Publisher Description

The long pilgrimage of LeRoy Chatfield weaves its way through multiple collective projects designed to better the condition of the marginalized and forgotten. From the cloisters of the Christian Brothers and the halls of secondary education to the fields of Central California and the streets of Sacramento, Chatfield's story reveals a fierce commitment to those who were denied the promises of the American dream. In this collection of what the author calls Easy Essays, Chatfield recounts his childhood, explains the social issues that have played a significant role in his life and work, and uncovers the lack of justice he saw all too frequently. His journey, alongside Cesar and Helen Chavez, Marshall Ganz, Bonnie Chatfield, Philip Vera Cruz, and countless others, displays an unwavering focus on organizing communities and expanding their agency. Follow and explore a life dedicated to equality of opportunity for all. May it inspire and guide you in your quest for a fairer and more just society.

Author Biography

LeRoy Chatfield is a former organizer who worked with Cesar Chavez to get union recognition for California farmworkers, created a Saturday school educational enrichment program for farmworker children in Bakersfield, managed the Northern California general election campaign for Jerry Brown, and built the largest volunteer charitable organization in Sacramento.

Jorge Mariscal is a professor emeritus of Spanish and Chicano/a literature at the University of California, San Diego. He is the author of Brown-Eyed Children of the Sun: Lessons from the Chicano Movement, 1965-1975 (UNM Press).

Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction Jorge Mariscal Part One. With the Christian Brothers One. From Colusa Two. Boarding School, 1948 Three. LeRoy, Merry Christmas! Four. Observe, Judge, Act Five. Are You Democrat or Republican? Six. My Journal: Mexico City (Excerpts) Part Two. With the Farmworkers Seven. Bakersfield to Boston to Delano, 1963 Eight. Brother Gilbert's Appeal Letter, 1965 Nine. The Delano Grape Strike Ten. Farmworker Volunteers Eleven. Stop the Grapes Twelve. Pushing the Buttons Thirteen. Strike Violence vs. Nonviolence Fourteen. The Fast Fifteen. Kern County Courthouse Cathedral Sixteen. Bobby Seventeen. On Movement Leaders Eighteen. My Journal: Delano (Excerpts) Nineteen. Letter from Delano (with Growers' Response) Twenty. La Paz Twenty-One. Jerry Brown Says, "I'm not God!" Twenty-Two. Taking the Blame Twenty-Three. Legislation vs. Movement Twenty-Four. Eulogy for Cesar Twenty-Five. My Prophecy, 1993 Twenty-Six. Helen Chavez--A Tribute Twenty-Seven. The Organizer Part Three. With the Homeless Twenty-Eight. What Is the Answer? Twenty-Nine. Guests, Not Clients Thirty. Clean and Sober Thirty-One. Cherry-Picking Thirty-Two. A Public Fast Thirty-Three. There is No OK Place to Be Thirty-Four. A Bird in the Hand Thirty-Five. Farmworker Movement Documentation Project Thirty-Six. Management Maxims Afterword. Cesar Chavez, 1927-1993: Twenty-Five Years and Counting Suggested Readings Index

Review

"A detailed look at the interior motivations and structures of early activism and Chicano political movements, rather than an outside perspective."--Patrick Diepen, Panhandle-Plains Historical Review
"Showcases a life dedicated to equality of opportunity for all that will inspire and guide readers in their quest for a fairer and more just society."--Micah Andrew's Bookshelf, Midwest Book Review
"The great advantage of this book is that it provides Chatfield's firsthand account of so many of the key farmworker movement events. . . . LeRoy Chatfield's remarkable life deserved a written accounting."--Randy Shaw, American Catholic Studies
"True social change requires many energetic and reflective people, most of whom never appear in the news. Chatfield's account and others like it are an important contribution to understanding how change occurs."--William Droel, The Working Catholic

Review Quote

"True social change requires many energetic and reflective people, most of whom never appear in the news. Chatfield's account and others like it are an important contribution to understanding how change occurs."--William Droel, The Working Catholic

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