like in the words of the great Zapata"I'll rather die on my feet then live on my knees. For weeks, in Delano, we've had no clean
6 water, no working toilets, long hours, little pay and we have to live in these awful labor camps. We move from one camp to the next, hoping that it will be better, but it never is. Exploiting our labor is part of their system. I go through so much to be able to put food on the table, for all of you, and you can't believe in me? Maria walks over and takes Jose's hand So you stop working Jose Carlos, but the growers will find some bracero or scab to take your place.i will always believe in you...we are just scared. Jose Carlos, tell the ninos your story. Explain to them why you have that scar on your cheek. Show them how the conditions you work in are cutting into your flesh. LALO PABLO: Mami, What is a scab? Lighs dim on family. Cesar Chavez walks on to the stage. Spot light on Cesar Chavez At one of our protests a minister was arrested for reading the famous American writer Jack London's definition of a scab. He defined one as the following: "A two-legged animal, a corkscrew soul, a water-logged brain, and a combination backbone made of jelly and glue. Where others have hearts, he carries a tumor of rotten principles." Light fades Cesar exits. A scab Lalo Pablo, is a strikerbreaker. Ninos a scab is a strikebreaker. LALO PABLO:&JUANITA: A strikebreaker. I will always believe in you. We are just scared. Mira, tell the kids why you have that scar on your face. Show them how the work you do cuts unto your flesh. [to Juanita and Lalo Pablo] Ninos, do you know about the scar your Papa wears like a reminder on his face? [Jose rises from the table and is very serious and solemn.]
7 I was working, picking grapes in the field, on a scorching day. The bosses demanded that we work faster...get more done for them. They said that if we didn't fill twice as many baskets as the in the morning, they would withhold our pay. We were working as fast as we could. Cutting shears were flying, and our only concern was removing as many grapes as possible. Sweat stung our eyes and thirst stung our throats...but we kept working. I turned from the vine to wipe my forehead cuando mi companero raised his shears. They caught me under the eye and blood started to flow. And what happened after that? Nothing. I had to keep on working with no aid. The bosses didn't care, they just wanted me to keep picking, so I could make them their money. The only thing that I could do was splash dirty water on my face and that just caused it to become horribly infected. That's why the cut left such a horrible scar. LALO PABLO: Papi, I can't believe you have to put up with all that. It says so much about how they value you. Si mijo. I have sacrificed a lot to keep myself alive. The wages might be low, but people need money to support their families. I'll do anything to bring food to this table, for my family. It might not be a lot, but it's the best we can do...for now. LALO PABLO: Papa, I'm sorry. I will support you at the protest and I will have faith because every farm worker deserves fair pay and good working conditions. I do know how hard you work for your family...and I know you will work that hard for your fellow workers. JUANITA: I'm sorry Papa, for everything that you go through. I don't want you to have to bleed for your bosses ever again. Gracias, and I'm doing this for all of us. We need to get all the support we can, even when our goal seems so distant, so we can create a better future for you and a better America for everyone.
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9 Scene 3 Cesar Chavez/Dolores/ Jose and his family/ufwu/ Agricultural Workers Association/Delano Grape Manager They are both striking at the Delano Grape Headquarters. Both of the Unions are yelling chants. The protesters are holding up signs and a lot of people are still arriving. Lights are on both the protestors and Cesar Chavez. Then suddenly, all the lights go off and they are all focused on Cesar Chavez. We know all of these towns of Delano, Madera, Fresno, Modesto, Stockton and Sacramento, because along this very same road, in this very same valley, the Mexican race has sacrificed itself for the last hundred years. Our sweat and our blood have fallen on this land to make other men rich.
10 Lights shift to the protesters. UFWU AND AWA: Viva la revolucion!
11 Lights are back on Cesar We're going to stand up and fight for our human rights. Long hours and little pay in a dirty and harsh environment, without any water or bathrooms. We will unite and fight against the grape companies, and realize the rights that we deserve!
12 UFWU AND AWA: HUELGA HUELGA HUELGA! We want fair conditions! We want fair wages! We want fair rights! WE SHALL BE HEARD! What we do know, absolutely, is that human lives are worth more than grapes and that innocent looking grapes on the table may disguise poisonous residues hidden deep inside where washing cannot reach!
13 Red light is flashed on the protesters. UFWU AND AWA: (chanting) Fair rights for all of us! Fair rights for all of us! Cesar Chavez/ Dolores/Jose and his family/ UFWU/ Agriculutral Workers Association/ Delano Grape manager
14 FOREMAN: (angry)hey! What is all this noise? You farm workers come here and make my company look bad, telling people not to buy grapes! How about you get back to work and deal with it, you wetbacks! We work very hard to get paid almost nothing at all. We try the hardest to get through each and everyday with the poor conditions we have to work in for hours on end! We, as farm workers and humans, are coming together to protest against these conditions and wages that you give us! We will not work one minute or purchase one grape so long as these conditions persist! We want $1.40 per hour and a $.15 incentice rate per basket. FOREMAN: A $.20 pay increase! And a $.15 pay hike per basket! You are insane! UFWU AND AWA: We are tired of these injustices! Si se puede! Si se puede! Jose is in the crowd with the UFWU and AWF. He is thinking about the conversation taking place between Cesar Chavez and the Delano Grape Manager and making his own thoughts about it. You hear these people, sir. They, like me, want fair and equal rights for every one of us! So we have joined together to protest against your grape company! FOREMAN: So you want to boycott my grapes? You want to destroy my buisness. You have nothing without me. All of you low lifes will see what coming to you. You watch. What do you think is going to happen? WORKER 2: I heard en salinas that during a strike groweres used spray machines to shoot incentices and fertilizer at the picketers. And if that wasn't enough they used tractors to cover the sound of he protest. How can this happen? Shouldn't we call the police? WORKER 2: The police have been called, they were called long ago, they are on the side of the growers.
15 Lights out. Scene 4:Protest Gone Wrong Lights (red and blue) flashing all over the stage. Audio in the background: sirens All actors running all over the stage. All actors: Si se puede! (faded)si se puede! Drop book(sound effect) Pauline voices: (Screaming) Jose! Jose! Oh my gosh! SCENE 5:Back to dinner table Maria talking to kids about what happened during the day. How was your day kids? LALO PABLO: My day was good. I showed Juanita how to tie her shoes. Oh, really? I have been trying to show her but Juanita just didn't understand. That's great. JUANITA: Want to see? Sure, Let's s-- There's a knock at the door. She gets up and goes towards the door. Maria opens the door. Worker 1 is standing at the door. WORKER 2: Maria, is your husband, Jose Carlos?
16 Yes, (worried) is something wrong? WORKER 2: Your husband is a very brave man. We both, were at the Delano Grape protest. It was the police. Things got out of control. Everyone was running and screaming. Jose Carlos stood bravely, senora. The police wanted to arrest him. They wanted to take him. Oh... oh no. WORKER 2: Don't worry. He is at the hospital right now. A couple bruises and scars. He will be fine... The police stepped in and started to beat Jose for no reason. I got away but he didn't. He tried to defend himself which made things worse. Then a group of officers beat him. Starts to cry) Oh my Jose. Lalo Pablo gets up from his chair. Lights are all off. All actors come on to stage. Lights come back on just on Lalo Pablo. JUANITA: (scared and worried) I want my daddy! Lalo gets up from the table and walks to the front of the stage and faces the audience. LALO: The following is a speech said by Cesar Chavez in 1984. Delivered to common wealth club of California. He talks about the life of a worker on the field. Twenty-one years ago last September, on a lonely stretch of railroad track paralleling U.S. Highway 101 near Salinas, 32 Bracero farm workers lost their lives in a tragic accident. Maria walks onto the front of the stage and starts off her lines. The braceros had been imported from Mexico to work on California farms. THEY died when their bus, which was
17 converted from a flatbed truck, drove in front of a freight train. Conversion of the bus had not been approved by any government agency. The driver had tunnel vision. Worker 2 enters and walks onto the front of the stage. WORKER 2: Most of the bodies lay unidentified for days. No one, including the grower who employed the workers, even knew their names. Juanita goes onto the front of the stage. JUANITA: Today, thousands of farm workers live under savage conditions-beneath trees and amid garbage and human excrement near tomatoes field which use the most modern farm technology. Cesar Chavez enters. DOLORES HUERTA: Vicious rats gnaw on them as they sleep. They walk miles to buy food at inflated prices. And they carry in water from irrigation pumps. Child labor is still common in many farm areas. Foreman enters FOREMAN: As much as 30 percent of Northern California s garlic harvesters are under-aged children. Kids as young as six years old have voted in state-conducted union elections since they qualified as workers. JOEY: Some 800,00 under-aged children work with their families harvesting crops across America. Babies born to migrant workers suffer 25 percent higher infant mortality than the rest of the population. Jose enters Malnutrition among migrant worker children is 10 times higher than the national rate. Farm workers average life expectancy is still 49 years-compared to 73 years for the average American. Chavez enters All my life, I have been driven by one dream. One goal, one
18 vision: to overthrow a farm labor system in this nation which treats farm workers as if they were not important human beings. Lights fade. Play end.