The symposium to Mark National heritage month. Its about half an hour. Good afternoon, and welcome back. This is our next panel in the afternoon session of this symposium organizing across the boundaries, strategies and coalitions and the struggle for the civil rights and social justice. Before we get started, i just wanted to explain a little bit about the genesis of this panel or whole symposium and how it came about. Like a lot of great ideas that come about the library, came across this book just doing a search in the catalog, and this is many months ago. We were kind of thinking about what do we want to do for this Public Program series, and theres so many books that come out on the Civil Rights Movement every year. We thought, well, lets focus on some that are kind of different and interesting that kind of change how we think about the movement, kind of upend our understanding of it, and so when we came across this one by lorne ariza we got excited, not just because it had such great cover art. We loved she was looking at these two different groups in an area that we dont often think about the Civil Rights Movement, california, and how these two groups came together in their struggles. So the doctor will be our first speaker. She earned her phd from the university of california at berkeley, and shes now an associate professor of history at Denisson University in granville, ohio. Shes taught there since 2007. This is her first book, to march for others, the black freedom struggle and the United Farm Workers and it was published just last year by the university of pennsylvania press. And our next speaker after her will be bill x. Jennings who grew up in san diego, and he was just telling us this story earlier today which i thought was great which was his pe coach in middle school was tommy smith, and he had this wonderful inspiring moment when he saw him on tv at the 196 olympics after he had won the gold medal raising his fist up in the air, and that kind of inspired him to become an activist. Also in 1968, he moved to oakland, and he joined the plaque Panther Party, and he helped out with a lot of programs for many years with the panthers, with Free Breakfast Programs and also uniting with mexicanamerican farm workers and canary workers and doing similar programs with them, too. And hes currently now the archivist and historian of the black Panther Program and started a website its about time, that includes tons of images, manuscript items from the party that you can peruse online at home. After both of them speak well do a q a up on the stage and the moderator for that will be Catalina Gomez who is a Program Coordinator in the Hispanic Division here who grew up in bogota, colombia, and she earned her b. A. From uc san diego and masters grow grow from the university of barcelona in spain. Join me in welcoming our panelists starting with lauren ariza, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for that kind introduction. I actually wondered how i came to be invited. I had no idea, so thank you all for coming. I also want to thank forward, okay . So i also want to thank the like riff congress for organize todays symposium on coalitions and the struggle for civil rights and justice part of their year long series on whats been termed the long self rights movement. Todays symposium rectifies one of my major critiques of the study of social movements which is that each movement is usually studied in isolation, as if each move president was an island with no connection to other movements or as maria said earlier as a beach was a silo unto itself. Examining coalitions between movements provides us with a more nuanced, more complex and ultimately i argue more accurate depiction of social movements and the people and organizations that fought for social justice. Quite simply, activists of this period didnt think of themselves as being part of individual move president. They didnt describe themselves as being part of the Civil Rights Movement or the Chicano Movement or the red power movement. Instead they envisioned themself and the struggles were part of the movement. The umbrella term for the various struggles for equality and social justice that unfolded in the 1960s and 1970s. So accordingly these movements were marked by continuous interaction and Dynamic Exchange between activists. Sometimes the strategies, philosophies and accomplishments of up movement merely influenced others, but another instances movements physically intersected. Participants overland and resources were shared and efforts were merged to more effectively combat a shared enemy, but how do coalitions happen . How do we even get to this point . How do activists and organizations divided by race, ethnicity, geography, religion or language come together to fight for social justice when they each have their own struggles, they each have their own concerns . And what determines whether these coalitions will be successful . Where do we get to the point people arent just coming together but are actually accomplishing something so in my book to march for others, the black freedom struggle and the United Farm Workers i attempt to answer these questions by use the United Farm Workers as a lens to explore attitudes and multicore racial building within the black struggle. Cesar chavez founded the dwf in 1962, then called the National FarmWorkers Association in order to organizing a Cultural Workers in californias Central Valley, many of whom were mexicanamerican. Chavez and the other members of the ufw leadership believed that unionization would offer the best protection for workers who suffered from backbreaking labor, exposure to exteam temperatures and dangerous pesticides and low pay. Farm workers were also vulnerable to such exploitive practices as child labor and sexual harassment. So in their struggles against the powerful forces behind california agribusiness, these were not just these were not family farms that these farm workers were engaged. In these were massive corporations that operated huge farms that were then backed by california politicians and Law Enforcement, and so in their struggles against this powerful system, the ufw engaged in nonviolent direct tactic actions such as picket lines, marches and boycotts. All of which were rooted in labor activism but were also inspired by the civil rights move president. These protests attracted media attention, and eventually garner the farm workers support from a wide array of swensies including members of other organizations, students, activists from the left, housewives, politician and celebrities. So among the ufw supporters were five major organizations of the black freedom struggle of the 1960s and 1970s. My book explores these relationships. I look at the student on violent coordinating committee, the naacp, the urban league, southern christian Leadership Conference an black Panther Party. What i wanted to know is why such a diverse array of civil rights and black power organizations that really capture the scope of civil rights okaying during the era, from the very radical to the very conservative, i want to know why such an array of organizations chose to work with a union of Mexican American farm workers in rural california. I also want to analyze the trajectories of these alliances, the level and type of support that each of these organizations gave the ufw varied, and so my book is a study of the factors that determine the viability of Multiracial Coalition building. Now in social movements, forming a coalition can make practical strategic sense. When youre fighting overall forces such as racism, poverty, exploit politation, disenfranzment, Police Brutality, one needs all the help you can get. But even when working with an ally makes sense, coalitionbuilding is a complicated undertaking, and it involves several factors. The inner play of these factors is really what determines whether an alliance is even possible. And so the coalitions that were formed between the black freedom struggle and the ufw were shaped by key facets of personal and group identity, race, class, region, gender, and by then aspects of each organizations organizational oitd, ideology, tactic, the Historical Context in which it operated, its leadership, all of these things were also instrumental in the development and outcome of coalitions. So for the purposes of todays symposium, im going to focus on the relationship between the ufw and black Panther Party which for some probably the most surprising aspect of my of my book. So huey newton and bobby seal founded the plaque Panther Party in oakland, california in 1986 in response to overwhelming Police Brutality in that city. On the surface, as i said, this alliance surprises a lot of people because on the surface the ufw and the black Panther Party seem to be unlikely allies. Panthers were africanamerican, militant, urban, socialist and therefore different in nearly every way from the largely Mexican American, none violent, rural and catholic farm workers, but despite their differences, the ufw and the black Panther Party formed a highly successful coalition beginning in 1978 during the california boy crot of grapes. Previously in the unions earlier strikes they would target one grower at a time, and they would boycott that growers contracts and when they got a Union Contract they would move on to the next buher. In 1967 they came up against one grower who was very stubborn and to undermine the boycott of its progress they convinced other Grape Growers in california to give other labels. So you might think you were buying grapes from a different grower but you were actually buying the grimara grapes and they put someone elses label on box. When it was discovered this was happening they went to chavez and said this is not going to work. We cannot do this boycott unless we boycott all california grapes. And i was like were going. It was easier and take the boycott nationwide. People are boycotting california groups so its this moment that black Panther Party along with self other people in the country take notice of what the farm workers are doing and the panthers come to the union state immediately participate in rallies in support. The black panther newspaper regularly pushed articles explaining the great boycott and calling for its readers to join in the various members of the vfw told me was very effective because not only did they need bodies on the picket line panthers on picket line made it less like hi that they would be harassed by the police. So and the panthers and the ufw the panthers werent just helping the ufw. They were helping each other. They joined forces and this happens during the great boycott when both groups align against Safeway Grocery stores. Safeway Grocery Stores, i believe they still are, but certainly they were at the time the largest Grocery Store change on west, and they refused to remove california grapes from the shelves. They also refused to donate to the black panther parties free breakfast for children program. The party ran this program to help underprivileged children of all races succeed in school by serving them a hot nutritious breakfast every morning and relied on locke rall businesses to make this happen and the panthers and the farm washingers join forces. Not only did they picket together. The panthers brought their particular know how. Many of the panthers, including the panther leadership were veterans. A motor pool was formed for the black Panther Party to use, and he implemented that during the safeway boycott, so what happened was that in the evening when people get off work and go growsry shopping on their way home, panthers would recruit local children from the find to come man the picket line out in front of safeway, and then motor pool would be there, and the panthers would say to shoppers trying to come into the safeway store, please dont shop here. Safeway is telling greats, dore participate. And so well drive you in this car right here to luckys. Well right you while you shop and you dont have to carry those bags and chauffeur to the Grocery Store and by doing this the panthers are able to assist the farm workers in the star and the store meanwhile was shout dunn because of lack of customers because this motor pool was so successful. So following the uaw winning the First Agricultural contract for farmers in the united states. The panthers and farmers continue to Work Together and their relationship grows and evolves. The panthers supported the ufws production of iceberg lettuce. The ufw spoke out in defense of the black Panther Party when it was subjected to violent repression by Law Enforcement and then an bill will be talking about this as well. Their political interests coalesce, when california growers sponsor proposition 22 in 19727 where this proposition, had it pass, would have outlawed boycotts against Agricultural Products so it would have crippled bfws organizing off the. This coincide when bobby seal was running for mayor of oakland. Chavez and bfw endorse bobby seals mayoral campaign. Chavez goes door to door in oakland xanks on seals behalf so this their we like evolves and grows and their interest, as i said, continued to dovetail. What brought these organizations together in the first place and what made them look at each other against these gulfs of culture, of play, of identity, and reach out to each other . What makes this happen . So the first is a sense of crossracial solidarity. There was a recommend in addition among both the panthers and the farm workers that both africanamericans and mexicanamericans suffered from similar patterns of racial discrimination, and this recognition of the shared the share repression is really the foundation for this for this alliance, and this is something thats misunderstood about the black Panther Party. While the black Panther Party certainly advocated for selfdetermination and black power, it also called for selfdetermination, political power, racial pride, Economic Justice on behalf of all oppressed groups. Not just africanamericans, and it advocated multiracial solidarity, and this is evidence in their slogan of all power to the people, right, so whereas other black power groups were wanting black acpower, black panthers did, that they also chanted all power to the people emphasizing this inclusiveness, this shared sense of power. This is later articulated by huey newton when he develops this philosophy of revolutionary incommunalism, this idea that oppressed people worldwide are united, that the National Borders are inconsequential in the face of capitalism, but as i said, even before he articulates, that because he doesnt articulate that until 71, theres that foundation, that shared recognition of the plight of peoples of color is really foundational to the black Panther Party ethos so they formed alliances with several organizations regardless of race, including the brown berets as carlos mentioned but also the young lords, the red guard, a radical Chinese Organization based in San Franciscos chinatown, the young patriots, a group of young white afternoppan migrants in chicago. So in my book this is also very similar to whats happening with snic. Snic also reached out to the farm workers on this recognition that mexicanamerican farm workers in california and africanamerican sharecroppers in the south were experiencing the same types of exploitation. And so theres this recognition of this crossracial solidarity. So this is also by place. The unique, one of the reasons the party imbrace this is multiracial solidarity is because of where it is. The unique of the American West often prompted, not just in the 1960s but earlier, we see in the 1940s where the naacp is working with latino and Asian American organizations. And part of this is the diversity of california but then also part is because of the way segregation happens in the west. Carlos alluded to this earlier where yes there was residential segregation but African Americans and latinos were segregated to the same neighborhoods, especially in los angeles but also in oakland as well. So panthers in oakland, or in los angeles as well, had grown up with latinos, with american indians, with Asian Americans. And so they shared the same experiences of residential segregation, inadequate education, Police Brutality. And so this shapes the partys development. And again, this is also characteristic of civil rights organizations in the west. Civil rights organizations in the we