Kill your heroes. Uplift the movement.

Today, the New York Times published an investigation into famous Labor movement leader Cesar Chavez, alleging that he abused women and girls for years while he was leader of the United Farm Workers. I will caution you that it is truly a distressing read. The investigation is extremely thorough and distressingly detailed; the Times independently corroborated many of the claims that these women, longtime union volunteers and leaders, shared with them. Two of those encounters (one very violent) were recounted by Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers. Really horrendous, fucked up shit.

The reporting here is clear: these women, some of whom were abused by Chavez when they were as young as 12 years old, stayed silent for decades because they were worried what these revelations would do to the movement, worried that no one would believe them, and were afraid of the potential repercussions of going public with this information. That's not a progressive, intersectional culture that I want to inherit.

It shouldn’t have taken 60 years for these women to be heard and acknowledged. They shouldn’t have spent their entire lives carrying such a terrible burden, and certainly not past the point where they could work toward real justice.

I would caution against those who would read these allegations and think that this culture of violence and predation is a relic of the past; it is not. Just this last week in my silo on Bluesky, I have read painful conversations from women who were groomed, abused, molested, raped by teachers, political organizers, future political candidates, mentors, family members, friends. I am in this group, having been raped several times by people I thought I could trust, two of such instances resulting in pregnancies. My most recent assault was only a few years ago. This shit happens with startling regularity.

The Left Needs to Reckon with its Culture of Abuse

Within the context of our political organizing, the issue is one that many women have noted for years: the progressive movement has a serious, decades-long abuse problem. I have witnessed entire activist organizations implode because leaders are discovered to be rapists, wife beaters, manipulators. It seems like every month, three months, six months, another leader who rises to the top on the strength of his rhetoric and organizing ability is exposed as a Class-A asshole who acted with impunity, without remorse. Some are brought low by the allegations and bow out of the movement, others wait for the heat to die down and reemerge elsewhere. Consequences, if there are any at all, are usually fairly thin.

I want to take more time on another post digging into why I think men in positions of power act with such vicious callousness, among other things, but suffice it to say that many men who end up leaders of our movement are not the type of people who should be anywhere near that spot.

A movement that doesn’t look this very real problem square in the face and deal with it frankly is one that has lost the plot entirely.

What disturbs me most is that I'm not surprised by this anymore. In this case, it is well known by this point that Chavez was a paranoid megalomaniac during much of his tenure at the UFW; when I heard rumblings of more serious allegations coming to light, I figured it would all end up here. That's a fucking problem.

I can't think of a single woman in my life who hasn't been taken advantage of, assaulted, manipulated, raped, abused, and on and on and on, by the people they trust and care about. This movement is rife with these stories and whisper networks full of people who are in the same spot that these women were.

A movement that doesn’t look this very real problem square in the face and deal with it frankly is one that has lost the plot entirely. If we want to thrive, if we want to succeed as a progressive movement, then we need to internalize our intersectional feminist ideals and deal with this shit honestly. We can’t crow on about the Epstein files and rank abuse happening in the TradWife, MAGA, whatever-flavor-of-conservative movements if we, ourselves refuse to acknowledge the abuse happening amongst our own ranks and do something about it.

What is to be done?

Cesar Chavez is dead. The question now becomes: absent a leader to hold accountable, how can the movement grapple with these painful revelations, make space for healing for the victims, and move forward together? As the victims themselves said, “The movement—that’s the hero.”

I have written about and reported on the United Farm Workers for several years. I have worked alongside organizers at May Day celebrations and spent time getting to know more than a few of them on a personal basis for my documentary project exploring the community safety net that hangs underneath immigrant workers all over California. I have seen the work that the UFW does in the fields of California and elsewhere. It’s incredible stuff. It’s a painful thing to know that a labor leader who is so widely celebrated could be capable of such horrendous acts.

The UFW’s statement in response to the reporting sheds a little light into that sense of betrayal, and they have stated that they are committed to providing space for victims to share their stories and seek support. I want to quote their statement in full:

The UFW has learned of deeply troubling allegations that one of the union’s co-founders, Cesar Chavez, behaved in ways that are incompatible with our organization’s values. Some of the reports are family issues, and not our story to tell or our place to comment on. Far more troubling are allegations involving abuse of young women or minors. Allegations that very young women or girls may have been victimized are crushing. We have not received any direct reports, and we do not have any firsthand knowledge of these allegations.  However, the allegations are serious enough that we feel compelled to take urgent steps to learn more and provide space for people who may have been victimized to find support and to share their stories if that is what they choose.

The United Farm Workers will not be taking part in any Cesar Chavez Day activities.

Instead, we call on our allies and supporters to take part in immigration justice events and acts of service to support farmworkers or empower vulnerable people in their own communities.

Over the coming weeks, in partnership with experts in these kinds of processes, we are working to establish an external, confidential, independent channel for those who may have experienced harm caused by Cesar Chavez during the early days of the UFW’s history. This channel is for those who wish to share their experiences of harm, to identify their current impacts and needs, and, if desired, to participate in a collective process to develop mechanisms for repair and accountability.

We are grateful to the support of experts who can help us seek the truth that is the first step toward healing. 

These allegations have been profoundly shocking. We need some time to get this right, including to ensure robust, trauma-informed services are available to those who may need it.

We understand this will be tremendously painful for many and we encourage our community to seek mental health support if they experience distress.

Today’s UFW is a modern and progressive labor union and we will seek to learn from our history.

Farm workers are winning new union contracts, and the United Farm Workers is fighting to protect immigrant communities from the wage cuts, violence and attacks farm workers face today. The work to support the farm workers who feed our nation is more important than ever, and this work will continue.

As one of the women said in The New York Times today, “Cesar Chavez is just a man.”

Kill your heroes. Uplift the movement.

Let’s figure this shit out, for Pete’s sake.