I am inspired to tell my United Farm Workers (UFW) story because of the courage of Ana Murguia and Debra Rojas in sharing their stories. I have translated my story into the languages of the families with whom I work in the San Antonio / Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland. Please click on the language of your choice above to read my story.

I agree that it is appropriate to remove Cesar Chavez’s name from streets, schools and libraries, however, much deeper work is needed. Those of us who worked for the union 50 years ago need to examine ourselves and account for how we allowed this to happen.

Finally, we should also be aware of the underaged girls who are being commercially sexually exploited in towns and cities across California and the nation today. Human trafficking is the most serious human rights abuse of our time. I wish that this moment of clarity surrounding Chavez’s abuse of minors could extend to the girls on International Boulevard in Oakland or Capp Street in San Francisco, that their lives would be rendered visible and their dignity valued. I wish that we felt outrage for them as well, and that we would act to end the commercial sexual exploitation of minors.