“The burdens of generations of poverty and powerlessness lie heavy in the fields of America,”said Cesar Chavez in April 1978, rallying farm workers and praising Martin Luther King’s use of non-violence “as a truly powerful weapon to achieve equality and liberation.” Chavez’ view of non-violence was practical. Like King he lived what he believed, and we can apply to him his own words in praise of King: “few men or women ever have the opportunity to know the true satisfaction that comes with giving one’s life totally in the nonviolent struggle for justice.
