Estrada 1

Albert Estrada

Professor Batty

English 101

31 May 2017

The Iconic Latino Mural

The mural I chose is about the man named Cesar Chavez. The mural holds so

much meaning and history. The mural shows everything from the workers working in the fields,

to the Latino community coming together while protesting for change and lastly to a portrait of

Cesar Chavez a Labor Worker activist holding the grapes he boycotted. Throughout his

journey Cesar Chavez accomplished many things. He made such an enormous impact that to this

day he has his own holiday. I believe the purpose of the mural is to show the Latino community

that through unity, they can accomplish remarkable things.

In the mid 1950's Cesar Chavez was introduces to labor organizing and became a part of

the Community Service Organization. He would then dedicate his life's work to change

everything that was wrong with the conditions of field workers. Being raised by immigrant

parents, he grew up in California going up and down the state because his parents would move

from field to field. Once, he got into labor organizing, he would quickly climb up to

leadership positions and eventually form his own association. His association was called the

national farm workers association and he founded it in 1962. He would then join forces with
 Estrada 2

other associations and became the United Farm Workers. This all slowly lead up to him

becoming the leader he was.

In the mural, you can see Chavez holding green grapes. Its the same grapes he boycotted

and eventually brought change to farm workers. In the website History.com I found an article of

Cesar Chavez that would give facts on his accomplishments. For example, the article states "The

boycott in particular was responsible for pressuring the growers to recognize the United Farm

Workers."(History) The green grapes hold so much meaning because it started a revolution. I

think that is why it is the focal point of the mural. The grapes being boycotted led to the growers

signing contracts for higher wages and better working conditions for farm workers. It was not

only the boycotts that he leads. He would also do self-sacrifices like hunger strikes. Once he

fasted for 25 days, showing that he too will sacrifice to bring change. This shows how

determined he was to bring change and that he also had the will to lead by example.

Another symbol that is obvious in the mural is the eagle. It is in the sky shining over all

the Latinos. The best way for me to describe this eagle is by referencing the Mexican beer

Tecate. I believe this eagle hold a lot of meaning. It can be saying to be proud of your race as a

Latino. To hold up our heads as high as the eagle is in the mural. It can also just be representing

the Latino community. To show that Latinos were the ones being oppressed against.

I will try to explain the mural. Try to get an image in your head. The mural is full of

colors and symbols in. You can see Latinos working on the field and it fades away in the

distance. To the right side you can see an extensive line of people protesting and holding up

signs. The biggest sign says HUELGA meaning protest. So, you can see they are protesting. To
 Estrada 3

the left its a portrait of Cesar Chaves holding the grapes. When you put it together it shows the

historical context of Cesar Chavez.

One may think but what is the mural there for? I believe it is there for the Latino

community. It represents us and shows us what we can do if we unite. It is very relevant in our

current time because immigrants are really being oppressed against and deported. I feel like we

can use the mural as an idol. Basically, saying if we want to stand up for ourselves we can

together. Also, to not be afraid to be a leader.

Overall this mural is a wonderful way to pass down history and also express all the

emotions of the farm workers. Even though we already have the Cesar Chavez holiday, it is also

good to have murals as a reminder to what a community went through. To conclude,

Cesar Chavez was a great man that started from seeing his parents working in farms, to leading

strikes against the farms and finally achieving his goals. So now we are left with

a beautiful mural.
 Estrada 4

Works Cited

History.com Staff. "Cesar Chavez." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 20

Feb.

2017. <http://www.history.com/topics/cesar-chavez#>.

https://rebirthofthecool.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/chavez_mural.jpg
Estrada 5
 Estrada 6

Appendix