Beyond the Fields

UFW founder Cesar Chavez is the most prominent Latino in American history. But despite his fame, there is no book that examines Chavez's ongoing legacy. The lack of such a book has had two unfortunate consequences: Chavez's achievements have become disconnected from current labor and political struggles, and his legacy has become defined, and limited, by the UFW's declining fortunes. Chavez's role in recruiting an entire generation of young people into the field of social justice organizing, and giving them the training and experience that they later used to transform both California politics and the American labor movement, has been largely ignored. This book restores and reinterprets Chavez's contemporary legacy. It follows Chavez's legacy through the 20th and into the 21st century, including the Justice for Janitors campaign in Los Angeles that was led by two organizers trained by Chavez and the UFW, and the May 2005 protests for Immigrant rights.