“Song for Cesar” Remembers Legendary Labor Reform Leader

By Lillla Batson

lbatson@mail.ccsf.edu

“Song For Cesar” is a documentary that revisits the farmworker movement that Cesar Chavez helped ignite. It examines how the attention and support of musicians and artists such as Maya Angelou, Joan Baez, Daniel Valdez and Carlos Santana helped to make this movement into real change for farm workers across America. 

The film gives a feeling of inspiration and awe as it documents the bravery of Cesar Chavez, who stood up against unfair working standards for farm workers and became a leader for oppressed people everywhere. It highlights the inhumane labor conditions that farm workers lived with, including children working, being sprayed with pesticides, and being bent over in the sun for more than 10 hours a day, in addition to how they were unfairly paid. 

The film gives us a history of Cesar Chavez, from a young pachuco who loved jazz and swing music to the leader of a movement that we still pay tribute to today. It shows us the power of combining a movement against oppression with music instead of violence —powerful and with lasting impact.