Cesar Chavez NYC Movie Premiere: Kerry and Bobby Kennedy Jr. Continue Their Mission to Push for Fair Labor Conditions
"No man will stand taller than you when you say, 'I marched with Cesar Chavez.'" - Robert F. Kennedy
Those thoughts were echoed by two of Robert F. Kennedy's eleven children, Kerry Kennedy, president of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, and human rights activist and attorney Robert "Bobby" F. Kennedy Jr., who showed their support for the late Cesar Chavez and the continuing fight for farm workers' rights by hosting the New York City premiere of the film Cesar Chavez on Monday, March 17 at the AMC Empire 25.
Check out our slideshow of the Cesar Chavez NYC Premiere with Paul Chavez, Rosario Dawson, Diego Luna, America Ferrera, Paul Chavez, Carlos Menchaca and more!
The film, which won the Audience Award at last week's SXSW, tells the story of the iconic labor leader's fight to unionize farm workers, the inception of the United Farm Workers of America and highlights their fight to have better pay and conditions for the laborers who pick grapes in the fields of California.
Michael Peña plays Cesar Chavez, America Ferrera plays his wife, Helen Chavez, Rosario Dawson plays Dolores Huerta, a labor leader and civil rights activist who co-founded the National Farmworkers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers, and John Malkovich plays a farm owner in the film directed by Diego Luna.
While the film's premiere fell on St. Patrick's Day, the Kennedys, known for their Irish Catholic roots, were thrilled to lend their support for the film and echo Chavez's movement.
"Cesar and my father were soul mates," said Kerry Kennedy, who addressed the audience before the film's screening. She reminisced about her father's relationship with Chavez and also pointed out that there are still similar injustices occurring today in the state of New York, which she says is "37 years behind" California in terms of farm workers' rights.
Unlike the state of California that had a trailblazer like Chavez, Kerry Kennedy pointed out that on the east coast, "We didn't have a Cesar Chavez."
Last year, Kerry Kennedy teamed up with her ex-husband, New York Gov. Anthony Cuomo, to rally for the rights of migrant farm workers in the state of New York, an issue that especially affects farm owners on Long Island where a lot of migrant workers return each season to pick fruits and vegetables in the fields.
She's also teamed up with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver urging the passing of the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act, Assembly Bill 1792-A, (versions of the bill have been passed for roughly a decade) which includes basic rights such as the right to one day of rest each week; the right to be paid time-and-a-half for work performed beyond the traditional eight-hour day; the right to unemployment, workers' compensation and disability insurance -- "rights that most of us take for granted."
"It is unacceptable that this is going on," Kennedy said in an earlier interview. "The reason that they don't have these rights is because they are left over Jim Crow laws." Other states, notably California, have enacted laws to require far more rights, she said, and New York is overdue.
"Cesar Chavez was a champion for worker's rights and a friend to my father Robert F. Kennedy. He broke bread with him during Chavez's last day of fast in 1968. He is today an American hero."
On March 10, 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy went to Delano, Calif. to help Chavez break his nearly month-long "spiritual and penitential fast for nonviolence." Before he met with Chavez, he briefly spoke to the press.
"I think that he (Chavez) is needed, that kind of influence that is commitment to non-violence and committed to trying to perform some good for his people is desperately needed -- for his people and for the country as a whole," Robert F. Kennedy said.
"I think Cesar Chavez has been a good example. I think people are frustrated and I think they're terribly disturbed by the fact that they haven't had more success and that the federal government in Washington has not been helpful to them and that the state has not been helpful to them, and this is not only true here, but elsewhere in the country, so that there is this frustration and there is apt to be this explosion.
"I think that Cesar Chavez is very influential, but I think also what in the last analysis is the answer is that we pass the laws that will remedy the injustices. That's what we should do, that's what those of us in Washington should do. We shouldn't just deplore the violence and deplore the lawlessness. We should pass the laws that remedy what people riot about. We can't have violence in the country, but we should also not have these injustices continue."
In addition to his support for the nearly four-year grape strike, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was so passionate about the cause that he even joined the picket lines.
Like her father, Kerry Kennedy was also involved with Cesar Chavez's 36-day Fast for Life, which ended on August 21,1988.
According to the United Farm Workers, the Reverend Jesse Jackson took up where Cesar left off, fasting on water for three days before passing on the fast to celebrities and leaders. The fast was passed to Martin Sheen, actor; the Reverend J. Lowery, President SCLC; Edward Olmos, actor; Emilio Estevez, actor; Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert Kennedy, Peter Chacon, legislator, Julie Carmen, actress; Danny Glover, actor; Carly Simon, singer; and Whoopi Goldberg, actress.
During Robert F. Kennedy's first trip to Delano, Calif. (a scene that is also featured in the film), he attended a public hearing on the standoff between striking grape picketers and law enforcement -- the conversation and the ignorance got the senator heated.
While questioning a sheriff who admitted to arresting the strikers who "looked like they were ready to violate the law," Kennedy fired back, saying, "May I suggest that during the luncheon period of time that the sheriff and the district attorney read the Constitution of the United States?"
Check out the powerful exchange.
Robert F. Kennedy was shot on June 5, 1968 at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, Calif. shortly after claiming victory in that state's crucial Democratic primary. He died in the early hours of June 6, 1968 at the age of 42 years old. Although his life was cut short, Robert Kennedy's vision and ideals live on today through the work of his family, friends and the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Check out the Latin Post's Cesar Chavez Coverage:
Cesar Chavez NYC Movie Premiere Evokes Pride from Son Paul Chavez, Who Carries on Legacy
Diego Luna on Directing 'Cesar Chavez' That's Impacting Washington: "It's Been Like a Dream"
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