Remembering the 1965 grape strike during its 50th anniversary year, historian of
religion Professor Luis Leon, University of Denver, examined the power of the
myths that surrounded Chavez.
Fifty years ago, in 1965, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta led the
predominantly Mexican National Farmworkers Association to join Larry
Itliong’s predominantly Filipino Agricultural Workers Organizing
Committee in a strike against California grape growers. Coming together as
the United Farm Workers, this strike gave Chavez a national profile and
inspired a number of other social movements in large part because of the
mythic image that got attached to Chavez.
Historian of religion Professor Luis Leon, University of Denver, examined the power of the myths that surrounded Chavez, how he used religious myth making and myth crossing for political purposes, and how his’s own work became entangled in a process of myth making. Leon is author of The Political Spirituality of Cesar Chavez: Crossing Religious Borders. Tuesday, November 3 at 6:30 pm in Griffin 7.
Co-sponsored by the Latina/o, Leadership, and American Studies Programs; the Religion and History Departments; and the Davis Center