Adios Amor
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
In ADIOS AMOR, the discovery of lost photographs sparks the search for a hero that history forgot— Maria Moreno, a migrant mother who sacrificed everything but her twelve kids in the passionate pursuit of justice for farmworkers. Years before Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta launched the United Farm Workers, Maria picked up the only weapon she had—her voice—and became an outspoken leader in an era when women were relegated to the background. The first farm worker woman in America to be hired as a union organizer, Maria’s story was silenced and her legacy buried—until now.
Professor Gabriela Arredondo, Chair Latin American & Latino Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
 "It’s a terrific film. I cried through several parts - so moving, and so captures the best of what is possible in historical work."
 
 Dr. Evelyn Encalada Grez, Simon Fraser University Labour Studies
 "Adios Amor is a beautiful and moving film that returns us to forgotten herstories we need to revive in order to continue strengthening farmworker movements in North America today. We are introduced to Maria Moreno a trailblazer out in the farm fields and movement for farmworkers' rights and are left with the inspiration of her legacy and tenacity. This film is a must for Chicano/Latinx studies, Women's Studies and for critical Labour Studies that centers the voices of the most vulnerable and defiant of workers."
 
 EMRO (Educational Media Reviews Online) | Gisèle Tanasse, University of California Berkeley
 "Adios Amor is recommended as an insightful and eye-opening biographical study of an incredibly engaging woman orator-organizer, fighting for farmworkers rights. It complements documentaries focused on other labor organizers well, and lends itself to critical study, at the intersection of labor studies, women’s studies and ethnic studies. Libraries and archives in particular will find value in the narrative of Coyle’s reflective research journey."
 
 Video Librarian
 RECOMMENDED "Laurie Coyle’s new documentary rescues an undeservedly unsung heroine of the farmworker labor movement, Maria Moreno, a Texas-born Mexican American woman who during the Great Depression was hired by the unions as the first female labor organizer in American history."
 
 Booklist
 "This is a moving tribute to a remarkable, mostly forgotten woman."
 
 Peter Bratt, Director of Dolores
 "Laurie Coyle sets out to discover what happened to Maria Moreno, another powerful Chicana organizer omitted from the history books, and what unfolds is an intimate character driven film that reveals the beauty and power of family, struggle and memory."
 
 Professor Marla Prochnow, College of the Sequoias
 “How did you make me miss someone that I just met?”
 
 KQED Arts | Sarah Hotchkiss, Senior Associate Editor
 “The fruit of Coyle’s labors is an hour-long documentary that, along with Peter Bratt’s recent DOLORES proves just how many strong, outspoken women shaped California history—and how many of their stories have yet to be brought to light.”
 
 Manuel Rosas, Bakersfield College
 “Just watched it AGAIN and got choked up AGAIN... I can relate on so many levels. I will have to watch the full screening alone in my car, away from the crowds, with plenty of Kleenex.”
 
 Eugene Rodriguez, Los Cenzontles
 “My mother picked produce alongside her family as a young child. It is a tough existence. But the spirit of Maria Moreno's children shone through regardless - thanks to the spirit in which their mother lived her life. It is important that these, and so many stories of working people, continue to be told. Congratulations.”
 
 María X. Martínez, Chicana Latina Foundation
 “Time to celebrate the birth of this amazing beautiful important piece of art and history. It has been echoing in my dreams and my thoughts since I saw it last night. Thank you for your courage and your artistry.”
 
 Linda Ronstadt, Singer
 “Watching your documentary again. It’s really so good.”
Citation
Main credits
								Coyle, Laurie (screenwriter)
Coyle, Laurie (film director)
Coyle, Laurie (film producer)
Greenberg, Jane (film producer)
Franco, Vincente (director of photography)
Olaskoaga, Ibon (editor of moving image work)
Tejada-Flores, Rick (editor of moving image work)
Ballis, George Elfie (photographer)
Lowe, Ernest (photographer)
							
Other credits
Photographs by Ernest Ballis, George Lowe; director of photography, Vicente Franco; editors, Ibon Olaskoaga, Rick Tejada-Flores; original music, Todd Boekelheide.
Distributor subjects
Women’s Studies; Latinx/Chicanx Studies; Labor History; Farmworker History; Biography; American Studies; Photography & Media Studies; Social Movements; U.S. History; Religion & Spirituality ; Latin American History; Latino and Hispanic Studies; Labor History; Labor Studies; Farming; Biography; American Studies; Photography; Communication and Media StudiesKeywords
WEBVTT
 
 00:00:07.417 --> 00:00:08.958
 - The National Endowment
 for the Humanities,
 
 00:00:08.959 --> 00:00:12.458
 bringing your the stories
 that define us.
 
 00:00:12.459 --> 00:00:15.999
 ♪♪
 
 00:00:26.999 --> 00:00:29.998
 - 1, 2, 3.
 1, 2, 3.
 
 00:00:29.999 --> 00:00:36.958
 ♪♪
 
 00:00:36.959 --> 00:00:38.666
 My name is Maria Moreno.
 
 00:00:38.667 --> 00:00:41.041
 I am a mother of 12 children.
 
 00:00:41.042 --> 00:00:45.791
 ♪♪
 
 00:00:45.792 --> 00:00:49.041
 I\'ve been a worker all my life.
 
 00:00:49.042 --> 00:00:53.500
 I know how to handle
 a man\'s job like a man,
 
 00:00:53.501 --> 00:00:56.625
 and I\'m not ashamed to say it.
 
 00:00:56.626 --> 00:01:01.998
 I\'m American citizen,
 and I\'m talking for justice.
 
 00:01:01.999 --> 00:01:09.875
 ♪♪
 
 00:01:09.876 --> 00:01:17.500
 ♪♪
 
 00:01:17.501 --> 00:01:24.374
 ♪♪
 
 00:01:24.375 --> 00:01:28.082
 - The photographs had been
 waiting in the dark for decades.
 
 00:01:28.083 --> 00:01:31.998
 I found them when I was working
 on a film about the farm workers
 
 00:01:31.999 --> 00:01:36.167
 and their charismatic leader,
 Cesar Chavez.
 
 00:01:37.999 --> 00:01:41.082
 There were hundreds of images
 of a migrant mother
 
 00:01:41.083 --> 00:01:44.999
 full of passion
 and determination.
 
 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:49.666
 She was making her way
 in a world of men.
 
 00:01:49.667 --> 00:01:54.583
 She was speaking her mind,
 and they were listening.
 
 00:01:54.584 --> 00:01:59.000
 A crusader in rubber boots
 and a big skirt.
 
 00:02:00.999 --> 00:02:04.291
 I didn\'t know her name
 let alone who she was,
 
 00:02:04.292 --> 00:02:07.374
 but she seemed to be telling
 a story that was different
 
 00:02:07.375 --> 00:02:10.583
 from the ones I\'d read
 in the history books,
 
 00:02:10.584 --> 00:02:11.998
 about forgotten struggles,
 
 00:02:11.999 --> 00:02:17.999
 and women working behind
 the scenes for social justice.
 
 00:02:19.792 --> 00:02:22.583
 Back in the depression,
 Dorothea Lange\'s photograph
 
 00:02:22.584 --> 00:02:28.041
 of a migrant mother had become
 America\'s symbol of suffering.
 
 00:02:28.042 --> 00:02:31.998
 But these photographs,
 taken a generation later,
 
 00:02:31.999 --> 00:02:33.998
 had a different spirit.
 
 00:02:33.999 --> 00:02:37.500
 They were bold, provocative.
 
 00:02:37.501 --> 00:02:40.999
 Their heroine was
 staking a claim.
 
 00:02:41.876 --> 00:02:44.998
 Why hadn\'t I ever heard of her?
 
 00:02:44.999 --> 00:02:46.998
 -Who is this woman?
 
 00:02:46.999 --> 00:02:49.998
 -Maria Moreno, organizer for
 
 00:02:49.999 --> 00:02:54.208
 the Agricultural Workers
 Organizing Committee.
 
 00:02:54.209 --> 00:02:58.999
 Late \'50s, early \'60s.
 
 00:02:59.999 --> 00:03:02.998
 I think the first time
 that I saw Maria
 
 00:03:02.999 --> 00:03:07.875
 was on the shape up
 in West Fresno.
 
 00:03:07.876 --> 00:03:09.998
 She was an organizer for AWOC.
 
 00:03:09.999 --> 00:03:12.041
 I was a part time organizer.
 
 00:03:12.042 --> 00:03:15.998
 But I also was mainly
 a photographer.
 
 00:03:15.999 --> 00:03:22.041
 ♪♪
 
 00:03:22.042 --> 00:03:27.416
 ♪♪
 
 00:03:27.417 --> 00:03:34.999
 I decided to document her work
 because it was so unusual.
 
 00:03:35.999 --> 00:03:39.998
 She had this raft of kids,
 and she was taking them around
 
 00:03:39.999 --> 00:03:41.750
 to union meetings
 and so forth like that.
 
 00:03:41.751 --> 00:03:45.583
 I thought, \"Wow, this is
 a hell of a story.\"
 
 00:03:45.584 --> 00:03:48.458
 ♪♪
 
 00:03:48.459 --> 00:03:52.500
 I remember all those kids.
 
 00:03:52.501 --> 00:03:55.417
 I remember all those kids.
 
 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:58.998
 How many were there
 all together, finally?
 
 00:03:58.999 --> 00:04:02.208
 I don\'t know, were there 12,
 14, something like that.
 
 00:04:02.209 --> 00:04:02.999
 I\'m not sure.
 
 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:07.998
 Anyway, it was like,
 \"Okay, that\'s the way it is,
 
 00:04:07.999 --> 00:04:13.208
 and that\'s the way we live,
 and we\'ll just do this thing.\"
 
 00:04:13.209 --> 00:04:16.291
 And her husband usually
 did the driving
 
 00:04:16.292 --> 00:04:20.998
 and she did the sleeping while
 we were on the road, right?
 
 00:04:20.999 --> 00:04:26.249
 ♪♪
 
 00:04:26.250 --> 00:04:30.998
 ♪♪
 
 00:04:30.999 --> 00:04:36.291
 Bakersfield, Delano,
 out on the west side.
 
 00:04:36.292 --> 00:04:42.998
 ♪♪
 
 00:04:42.999 --> 00:04:46.166
 She could move a group
 of people.
 
 00:04:46.167 --> 00:04:51.875
 And she was very good
 with the farmworkers,
 
 00:04:51.876 --> 00:04:52.999
 but she was especially good
 
 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:55.998
 when we went on the road,
 like to UC Berkeley
 
 00:04:55.999 --> 00:05:00.791
 and talking to students
 and intellectuals.
 
 00:05:00.792 --> 00:05:04.998
 She\'d have [chuckles] these
 people in tears in five,
 
 00:05:04.999 --> 00:05:08.998
 six minutes, right,
 telling her story.
 
 00:05:08.999 --> 00:05:12.998
 And then one day
 she disappeared.
 
 00:05:12.999 --> 00:05:14.999
 Pah!
 
 00:05:15.501 --> 00:05:17.999
 And I don\'t know what happened.
 
 00:05:20.999 --> 00:05:22.998
 - When farm workers travel,
 they don\'t leave
 
 00:05:22.999 --> 00:05:25.998
 forwarding addresses,
 because they don\'t know
 
 00:05:25.999 --> 00:05:28.999
 where they\'ll stop
 or how long they\'ll stay.
 
 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:30.583
 So trying to find them can lead
 
 00:05:30.584 --> 00:05:35.626
 to an endless succession
 of crossroads and dead ends.
 
 00:05:36.584 --> 00:05:41.374
 The world of farm labor
 organizers is a small one,
 
 00:05:41.375 --> 00:05:44.416
 one that Gilbert Padilla
 knows well.
 
 00:05:44.417 --> 00:05:51.416
 ♪♪
 
 00:05:51.417 --> 00:05:55.041
 -Oooh, this is an old one!
 
 00:05:55.042 --> 00:05:58.998
 That\'s Maria.
 
 00:05:58.999 --> 00:06:01.292
 I have to put my glasses on.
 
 00:06:02.999 --> 00:06:07.208
 She used to wear that hat a lot.
 
 00:06:07.209 --> 00:06:10.998
 It\'s like a jungle hat.
 
 00:06:10.999 --> 00:06:12.166
 As we all know, you see somebody
 
 00:06:12.167 --> 00:06:15.416
 that\'s active
 you bring them in, right?
 
 00:06:15.417 --> 00:06:16.375
 Anybody that gets
 in the meetings
 
 00:06:16.376 --> 00:06:18.998
 and starts speaking
 and starts bringing up issues,
 
 00:06:18.999 --> 00:06:21.166
 you bring them in closer
 to the organization.
 
 00:06:21.167 --> 00:06:24.999
 That\'s why she got hired,
 and she was good.
 
 00:06:26.167 --> 00:06:28.249
 I mean, she was a good
 advocate for workers.
 
 00:06:28.250 --> 00:06:29.416
 She was out there in the fields,
 
 00:06:29.417 --> 00:06:31.833
 she was out there
 in the meetings.
 
 00:06:31.834 --> 00:06:37.999
 ♪♪
 
 00:06:40.167 --> 00:06:41.998
 - When I went to these
 public hearings
 
 00:06:41.999 --> 00:06:47.750
 as a spokesperson for AWOC,
 I was nervous.
 
 00:06:47.751 --> 00:06:51.833
 But Maria Moreno
 didn\'t seem to be bothered.
 
 00:06:51.834 --> 00:06:56.998
 ♪♪
 
 00:06:56.999 --> 00:07:01.750
 She, I think, had had no more
 than one or two years
 
 00:07:01.751 --> 00:07:03.750
 of formal education.
 
 00:07:03.751 --> 00:07:06.834
 But she was fearless.
 
 00:07:07.667 --> 00:07:13.999
 Here\'s what she said
 in a speech in Berkeley...
 
 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:17.666
 \"I am Maria Moreno,
 40 years old,
 
 00:07:17.667 --> 00:07:19.998
 mother of 12 children.
 
 00:07:19.999 --> 00:07:22.666
 Born in Karnes City, Texas.
 
 00:07:22.667 --> 00:07:27.041
 Since 1928, I start working
 in agricultural work.
 
 00:07:27.042 --> 00:07:29.666
 I\'ve been a worker all my life.
 
 00:07:29.667 --> 00:07:32.500
 I know how to handle
 a man\'s job like a man,
 
 00:07:32.501 --> 00:07:34.998
 and I\'m not ashamed to say it.
 
 00:07:34.999 --> 00:07:39.999
 I am American citizen,
 and I\'m talking for justice.\"
 
 00:07:40.999 --> 00:07:44.998
 I always feel like
 a Gothic novel up here,
 
 00:07:44.999 --> 00:07:48.750
 with a crazy lady in the attic.
 
 00:07:48.751 --> 00:07:52.626
 Except in this case,
 it\'s a crazy man.
 
 00:07:54.083 --> 00:07:57.998
 These are all
 reel-to-reel tapes,
 
 00:07:57.999 --> 00:08:00.750
 and I have reason to think
 that a couple of these
 
 00:08:00.751 --> 00:08:03.250
 have Maria Moreno on them.
 
 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:07.249
 Well, let\'s see here.
 
 00:08:07.250 --> 00:08:10.999
 They don\'t make these anymore.
 
 00:08:14.250 --> 00:08:18.583
 - The subject today is problems
 of the farm laborer
 
 00:08:18.584 --> 00:08:20.583
 in California.
 
 00:08:20.584 --> 00:08:22.998
 We\'re living today in
 the richest and most productive
 
 00:08:22.999 --> 00:08:24.833
 agricultural state
 in the nation.
 
 00:08:24.834 --> 00:08:27.833
 Yet there exists in the fertile
 interior of the state
 
 00:08:27.834 --> 00:08:28.375
 a sprawling rural ghetto,
 
 00:08:28.376 --> 00:08:31.998
 which some have called
 the longest slum in the world.
 
 00:08:31.999 --> 00:08:33.998
 Maria, how long have you been
 in California?
 
 00:08:33.999 --> 00:08:35.500
 -Since 1940.
 
 00:08:35.501 --> 00:08:36.998
 -And you\'ve been doing farmwork?
 
 00:08:36.999 --> 00:08:38.458
 -Farmworker all the time.
 
 00:08:38.459 --> 00:08:43.291
 I\'ve been working in all
 kind of fruits and field.
 
 00:08:43.292 --> 00:08:44.583
 -Are you working right now?
 
 00:08:44.584 --> 00:08:46.041
 -Yes, I\'m working.
 
 00:08:46.042 --> 00:08:48.998
 And two of my married sons
 and my husband and I,
 
 00:08:48.999 --> 00:08:49.999
 we earned $114.
 
 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:53.998
 - You made a $114 for the day
 for the day for the four of you?
 
 00:08:53.999 --> 00:08:55.625
 -No, for a week.
 
 00:08:55.626 --> 00:08:58.583
 - For a week?
 - Yes.
 
 00:08:58.584 --> 00:09:00.998
 No, if I had to make $114 a day,
 
 00:09:00.999 --> 00:09:03.208
 I don\'t have to worry
 about nothing.
 
 00:09:03.209 --> 00:09:06.584
 But we don\'t get
 that much never.
 
 00:09:08.250 --> 00:09:12.082
 - Hearing Maria\'s voice for
 the first time is a revelation,
 
 00:09:12.083 --> 00:09:15.458
 but it\'s hard to reconcile
 the poverty she describes
 
 00:09:15.459 --> 00:09:18.998
 with the postwar abundance
 that surrounded her.
 
 00:09:18.999 --> 00:09:22.998
 At a time when the shelves of
 supermarkets were overflowing,
 
 00:09:22.999 --> 00:09:28.041
 farm workers were struggling
 to feed their own families.
 
 00:09:28.042 --> 00:09:34.458
 ♪♪
 
 00:09:34.459 --> 00:09:40.374
 ♪♪
 
 00:09:40.375 --> 00:09:42.666
 -Sometimes you work a day,
 
 00:09:42.667 --> 00:09:45.208
 sometimes you don\'t
 work nothing.
 
 00:09:45.209 --> 00:09:51.875
 ♪♪
 
 00:09:51.876 --> 00:09:54.875
 They forget us.
 We don\'t belong, in other words.
 
 00:09:54.876 --> 00:09:58.416
 They don\'t treat us any better
 than they do dogs.
 
 00:09:58.417 --> 00:10:05.041
 ♪♪
 
 00:10:05.042 --> 00:10:07.998
 - How much were people
 making down there?
 
 00:10:07.999 --> 00:10:09.998
 - 90 cents an hour.
 - How much?
 
 00:10:09.999 --> 00:10:12.416
 - 90 cents an hour
 - 59 cents a bucket
 
 00:10:12.417 --> 00:10:14.374
 first picking.
 
 00:10:14.375 --> 00:10:18.625
 ♪♪
 
 00:10:18.626 --> 00:10:22.875
 - People were so eager
 to tell their story.
 
 00:10:22.876 --> 00:10:24.875
 They knew they weren\'t
 getting a good deal,
 
 00:10:24.876 --> 00:10:28.082
 and they were happy
 to tell me about it.
 
 00:10:28.083 --> 00:10:31.082
 And at that point, I decided,
 \"Well, I\'m going to go out
 
 00:10:31.083 --> 00:10:34.250
 and see what I can do
 to change it.\"
 
 00:10:35.792 --> 00:10:39.249
 - Ernie Lowe was a radio producer
 and a photographer.
 
 00:10:39.250 --> 00:10:43.791
 Like George Ballis, he was part
 of a generation of activists
 
 00:10:43.792 --> 00:10:45.374
 dedicated to using their work
 
 00:10:45.375 --> 00:10:49.167
 to awaken
 the conscience of the public.
 
 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:50.999
 -Tell me something about
 
 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:53.998
 what it was like
 in El Centro this winter.
 
 00:10:53.999 --> 00:11:01.291
 ♪♪
 
 00:11:01.292 --> 00:11:08.998
 [ Indistinct talking ]
 
 00:11:08.999 --> 00:11:16.834
 [ Singing in Spanish ]
 
 00:11:21.999 --> 00:11:24.584
 -We don\'t know what...
 
 00:11:26.459 --> 00:11:27.998
 [ Laughter ]
 
 00:11:27.999 --> 00:11:29.208
 -One and one is two.
 
 00:11:29.209 --> 00:11:32.625
 Bluebells, cockleshells.
 
 00:11:32.626 --> 00:11:37.208
 ♪♪
 
 00:11:37.209 --> 00:11:42.459
 ♪♪
 
 00:11:42.999 --> 00:11:45.208
 - Ernie remembers
 interviewing Maria,
 
 00:11:45.209 --> 00:11:47.416
 but like everyone else
 I\'ve talked to,
 
 00:11:47.417 --> 00:11:50.998
 he doesn\'t know
 what became of her.
 
 00:11:50.999 --> 00:11:53.082
 Sifting through people\'s
 memories of Maria
 
 00:11:53.083 --> 00:11:55.583
 gives me a feeling
 for who she was,
 
 00:11:55.584 --> 00:11:59.751
 but it doesn\'t get me
 any closer to finding her.
 
 00:12:00.751 --> 00:12:06.998
 - Maria Moreno is a very,
 very common Latino name,
 
 00:12:06.999 --> 00:12:08.291
 so we have a couple of factors.
 
 00:12:08.292 --> 00:12:11.166
 We have a very common name.
 We don\'t know a middle name.
 
 00:12:11.167 --> 00:12:13.625
 We don\'t, of course, know
 a social security number.
 
 00:12:13.626 --> 00:12:18.208
 We have an age range,
 which from what I understand
 
 00:12:18.209 --> 00:12:20.166
 with the material
 that I\'ve seen so far,
 
 00:12:20.167 --> 00:12:23.416
 is actually narrowing it
 down to about a two,
 
 00:12:23.417 --> 00:12:24.750
 maybe three year period.
 
 00:12:24.751 --> 00:12:29.998
 In 1961, Maria announces
 that she\'s 40 years old,
 
 00:12:29.999 --> 00:12:34.500
 so maybe she was going
 to turn 41 in 1961.
 
 00:12:34.501 --> 00:12:35.998
 We don\'t know that,
 so in other words,
 
 00:12:35.999 --> 00:12:40.458
 she would have been born
 in 1920 or 1921.
 
 00:12:40.459 --> 00:12:43.625
 She says that she was born
 in Texas.
 
 00:12:43.626 --> 00:12:48.208
 So if we run a search
 in the state of Texas
 
 00:12:48.209 --> 00:12:49.998
 using these parameters alone,
 
 00:12:49.999 --> 00:12:55.458
 that there are 273 listings
 for a Maria Moreno
 
 00:12:55.459 --> 00:12:58.791
 that would be between
 88 and 93 now.
 
 00:12:58.792 --> 00:13:01.998
 Unless you have
 an awfully long time
 
 00:13:01.999 --> 00:13:03.666
 and an awfully big budget,
 
 00:13:03.667 --> 00:13:06.999
 that\'s an unworkable
 number of records.
 
 00:13:07.834 --> 00:13:10.998
 - But scanning through
 endless data online,
 
 00:13:10.999 --> 00:13:12.833
 I find a promising lead.
 
 00:13:12.834 --> 00:13:15.998
 A labor archive in Detroit
 lists an activity report
 
 00:13:15.999 --> 00:13:20.666
 for Maria Moreno
 in their farm worker collection.
 
 00:13:20.667 --> 00:13:25.959
 It\'s not much, but it gets me
 on a plane to look.
 
 00:13:27.999 --> 00:13:31.998
 There are documents
 listing meetings,
 
 00:13:31.999 --> 00:13:37.166
 telephone messages,
 flyers that she handed out,
 
 00:13:37.167 --> 00:13:41.876
 but nothing that tells me
 what happened to her.
 
 00:13:42.959 --> 00:13:45.750
 One week, she\'s on the payroll,
 
 00:13:45.751 --> 00:13:48.999
 and the next week,
 her name is gone.
 
 00:13:50.999 --> 00:13:53.998
 And then finally,
 deep in the archives,
 
 00:13:53.999 --> 00:13:54.999
 I find audiotapes...
 
 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:59.750
 Dozens of them that nobody has
 ever catalogued or listened to.
 
 00:13:59.751 --> 00:14:02.875
 Maybe it\'s fate,
 or maybe it\'s just luck,
 
 00:14:02.876 --> 00:14:05.998
 but I find Maria\'s name
 on& one of them.
 
 00:14:05.999 --> 00:14:10.500
 ♪♪
 
 00:14:10.501 --> 00:14:14.999
 -Our next speaker, Maria Moreno.
 
 00:14:17.375 --> 00:14:21.458
 - I have a lot of things to say
 on agricultural workers,
 
 00:14:21.459 --> 00:14:24.791
 the way we work,
 the way we suffer.
 
 00:14:24.792 --> 00:14:25.792
 Not just me.
 
 00:14:25.793 --> 00:14:29.208
 I could show you the places
 and show the people
 
 00:14:29.209 --> 00:14:31.998
 the way we\'ve been treated.
 
 00:14:31.999 --> 00:14:34.625
 We start working real early
 in the morning,
 
 00:14:34.626 --> 00:14:36.998
 that the children
 don\'t have enough sleep,
 
 00:14:36.999 --> 00:14:41.584
 not even have enough to eat,
 not even clothing.
 
 00:14:42.999 --> 00:14:47.500
 We had a tiny little house
 14 by 16.
 
 00:14:47.501 --> 00:14:50.583
 14 people live in
 that little small shack,
 
 00:14:50.584 --> 00:14:54.958
 just barren inside,
 without nothing inside.
 
 00:14:54.959 --> 00:15:00.583
 I\'m talkin\' you the truth,
 because truth been hided.
 
 00:15:00.584 --> 00:15:06.833
 ♪♪
 
 00:15:06.834 --> 00:15:12.625
 ♪♪
 
 00:15:12.626 --> 00:15:16.999
 -[ Speaking Spanish ]
 
 00:16:00.584 --> 00:16:07.998
 ♪♪
 
 00:16:07.999 --> 00:16:11.998
 - Farm workers everywhere listen
 to the radio as they work.
 
 00:16:11.999 --> 00:16:15.374
 I had hoped there would be
 a response to my announcement,
 
 00:16:15.375 --> 00:16:17.666
 but no one has come forward.
 
 00:16:17.667 --> 00:16:18.833
 ♪♪
 
 00:16:18.834 --> 00:16:21.998
 -[ Singing in Spanish ]
 
 00:16:21.999 --> 00:16:27.998
 ♪♪
 
 00:16:27.999 --> 00:16:31.791
 - The farm workers today are
 generations removed from Maria,
 
 00:16:31.792 --> 00:16:35.998
 who worked in these
 same orchards many years ago.
 
 00:16:35.999 --> 00:16:40.459
 -[ Shouting in Spanish ]
 
 00:17:00.999 --> 00:17:05.998
 - Maybe the distance from here
 to the past is just too great.
 
 00:17:05.999 --> 00:17:06.876
 Searching for Maria
 
 00:17:06.877 --> 00:17:09.875
 is like looking for a needle
 in a haystack
 
 00:17:09.876 --> 00:17:14.459
 or finding this worker singing
 deep in the orange grove.
 
 00:17:29.167 --> 00:17:31.959
 -[ Whistling ]
 
 00:17:33.584 --> 00:17:37.751
 - The song has ended,
 and the workers are gone.
 
 00:17:38.667 --> 00:17:43.208
 It seems that Maria has
 disappeared again into the past.
 
 00:17:43.209 --> 00:17:46.458
 And yet maybe she\'ll step out
 of history\'s shadow
 
 00:17:46.459 --> 00:17:50.876
 if I can piece together
 the fragments I\'ve found.
 
 00:17:53.999 --> 00:17:57.166
 Just when it seems I\'ve reached
 the end of the trail,
 
 00:17:57.167 --> 00:18:01.167
 a package arrives
 from Maria\'s granddaughter.
 
 00:18:02.083 --> 00:18:05.750
 She heard about my search
 and tracked me down.
 
 00:18:05.751 --> 00:18:08.208
 She writes, \"Thank you
 for taking an interest
 
 00:18:08.209 --> 00:18:13.416
 in the greatest woman
 I\'ve ever known, my grandmother.
 
 00:18:13.417 --> 00:18:15.041
 She wrote her own history.
 
 00:18:15.042 --> 00:18:18.291
 Only history forgot
 to include her.\"
 
 00:18:18.292 --> 00:18:24.458
 There are letters and clippings
 and an obituary.
 
 00:18:24.459 --> 00:18:27.998
 I feel a sense of loss
 that I\'ll never meet Maria,
 
 00:18:27.999 --> 00:18:31.584
 but I\'m excited
 to meet her children.
 
 00:18:34.459 --> 00:18:37.416
 I wonder what she was like
 as a mother.
 
 00:18:37.417 --> 00:18:41.834
 How did she juggle her activism
 and family life?
 
 00:18:44.209 --> 00:18:46.998
 -This is too much.
 
 00:18:46.999 --> 00:18:47.999
 This here is me!
 
 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:51.249
 And I\'m wondering
 why was I frowning.
 
 00:18:51.250 --> 00:18:52.374
 [ Laughs ]
 
 00:18:52.375 --> 00:18:55.166
 - I like this one.
 This is so pretty.
 
 00:18:55.167 --> 00:18:57.998
 - Isn\'t it?
 - Yeah.
 
 00:18:57.999 --> 00:18:59.166
 This one.
 
 00:18:59.167 --> 00:19:01.833
 - Ooh, that\'s pretty.
 - Isn\'t that pretty?
 
 00:19:01.834 --> 00:19:03.998
 - I can\'t even tell you
 where these were.
 
 00:19:03.999 --> 00:19:05.082
 I don\'t remember.
 
 00:19:05.083 --> 00:19:10.998
 - I\'m 73 years old,
 and I miss my mother still.
 
 00:19:10.999 --> 00:19:13.291
 -Oh, Tito.
 
 00:19:13.292 --> 00:19:14.998
 Look at how beautiful.
 
 00:19:14.999 --> 00:19:16.666
 -We were a very proud family.
 
 00:19:16.667 --> 00:19:18.249
 You know, we might
 have been poor,
 
 00:19:18.250 --> 00:19:20.998
 but we had a lot of \"humph\"
 
 00:19:20.999 --> 00:19:22.833
 into everything that we did.
 
 00:19:22.834 --> 00:19:25.791
 - Remember that time when
 there wasn\'t any food again?
 
 00:19:25.792 --> 00:19:28.998
 And we saw that bird
 just coming.
 
 00:19:28.999 --> 00:19:29.999
 And remember Libby?
 
 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.998
 We would tie ourselves
 behind that truck.
 
 00:19:34.999 --> 00:19:38.000
 [ Laughs ]
 
 00:19:40.584 --> 00:19:40.999
 -It\'s okay.
 
 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:44.998
 - We would tie ourselves so
 we wouldn\'t fall off the truck.
 
 00:19:44.999 --> 00:19:47.998
 And then all of a sudden,
 we just saw this bird
 
 00:19:47.999 --> 00:19:50.998
 flying out of I don\'t know
 where, and all of a sudden,
 
 00:19:50.999 --> 00:19:54.666
 he just dropped a rabbit
 right in front of the truck.
 
 00:19:54.667 --> 00:19:55.958
 -[ Laughs ]
 
 00:19:55.959 --> 00:19:58.875
 - And my mom says,
 \"There\'s our meal.\"
 
 00:19:58.876 --> 00:20:00.291
 Remember?
 
 00:20:00.292 --> 00:20:01.666
 Says, \"There\'s our meal.\"
 
 00:20:01.667 --> 00:20:04.998
 And I learned how
 to skin a rabbit.
 
 00:20:04.999 --> 00:20:08.416
 - Seeing the photographs
 brings a rush of memories
 
 00:20:08.417 --> 00:20:14.291
 and sends Maria\'s children on
 their own journey of into past.
 
 00:20:14.292 --> 00:20:18.750
 -♪ Going home ♪
 
 00:20:18.751 --> 00:20:23.791
 ♪ Oh, yes, I\'m going home ♪
 
 00:20:23.792 --> 00:20:31.792
 ♪ And there is nothing
 to hold me here ♪
 
 00:20:33.959 --> 00:20:37.998
 ♪ I\'ve got a glimpse ♪
 
 00:20:37.999 --> 00:20:43.875
 ♪ If that heavenly place ♪
 
 00:20:43.876 --> 00:20:46.625
 ♪ Praise God ♪
 
 00:20:46.626 --> 00:20:53.208
 ♪ I am going home ♪
 
 00:20:53.209 --> 00:20:54.416
 - What a song.
 I love that song.
 
 00:20:54.417 --> 00:20:58.249
 - I do, too. I love it.
 It just brings so many memories.
 
 00:20:58.250 --> 00:20:59.998
 -I know.
 
 00:20:59.999 --> 00:21:02.416
 We\'ll be going home
 one of these days,
 
 00:21:02.417 --> 00:21:03.998
 but I hope it\'s not right now,
 
 00:21:03.999 --> 00:21:07.459
 because I want
 to see the ending to all this.
 
 00:21:10.999 --> 00:21:12.291
 - Okay, you looking
 for birth records?
 
 00:21:12.292 --> 00:21:14.666
 - Yes, we are
 - It would be in this book.
 
 00:21:14.667 --> 00:21:16.998
 - This one right here?
 - Yes, ma\'am.
 
 00:21:16.999 --> 00:21:20.998
 And so we can look here.
 
 00:21:20.999 --> 00:21:22.998
 - These would be the names
 in this side, right?
 
 00:21:22.999 --> 00:21:23.999
 -Yes, uh-huh.
 
 00:21:23.999 --> 00:21:24.876
 -So it\'s not here.
 
 00:21:24.877 --> 00:21:29.791
 - Okay, so let\'s go to the next
 page and see what we find.
 
 00:21:29.792 --> 00:21:31.291
 -Let me see, Martinez.
 
 00:21:31.292 --> 00:21:34.876
 - Look for her
 first name, Maria.
 
 00:21:37.999 --> 00:21:38.999
 That\'s it.
 
 00:21:38.999 --> 00:21:39.999
 - Oh, right here.
 There it is.
 
 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.750
 Oh, my goodness,
 October 22, 1920, yeah.
 
 00:21:44.751 --> 00:21:48.458
 Oh, my goodness.
 My mom and Aunt Sally.
 
 00:21:48.459 --> 00:21:50.998
 Wow, my heart is up here
 in my throat.
 
 00:21:50.999 --> 00:21:53.249
 Oh, my goodness.
 
 00:21:53.250 --> 00:21:55.999
 [ Sniffles ]
 
 00:21:57.834 --> 00:21:59.583
 ♪♪
 
 00:21:59.584 --> 00:22:05.458
 - I heard that my grandmother
 came from the Mescalero Apache.
 
 00:22:05.459 --> 00:22:07.583
 She was dark complected
 
 00:22:07.584 --> 00:22:10.875
 and always wore
 a bandanna on her head.
 
 00:22:10.876 --> 00:22:12.999
 My grandfather was born
 in Mexico.
 
 00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:16.998
 He was 13 when he came
 to live here in Texas.
 
 00:22:16.999 --> 00:22:21.666
 My mother always told us that
 when my grandfather
 
 00:22:21.667 --> 00:22:23.166
 would go out...
 Because he was a minister,
 
 00:22:23.167 --> 00:22:25.998
 he was a Baptist minister
 my grandfather...
 
 00:22:25.999 --> 00:22:27.998
 And she would always go along.
 
 00:22:27.999 --> 00:22:30.791
 I think that my mother got it
 from my grandfather,
 
 00:22:30.792 --> 00:22:33.998
 because my grandfather
 could preach up a good storm,
 
 00:22:33.999 --> 00:22:34.999
 I mean a good one.
 
 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:37.998
 He would preach, and my mother
 I think would be singing,
 
 00:22:37.999 --> 00:22:40.998
 because that\'s what she did
 most her life, she sang.
 
 00:22:40.999 --> 00:22:44.998
 - ♪ Que bonito es conocer
 a Cristo ♪
 
 00:22:44.999 --> 00:22:52.082
 ♪ Que bonito es sentirlo
 en el alma ♪
 
 00:22:52.083 --> 00:22:56.583
 ♪ Es un gozo que viene
 del cielo ♪
 
 00:22:56.584 --> 00:23:00.458
 ♪ Una cosa que sé explicarla ♪
 
 00:23:00.459 --> 00:23:05.249
 ♪ Que alegria siento
 en mi alma ♪
 
 00:23:05.250 --> 00:23:09.500
 - My mother was about 15
 when she got married,
 
 00:23:09.501 --> 00:23:12.374
 so she was very young
 when she got married.
 
 00:23:12.375 --> 00:23:14.958
 My dad was 21.
 
 00:23:14.959 --> 00:23:16.666
 We used to have an old car,
 
 00:23:16.667 --> 00:23:19.998
 and we would move
 from one place to another.
 
 00:23:19.999 --> 00:23:21.998
 My mom would pack the car,
 
 00:23:21.999 --> 00:23:25.999
 and they would make
 something like a bed for us.
 
 00:23:28.083 --> 00:23:31.500
 -The road is our home.
 
 00:23:31.501 --> 00:23:34.249
 The ground is our table.
 
 00:23:34.250 --> 00:23:37.834
 Any place we go,
 there\'s our home.
 
 00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:42.998
 - I don\'t remember riding
 from Texas to California.
 
 00:23:42.999 --> 00:23:43.999
 I don\'t remember that.
 
 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:47.166
 But I do remember
 when we got to Holtville,
 
 00:23:47.167 --> 00:23:49.998
 that\'s when one of the brothers,
 
 00:23:49.999 --> 00:23:54.999
 he died at maybe about
 3 months old.
 
 00:23:56.042 --> 00:23:59.998
 - When my first child was born,
 had no doctor,
 
 00:23:59.999 --> 00:24:03.249
 was born alone,
 me and my husband.
 
 00:24:03.250 --> 00:24:04.583
 And I didn\'t know that the woman
 
 00:24:04.584 --> 00:24:07.998
 was supposed to go
 to the doctor.
 
 00:24:07.999 --> 00:24:12.998
 The second child born,
 me and my husband alone.
 
 00:24:12.999 --> 00:24:17.998
 The third one born,
 and the same thing.
 
 00:24:17.999 --> 00:24:22.998
 ♪♪
 
 00:24:22.999 --> 00:24:25.041
 -My mother was a twin.
 
 00:24:25.042 --> 00:24:28.998
 Aunt Sally was like
 a second mom to us.
 
 00:24:28.999 --> 00:24:32.166
 She supported my mother
 in many ways.
 
 00:24:32.167 --> 00:24:34.374
 She was proud of her.
 
 00:24:34.375 --> 00:24:38.500
 If we needed something,
 we knew that we could count
 
 00:24:38.501 --> 00:24:43.833
 on Aunt Sally
 and Uncle Chito, her husband.
 
 00:24:43.834 --> 00:24:46.750
 \'Cause we knew...
 There were so many of us.
 
 00:24:46.751 --> 00:24:49.041
 - You know, our family
 was a big family.
 
 00:24:49.042 --> 00:24:52.416
 Dad couldn\'t afford by himself.
 
 00:24:52.417 --> 00:24:57.208
 So we all got involved
 in working.
 
 00:24:57.209 --> 00:25:03.000
 I started working in the fields
 maybe when I was 5 years old.
 
 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:08.625
 We used to follow the crops
 as far as Colorado, Utah,
 
 00:25:08.626 --> 00:25:12.998
 then back to California
 to start the tomato season.
 
 00:25:12.999 --> 00:25:16.998
 When my brothers and my sisters
 went to school,
 
 00:25:16.999 --> 00:25:19.416
 they actually had to hide
 to eat their lunch,
 
 00:25:19.417 --> 00:25:24.041
 because everybody ate
 at the cafeteria this and that,
 
 00:25:24.042 --> 00:25:26.082
 and they came out
 with their little burritos.
 
 00:25:26.083 --> 00:25:34.083
 And way back then,
 people would make fun, you know.
 
 00:25:35.626 --> 00:25:39.458
 - This is the way that Maria
 and her family got by.
 
 00:25:39.459 --> 00:25:44.875
 But what was it that drove her
 to fight to change things?
 
 00:25:44.876 --> 00:25:47.041
 Ron Taylor is the only person
 I\'ve found who
 
 00:25:47.042 --> 00:25:53.584
 wrote about Maria, and he was
 there when she first spoke out.
 
 00:25:54.792 --> 00:25:56.416
 - Well, I used to drive
 around the county,
 
 00:25:56.417 --> 00:25:59.249
 stopping in little towns
 just looking for stories,
 
 00:25:59.250 --> 00:26:00.958
 any kind of story.
 
 00:26:00.959 --> 00:26:01.959
 And lunchtime comes around,
 
 00:26:01.960 --> 00:26:04.998
 and any one of these little
 towns has got some place where
 
 00:26:04.999 --> 00:26:06.998
 everybody congregates for lunch.
 
 00:26:06.999 --> 00:26:09.458
 And this cafe in Woodlake,
 
 00:26:09.459 --> 00:26:11.875
 and I sat down
 at the counter by myself
 
 00:26:11.876 --> 00:26:13.249
 and ordered
 a grilled cheese sandwich
 
 00:26:13.250 --> 00:26:15.998
 because that\'s about the only
 thing they couldn\'t ruin.
 
 00:26:15.999 --> 00:26:19.998
 - Gus West, the chief of police,
 sat down beside me.
 
 00:26:19.999 --> 00:26:25.416
 And we had been friends
 in an adversarial kind of way.
 
 00:26:25.417 --> 00:26:26.998
 He knew I was out
 stirring up trouble,
 
 00:26:26.999 --> 00:26:31.666
 and I was convinced
 that he was covering stuff up.
 
 00:26:31.667 --> 00:26:36.291
 But he mentioned this woman
 and her 12 kids going hungry,
 
 00:26:36.292 --> 00:26:39.417
 and he didn\'t think
 it was right.
 
 00:26:40.999 --> 00:26:44.249
 - We lived in Woodlake
 when there was rain,
 
 00:26:44.250 --> 00:26:47.166
 and rain, and rain,
 and rain, and more rain.
 
 00:26:47.167 --> 00:26:49.750
 So we didn\'t know
 when it was gonna stop.
 
 00:26:49.751 --> 00:26:54.374
 When we got out, it was
 ankle deep out of the house.
 
 00:26:54.375 --> 00:26:55.998
 We couldn\'t take anything.
 
 00:26:55.999 --> 00:26:56.999
 Nothing.
 Just the car.
 
 00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:01.291
 And when we came back,
 we couldn\'t even go in there
 
 00:27:01.292 --> 00:27:03.998
 because the water
 was inside the house.
 
 00:27:03.999 --> 00:27:06.999
 Beds, everything was gone.
 
 00:27:07.999 --> 00:27:15.998
 Then my mom went to ask,
 you know, for help.
 
 00:27:15.999 --> 00:27:18.998
 And no one would help.
 
 00:27:18.999 --> 00:27:21.998
 -I got a real good witness.
 
 00:27:21.999 --> 00:27:27.166
 I guess you people remember last
 year that we had a big rain.
 
 00:27:27.167 --> 00:27:29.416
 I had a baby a year old,
 
 00:27:29.417 --> 00:27:33.998
 feeding him three days
 with water and sugar.
 
 00:27:33.999 --> 00:27:35.998
 We got nobody to talk with us,
 
 00:27:35.999 --> 00:27:37.998
 we don\'t got no place
 to earn money,
 
 00:27:37.999 --> 00:27:40.998
 we don\'t got no way to get it
 when we\'re out of work.
 
 00:27:40.999 --> 00:27:46.999
 When this weather come,
 we just go hungry.
 
 00:27:47.999 --> 00:27:50.416
 -3,000 workers were hungry,
 
 00:27:50.417 --> 00:27:53.583
 and the food was sitting
 in the warehouse.
 
 00:27:53.584 --> 00:27:57.500
 Why? Why don\'t you open the door
 and feed these people?
 
 00:27:57.501 --> 00:27:58.501
 It\'s against the rules.
 
 00:27:58.502 --> 00:28:02.998
 The rules are if you can work,
 you can\'t get aid...
 
 00:28:02.999 --> 00:28:05.875
 To keep the people
 from cheating.
 
 00:28:05.876 --> 00:28:06.501
 You son of a bitch.
 
 00:28:06.502 --> 00:28:11.458
 I can\'t feed them with food,
 but I can write about them,
 
 00:28:11.459 --> 00:28:14.998
 and nobody else would write
 anything about farm labor.
 
 00:28:14.999 --> 00:28:19.666
 ♪♪
 
 00:28:19.667 --> 00:28:21.041
 - So I got something
 that really proves,
 
 00:28:21.042 --> 00:28:24.998
 and I want somebody to read it
 before I go a little farther
 
 00:28:24.999 --> 00:28:27.998
 because I cannot read
 very good English.
 
 00:28:27.999 --> 00:28:29.958
 - Police Chief Gus West
 of Woodlake
 
 00:28:29.959 --> 00:28:32.833
 reported a 19-year-old boy
 starved himself
 
 00:28:32.834 --> 00:28:35.583
 so his 11 brothers
 and sisters could eat.
 
 00:28:35.584 --> 00:28:38.750
 He collapsed
 and had to receive medical aid.
 
 00:28:38.751 --> 00:28:41.998
 -That\'s my son, 19 years old.
 
 00:28:41.999 --> 00:28:48.459
 After we passing that big
 starving, he went plumb blind.
 
 00:28:48.999 --> 00:28:51.998
 He was blind for three days,
 
 00:28:51.999 --> 00:28:56.625
 and that\'s causing because
 he hadn\'t eaten anything.
 
 00:28:56.626 --> 00:28:59.998
 After they opened the doors,
 I got something to eat.
 
 00:28:59.999 --> 00:29:04.998
 We start feeding him
 while he get his eyes back.
 
 00:29:04.999 --> 00:29:09.500
 ♪♪
 
 00:29:09.501 --> 00:29:11.998
 - My mom, I guess,
 started talking to people.
 
 00:29:11.999 --> 00:29:13.998
 Where is the justice
 in the United States,
 
 00:29:13.999 --> 00:29:16.291
 the richest country
 in the world?
 
 00:29:16.292 --> 00:29:19.998
 We need help,
 and we can\'t get it.
 
 00:29:19.999 --> 00:29:23.374
 Maybe that\'s when things
 started happening.
 
 00:29:23.375 --> 00:29:28.998
 ♪♪
 
 00:29:28.999 --> 00:29:31.875
 - Maria\'s testimony created
 such a stir
 
 00:29:31.876 --> 00:29:34.998
 that the welfare agency
 reversed its policy
 
 00:29:34.999 --> 00:29:38.999
 and offered food assistance
 to the farm workers.
 
 00:29:41.834 --> 00:29:43.998
 This was Maria\'s first victory,
 
 00:29:43.999 --> 00:29:46.166
 and it brought her
 to the attention of AWOC,
 
 00:29:46.167 --> 00:29:50.998
 the Agricultural Workers
 Organizing Committee.
 
 00:29:50.999 --> 00:29:51.999
 AWOC was the latest effort
 
 00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:55.374
 in a long struggle
 to unionize farm workers,
 
 00:29:55.375 --> 00:29:57.791
 who\'d been excluded
 from the protections won
 
 00:29:57.792 --> 00:30:02.291
 by industrial workers
 in the 1930s.
 
 00:30:02.292 --> 00:30:04.875
 One of the biggest obstacles
 to organizing
 
 00:30:04.876 --> 00:30:08.041
 had always been the segregation
 of camps and crews
 
 00:30:08.042 --> 00:30:11.998
 that pitted one ethnic group
 against another.
 
 00:30:11.999 --> 00:30:14.998
 - We can\'t have a union
 of the hillbillies,
 
 00:30:14.999 --> 00:30:16.458
 one of them Mexican Americans,
 
 00:30:16.459 --> 00:30:19.998
 and one for the Filipinos,
 and one for the Negroes.
 
 00:30:19.999 --> 00:30:23.998
 They must be all one union.
 
 00:30:23.999 --> 00:30:26.998
 - AWOC at the time
 was a pioneering thing.
 
 00:30:26.999 --> 00:30:32.458
 They hired Filipinos,
 they hired Anglos,
 
 00:30:32.459 --> 00:30:36.998
 so-called Okies,
 African Americans,
 
 00:30:36.999 --> 00:30:39.250
 and hired her.
 
 00:30:40.292 --> 00:30:42.500
 - Although a handful of
 Anglo women had worked
 
 00:30:42.501 --> 00:30:45.291
 as professional organizers
 in the fields,
 
 00:30:45.292 --> 00:30:48.500
 Maria Moreno was the very
 first farm worker women
 
 00:30:48.501 --> 00:30:51.999
 to be hired
 as a union organizer.
 
 00:31:06.876 --> 00:31:09.500
 [ Applause ]
 
 00:31:09.501 --> 00:31:11.666
 - I believe I was about 13
 when my mother
 
 00:31:11.667 --> 00:31:13.998
 started to work for the union.
 
 00:31:13.999 --> 00:31:16.625
 She would leave to
 different meetings.
 
 00:31:16.626 --> 00:31:20.999
 And we wondered, \"What are
 all these meetings for?\"
 
 00:31:21.626 --> 00:31:26.998
 - Sometimes I see the people
 that buy delicious apples,
 
 00:31:26.999 --> 00:31:31.208
 bananas, all kind of good foods.
 
 00:31:31.209 --> 00:31:34.500
 And then I take a look
 at my table...
 
 00:31:34.501 --> 00:31:37.459
 Beans and potatoes.
 
 00:31:37.876 --> 00:31:44.998
 Just imagine, how do you think
 that I feel seeing my son blind
 
 00:31:44.999 --> 00:31:47.249
 only because we don\'t
 got nothing to eat,
 
 00:31:47.250 --> 00:31:52.042
 while some other tables are full
 and wasting food.
 
 00:31:53.999 --> 00:31:56.416
 - We would go to different
 places, and sometimes we would
 
 00:31:56.417 --> 00:32:00.291
 go with her because
 we were kind of curious.
 
 00:32:00.292 --> 00:32:02.998
 But the first time
 that I understood
 
 00:32:02.999 --> 00:32:05.998
 that she was somebody different,
 she was doing something
 
 00:32:05.999 --> 00:32:07.998
 different was when
 she went to Berkeley,
 
 00:32:07.999 --> 00:32:11.291
 that I realized who
 my mother really was.
 
 00:32:11.292 --> 00:32:13.998
 Not just a woman
 trying to make things better
 
 00:32:13.999 --> 00:32:18.998
 for the agricultural workers,
 but for everybody.
 
 00:32:18.999 --> 00:32:23.875
 I said, \"Wow, here\'s my mother,
 second grade education,
 
 00:32:23.876 --> 00:32:24.626
 and she\'s doing this.\"
 
 00:32:24.627 --> 00:32:28.292
 It was just like \"Wow.\"
 It blew me away.
 
 00:32:28.999 --> 00:32:30.458
 -I guess we got rights,
 
 00:32:30.459 --> 00:32:34.750
 and it\'s time
 to ask for justice.
 
 00:32:34.751 --> 00:32:39.416
 And I hope that you
 understand the things
 
 00:32:39.417 --> 00:32:40.998
 that I\'ve been saying to you.
 
 00:32:40.999 --> 00:32:44.666
 - That\'s my mother.
 [ Laughs ]
 
 00:32:44.667 --> 00:32:45.998
 Oh, my goodness.
 
 00:32:45.999 --> 00:32:50.083
 -[ Speaking Spanish ]
 
 00:32:52.209 --> 00:32:58.998
 -♪ I can\'t stop loving you ♪
 
 00:32:58.999 --> 00:33:01.998
 -♪ I\'ve made up my mind ♪
 
 00:33:01.999 --> 00:33:05.998
 - We didn\'t start living
 comfortable until after
 
 00:33:05.999 --> 00:33:09.166
 she started getting paid
 from the union.
 
 00:33:09.167 --> 00:33:10.875
 Have plenty on the table.
 
 00:33:10.876 --> 00:33:14.500
 When my sisters and my brothers
 knew what a good
 
 00:33:14.501 --> 00:33:16.583
 pair of shoes was, you know.
 
 00:33:16.584 --> 00:33:21.458
 -♪ I can\'t stop wanting you ♪
 
 00:33:21.459 --> 00:33:24.041
 - There was this album
 that came out, Ray Charles,
 
 00:33:24.042 --> 00:33:25.833
 and there was a song
 that my mother,
 
 00:33:25.834 --> 00:33:26.998
 I don\'t know for some reason
 she loved it.
 
 00:33:26.999 --> 00:33:29.833
 It was
 \"I Can\'t Stop Loving You.\"
 
 00:33:29.834 --> 00:33:32.625
 We put on that particular song,
 then all of a sudden,
 
 00:33:32.626 --> 00:33:37.416
 we saw my mom and dad
 waltzing in the living room.
 
 00:33:37.417 --> 00:33:40.208
 And I remember that I looked
 at my mom and I thought,
 
 00:33:40.209 --> 00:33:42.750
 I said, \"That\'s funny
 because our church
 
 00:33:42.751 --> 00:33:45.416
 doesn\'t allow\"...
 Well, our beliefs
 
 00:33:45.417 --> 00:33:47.500
 didn\'t allow-for dancing.
 
 00:33:47.501 --> 00:33:50.999
 We were all looking like \"Wow.\"
 
 00:33:53.375 --> 00:33:54.375
 -♪ The long ago ♪
 
 00:33:54.376 --> 00:33:55.958
 -My mother was never alone
 
 00:33:55.959 --> 00:33:58.416
 when she started her job
 in the union.
 
 00:33:58.417 --> 00:34:01.666
 I mean, days would go by,
 but I knew that my father
 
 00:34:01.667 --> 00:34:05.583
 was with my mom,
 and if anything should happen,
 
 00:34:05.584 --> 00:34:08.958
 we knew that Dad would be there.
 
 00:34:08.959 --> 00:34:11.998
 - She was so excited,
 very excited,
 
 00:34:11.999 --> 00:34:15.750
 about how she had met
 these people,
 
 00:34:15.751 --> 00:34:18.416
 how they had treated her.
 
 00:34:18.417 --> 00:34:20.458
 I knew when she was gonna go
 to Washington.
 
 00:34:20.459 --> 00:34:25.666
 I knew when she was gonna go to
 St. Louis, Missouri, also.
 
 00:34:25.667 --> 00:34:27.791
 And I told her, \"You better
 put a diaper on
 
 00:34:27.792 --> 00:34:28.751
 because you don\'t know,
 
 00:34:28.752 --> 00:34:31.082
 you\'ve never been
 on a plane before.\"
 
 00:34:31.083 --> 00:34:34.999
 And she was very scared
 to go on the plane.
 
 00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:40.041
 ♪♪
 
 00:34:40.042 --> 00:34:43.791
 - With Maria and the other
 organizers making AWOC\'s case
 
 00:34:43.792 --> 00:34:47.998
 to the public, the fledgling
 union was winning strikes
 
 00:34:47.999 --> 00:34:49.666
 and raising wages.
 
 00:34:49.667 --> 00:34:51.999
 But trouble was brewing
 in the fields.
 
 00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:54.998
 This innocent looking notice
 of a film screening
 
 00:34:54.999 --> 00:34:58.500
 was going to create
 a major crisis for AWOC,
 
 00:34:58.501 --> 00:35:03.042
 and Maria would be
 at the center of the storm.
 
 00:35:04.375 --> 00:35:08.998
 - How would you like to live here
 and pay $26 dollars a month?
 
 00:35:08.999 --> 00:35:11.291
 - A decade earlier,
 Hollywood unions had made
 
 00:35:11.292 --> 00:35:15.166
 a documentary to support
 a strike at DiGiorgio Farms,
 
 00:35:15.167 --> 00:35:18.583
 the biggest agricultural company
 in the nation.
 
 00:35:18.584 --> 00:35:20.875
 - We haven\'t a chance
 as individuals,
 
 00:35:20.876 --> 00:35:22.998
 but in organization,
 we\'ll have strength.
 
 00:35:22.999 --> 00:35:26.666
 - DiGiorgio sued for libel,
 and the filmmakers were forced
 
 00:35:26.667 --> 00:35:29.998
 to destroy
 all copies of the movie.
 
 00:35:29.999 --> 00:35:32.291
 But one copy survived.
 
 00:35:32.292 --> 00:35:36.998
 - In 1960, AWOC organizers
 stumbled across
 
 00:35:36.999 --> 00:35:37.999
 a copy of the film,
 
 00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:40.998
 and they thought,
 \"Oh, great, this is perfect.\"
 
 00:35:40.999 --> 00:35:42.998
 All the same issues
 are still in place here,
 
 00:35:42.999 --> 00:35:44.998
 all of those kinds
 of conditions,
 
 00:35:44.999 --> 00:35:46.249
 faced by farmworkers.
 
 00:35:46.250 --> 00:35:49.833
 We could use this film
 in our organizing.\"
 
 00:35:49.834 --> 00:35:53.998
 - On May 12, 1960,
 Maria Moreno spoke
 
 00:35:53.999 --> 00:35:55.208
 at a screening of the film.
 
 00:35:55.209 --> 00:35:58.666
 In the audience was a spy
 for DiGiorgio.
 
 00:35:58.667 --> 00:36:00.998
 The company sued for libel
 a second time,
 
 00:36:00.999 --> 00:36:03.249
 and Maria was one
 of the defendants.
 
 00:36:03.250 --> 00:36:06.998
 It was the first of several
 lawsuits against AWOC
 
 00:36:06.999 --> 00:36:07.999
 and its sponsor.
 
 00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:09.998
 George Meany, the President
 of the AFL-CIO,
 
 00:36:09.999 --> 00:36:14.875
 was never happy about
 funding farm worker organizing.
 
 00:36:14.876 --> 00:36:19.998
 And when these various legal
 setbacks began mounting up,
 
 00:36:19.999 --> 00:36:20.999
 that combined with the fact
 
 00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:23.998
 that they hadn\'t really
 organized enough people
 
 00:36:23.999 --> 00:36:26.750
 to bring in the dues
 that would make it worthwhile,
 
 00:36:26.751 --> 00:36:29.998
 gave Meany the excuse
 to pull the plug on the project.
 
 00:36:29.999 --> 00:36:34.458
 - AWOC members met to forge
 a strategy to save their union.
 
 00:36:34.459 --> 00:36:37.416
 Henry Anderson and Ernie Lowe
 were there,
 
 00:36:37.417 --> 00:36:41.374
 and their memories of
 the conference are still vivid.
 
 00:36:41.375 --> 00:36:43.166
 -I was at KPFA at that point.
 
 00:36:43.167 --> 00:36:45.249
 And when I heard
 about the conference,
 
 00:36:45.250 --> 00:36:47.998
 I was very excited
 because it sounded like
 
 00:36:47.999 --> 00:36:48.999
 a really new approach.
 
 00:36:49.000 --> 00:36:52.998
 So I got clearance to record
 the conference.
 
 00:36:52.999 --> 00:36:55.958
 Didn\'t have a fancy piece
 of equipment like this.
 
 00:36:55.959 --> 00:37:00.458
 It was a primitive
 old Radio Shack recorder.
 
 00:37:00.459 --> 00:37:05.999
 - It\'s been quite a while.
 - Quite a while.
 
 00:37:09.584 --> 00:37:10.375
 -Now I have heard remarks
 
 00:37:10.376 --> 00:37:15.998
 that you\'ve had the rug
 pulled out from under you.
 
 00:37:15.999 --> 00:37:18.998
 Well, since when did
 the agricultural workers
 
 00:37:18.999 --> 00:37:20.666
 ever have a rug?
 
 00:37:20.667 --> 00:37:21.999
 [ Laughter ]
 
 00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:26.082
 - Right to start with, I\'m gonna
 make you a flat statement.
 
 00:37:26.083 --> 00:37:29.416
 If the AFL-CIO
 quits this organization,
 
 00:37:29.417 --> 00:37:32.998
 this local here
 is going to be a union.
 
 00:37:32.999 --> 00:37:35.458
 I\'m not lying a bit.
 
 00:37:35.459 --> 00:37:35.999
 Sister Maria?
 
 00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:38.998
 - In order we had a good
 interpret this morning,
 
 00:37:38.999 --> 00:37:41.999
 I\'m gonna talk in
 my own language.
 
 00:37:52.834 --> 00:37:56.998
 - So, if we are going to have
 an organization,
 
 00:37:56.999 --> 00:38:01.999
 we have to suffer
 some hardships.
 
 00:38:11.000 --> 00:38:14.416
 - In the past, we fought
 each other too much.
 
 00:38:14.417 --> 00:38:16.082
 We didn\'t know how to get along
 with each other.
 
 00:38:16.083 --> 00:38:17.500
 If we didn\'t like a fellow,
 
 00:38:17.501 --> 00:38:19.791
 we just turned our backs
 on him and walked away.
 
 00:38:19.792 --> 00:38:20.250
 We got over that.
 
 00:38:20.251 --> 00:38:21.958
 We\'ll fight like cats and dogs
 in a meeting,
 
 00:38:21.959 --> 00:38:24.041
 but when we walk out of that
 meeting, we\'re still friends
 
 00:38:24.042 --> 00:38:26.999
 and can get along with that man.
 
 00:38:38.999 --> 00:38:40.998
 -Hold it just a second.
 
 00:38:40.999 --> 00:38:41.626
 -[ Laughs ]
 
 00:38:41.627 --> 00:38:45.998
 - I made a mistake.
 I left out one resolution.
 
 00:38:45.999 --> 00:38:50.082
 - We here at the Agricultural
 Workers Organizing Conference
 
 00:38:50.083 --> 00:38:52.998
 are of different
 races and religions.
 
 00:38:52.999 --> 00:38:55.998
 We have many members
 who are also Mexicans.
 
 00:38:55.999 --> 00:38:59.208
 Some of us here have
 families in Mexico.
 
 00:38:59.209 --> 00:39:01.833
 We are working
 for a democratic union.
 
 00:39:01.834 --> 00:39:05.833
 We believe in a union
 of farmworkers, by farmworkers,
 
 00:39:05.834 --> 00:39:08.417
 and for farmworkers.
 
 00:39:08.999 --> 00:39:11.959
 - All in favor
 raise your right hand.
 
 00:39:13.292 --> 00:39:14.998
 All opposed?
 
 00:39:14.999 --> 00:39:17.041
 [ Applause ]
 
 00:39:17.042 --> 00:39:22.374
 ♪♪
 
 00:39:22.375 --> 00:39:25.998
 - Somebody made the motion
 that we elect delegates
 
 00:39:25.999 --> 00:39:28.750
 to the national
 AFL-CIO convention,
 
 00:39:28.751 --> 00:39:32.833
 which was going to take place
 in Miami Beach.
 
 00:39:32.834 --> 00:39:34.166
 Our delegates
 would be instructed
 
 00:39:34.167 --> 00:39:36.998
 to try to restore support
 for AWOC.
 
 00:39:36.999 --> 00:39:39.998
 And that\'s where Maria Moreno
 was elected
 
 00:39:39.999 --> 00:39:41.998
 to head this delegation.
 
 00:39:41.999 --> 00:39:45.042
 [ Applause ]
 
 00:39:45.792 --> 00:39:47.208
 -The convention\'s main speaker
 
 00:39:47.209 --> 00:39:49.998
 was the President of
 the United States,
 
 00:39:49.999 --> 00:39:52.626
 John F. Kennedy.
 
 00:39:54.375 --> 00:39:56.998
 - One of the great qualities
 about the United States,
 
 00:39:56.999 --> 00:39:58.666
 which I don\'t think
 people realize
 
 00:39:58.667 --> 00:40:00.998
 who are not in
 the labor movement,
 
 00:40:00.999 --> 00:40:02.249
 is what a great asset
 for freedom
 
 00:40:02.250 --> 00:40:04.998
 the American labor
 movement represents.
 
 00:40:04.999 --> 00:40:09.791
 - That is why the labor hater
 and labor baiter
 
 00:40:09.792 --> 00:40:13.999
 is virtually always
 a twin-headed creature.
 
 00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:20.833
 - We could save a great many
 more people than we do,
 
 00:40:20.834 --> 00:40:26.791
 if there was more understanding
 and less fear.
 
 00:40:26.792 --> 00:40:27.998
 -There are millions and millions
 
 00:40:27.999 --> 00:40:33.833
 and millions of unorganized
 workers in America
 
 00:40:33.834 --> 00:40:35.583
 who need the protection
 
 00:40:35.584 --> 00:40:39.998
 that only a trade union
 can provide them.
 
 00:40:39.999 --> 00:40:43.374
 - Don\'t you think that our
 children have their stomachs
 
 00:40:43.375 --> 00:40:47.998
 full like the rest of you people
 that has a union
 
 00:40:47.999 --> 00:40:48.999
 or had decent wages.
 
 00:40:49.000 --> 00:40:52.998
 We don\'t.
 I hope that you people help us.
 
 00:40:52.999 --> 00:40:55.998
 Brothers, I\'m very glad to be
 here tonight with you people.
 
 00:40:55.999 --> 00:40:57.998
 Thank you for your kindness.
 
 00:40:57.999 --> 00:41:00.958
 [ Applause ]
 
 00:41:00.959 --> 00:41:02.791
 ♪♪
 
 00:41:02.792 --> 00:41:05.291
 - She was such
 an effective spokesperson
 
 00:41:05.292 --> 00:41:06.999
 at this national
 convention that,
 
 00:41:07.000 --> 00:41:11.374
 in fact, support for AWOC
 was restored.
 
 00:41:11.375 --> 00:41:19.375
 The aftermath was a complete
 restructuring of the AWOC
 
 00:41:19.459 --> 00:41:21.374
 as an organization.
 
 00:41:21.375 --> 00:41:25.082
 A fellow named Al Green
 was brought in,
 
 00:41:25.083 --> 00:41:28.998
 who was an old labor hack.
 
 00:41:28.999 --> 00:41:33.666
 - What Green wanted was
 for the workers to come to him,
 
 00:41:33.667 --> 00:41:35.998
 and then he would go to
 the growers and say,
 
 00:41:35.999 --> 00:41:39.166
 \"Give us a dollar and a quarter
 an hour, or we\'ll strike you.\"
 
 00:41:39.167 --> 00:41:41.998
 Maria Moreno and her people
 would just go out
 
 00:41:41.999 --> 00:41:43.416
 and throw a picket line up
 and say,
 
 00:41:43.417 --> 00:41:45.998
 \"We\'ll go away
 after you give us a raise.\"
 
 00:41:45.999 --> 00:41:51.998
 She was a pain in the ass,
 but I say that in a nice way.
 
 00:41:51.999 --> 00:41:55.998
 She was aggressive,
 and she would not back off.
 
 00:41:55.999 --> 00:41:58.998
 - She wasn\'t afraid to say
 whatever she had to say,
 
 00:41:58.999 --> 00:42:05.249
 whether it was a politician
 or a worker or whatever.
 
 00:42:05.250 --> 00:42:09.041
 And I assume that\'s why
 they got rid of her.
 
 00:42:09.042 --> 00:42:11.998
 - There seems to have been
 a report picked up
 
 00:42:11.999 --> 00:42:18.998
 in some quarters that Maria
 had been fudging
 
 00:42:18.999 --> 00:42:21.208
 on her expense accounts,
 
 00:42:21.209 --> 00:42:23.291
 and I don\'t believe
 a word of it.
 
 00:42:23.292 --> 00:42:27.291
 She was an utterly
 honest person.
 
 00:42:27.292 --> 00:42:30.998
 I myself had been fired
 by Al Green,
 
 00:42:30.999 --> 00:42:34.998
 and there were a lot
 who resigned.
 
 00:42:34.999 --> 00:42:38.998
 And in the case of Maria...
 
 00:42:38.999 --> 00:42:39.751
 [ Exhales deeply]
 
 00:42:39.752 --> 00:42:43.791
 my explanation would be that
 Green had to find
 
 00:42:43.792 --> 00:42:48.249
 some rationale for
 letting her go,
 
 00:42:48.250 --> 00:42:51.999
 and that was a convenient one.
 
 00:42:53.250 --> 00:42:55.875
 -Under Al Green\'s iron rule,
 
 00:42:55.876 --> 00:42:59.208
 AWOC\'s organizing
 drive collapsed,
 
 00:42:59.209 --> 00:43:02.998
 and with it died the dream
 of a democratic union
 
 00:43:02.999 --> 00:43:05.042
 for farm workers.
 
 00:43:08.876 --> 00:43:10.998
 The same year that Maria
 left AWOC,
 
 00:43:10.999 --> 00:43:14.998
 Cesar Chavez, Gilbert Padilla,
 and Dolores Huerta
 
 00:43:14.999 --> 00:43:16.416
 launched a new farm
 worker organization
 
 00:43:16.417 --> 00:43:20.998
 that would eventually become
 the United Farm Workers.
 
 00:43:20.999 --> 00:43:21.876
 Wouldn\'t they have recruited
 
 00:43:21.877 --> 00:43:25.833
 a charismatic organizer
 like Maria?
 
 00:43:25.834 --> 00:43:27.166
 But in a letter to a colleague,
 
 00:43:27.167 --> 00:43:29.998
 Chavez said that
 their paths had crossed
 
 00:43:29.999 --> 00:43:33.292
 and that he considered
 Maria a rival.
 
 00:43:34.584 --> 00:43:37.583
 - She just said goodbye
 to the AWOC, and she said,
 
 00:43:37.584 --> 00:43:41.998
 \"I\'m going to start
 doing what is my vocation,
 
 00:43:41.999 --> 00:43:42.999
 what I should be doing.\"
 
 00:43:43.000 --> 00:43:44.416
 Which would be the same thing,
 you know,
 
 00:43:44.417 --> 00:43:49.458
 only in a different way,
 because she still helped people.
 
 00:43:49.459 --> 00:43:55.041
 She still advocated
 for the people
 
 00:43:55.042 --> 00:43:57.208
 in everything that she could.
 
 00:43:57.209 --> 00:44:03.416
 ♪♪
 
 00:44:03.417 --> 00:44:04.666
 - In the middle of the night,
 she left.
 
 00:44:04.667 --> 00:44:08.998
 She took the youngest,
 which was Tito, Eva, Yolanda,
 
 00:44:08.999 --> 00:44:12.583
 Libby, and Alex with her.
 
 00:44:12.584 --> 00:44:14.625
 And she put a letter
 under our door.
 
 00:44:14.626 --> 00:44:17.999
 Like, she had left us,
 you know, wow.
 
 00:44:18.999 --> 00:44:22.666
 - I remember her putting us
 in a little Falcon,
 
 00:44:22.667 --> 00:44:24.082
 and blankets in the back,
 
 00:44:24.083 --> 00:44:29.998
 and we fell asleep,
 but looking up at the stars.
 
 00:44:29.999 --> 00:44:34.998
 ♪♪
 
 00:44:34.999 --> 00:44:39.249
 ♪♪
 
 00:44:39.250 --> 00:44:42.583
 When I woke up, we were
 in the middle of the desert.
 
 00:44:42.584 --> 00:44:43.998
 Like nothing.
 
 00:44:43.999 --> 00:44:48.998
 I mean absolutely nothing.
 
 00:44:48.999 --> 00:44:51.208
 ♪♪
 
 00:44:51.209 --> 00:44:56.998
 But God is so good
 that he lead her to this place
 
 00:44:56.999 --> 00:45:01.583
 where there was
 a huge tank of water.
 
 00:45:01.584 --> 00:45:03.167
 And she says...
 
 00:45:09.292 --> 00:45:12.666
 ♪♪
 
 00:45:12.667 --> 00:45:16.998
 Every morning,
 Mom would leave with her Bible.
 
 00:45:16.999 --> 00:45:23.999
 She would go consult God
 and see what he wanted from her.
 
 00:45:27.375 --> 00:45:31.998
 She would draw a huge circle
 and tell us,
 
 00:45:31.999 --> 00:45:33.833
 \"You stay in this circle,
 
 00:45:33.834 --> 00:45:38.626
 and as long as you are here,
 nothing can harm you.\"
 
 00:45:40.209 --> 00:45:47.249
 - When everything goes out,
 the only hope we have is God.
 
 00:45:47.250 --> 00:45:50.998
 Whenever we\'re lonesome,
 we pray.
 
 00:45:50.999 --> 00:45:53.998
 Whenever we don\'t have
 nothing, we sing.
 
 00:45:53.999 --> 00:45:57.041
 We get together,
 and we start singing a song,
 
 00:45:57.042 --> 00:46:00.998
 \"Everywhere I Go is My Home.\"
 
 00:46:00.999 --> 00:46:02.958
 ♪♪
 
 00:46:02.959 --> 00:46:08.458
 [ Singing in Spanish ]
 
 00:46:08.459 --> 00:46:14.249
 ♪♪
 
 00:46:14.250 --> 00:46:19.998
 ♪♪
 
 00:46:19.999 --> 00:46:21.998
 -My dad couldn\'t leave his job.
 
 00:46:21.999 --> 00:46:23.500
 Somebody had to support us.
 
 00:46:23.501 --> 00:46:27.998
 So he stayed behind
 with the older kids
 
 00:46:27.999 --> 00:46:29.998
 because they were working.
 
 00:46:29.999 --> 00:46:31.998
 But later on, you know,
 he had to.
 
 00:46:31.999 --> 00:46:35.416
 He had to follow because
 that was also his vocation.
 
 00:46:35.417 --> 00:46:38.998
 - Eventually we ended up
 over there with her,
 
 00:46:38.999 --> 00:46:39.584
 because, you know.
 
 00:46:39.585 --> 00:46:40.958
 First of all,
 because we missed Mom
 
 00:46:40.959 --> 00:46:45.167
 and because...
 Well, we just missed her.
 
 00:46:45.876 --> 00:46:49.249
 - And then later on,
 people started coming.
 
 00:46:49.250 --> 00:46:53.999
 They would cross the border,
 cross the desert,
 
 00:46:54.000 --> 00:46:56.833
 asking and looking for work.
 
 00:46:56.834 --> 00:46:59.500
 And then they didn\'t have
 a place to stay,
 
 00:46:59.501 --> 00:47:04.833
 so mother would bring them
 to our home.
 
 00:47:04.834 --> 00:47:06.166
 And she let them know,
 
 00:47:06.167 --> 00:47:09.998
 \"Hey, I am a Christian woman,
 I believe in God.
 
 00:47:09.999 --> 00:47:12.500
 So we have a time for worship,
 
 00:47:12.501 --> 00:47:15.998
 so I would like
 for you to join us.\"
 
 00:47:15.999 --> 00:47:19.998
 [ Singing in Spanish ]
 
 00:47:19.999 --> 00:47:21.999
 - This is the original
 infrastructure.
 
 00:47:22.000 --> 00:47:23.000
 - Yeah, uh-huh.
 - To the camp.
 
 00:47:23.001 --> 00:47:26.666
 - And this one, too.
 - And this one right here.
 
 00:47:26.667 --> 00:47:28.958
 Look at the house, Chubby.
 - Yeah.
 
 00:47:28.959 --> 00:47:30.416
 -We actually built that house.
 
 00:47:30.417 --> 00:47:31.998
 - With Daddy.
 - I can\'t believe it.
 
 00:47:31.999 --> 00:47:35.208
 - This is really pretty.
 I like this one.
 
 00:47:35.209 --> 00:47:39.041
 - Oh, Martie, these pictures
 go back a long time.
 
 00:47:39.042 --> 00:47:40.750
 - Here\'s where we started
 the altar,
 
 00:47:40.751 --> 00:47:42.998
 with what, four little stones.
 - Four.
 
 00:47:42.999 --> 00:47:47.500
 - We learned to defend ourselves
 with prayer.
 
 00:47:47.501 --> 00:47:49.208
 - So true.
 - Prayer.
 
 00:47:49.209 --> 00:47:51.500
 - She would say, \"There\'s
 nobody\'s going to help you
 
 00:47:51.501 --> 00:47:52.833
 on this earth without God.
 
 00:47:52.834 --> 00:47:55.291
 You need Him in your life.\"
 That was Mom.
 
 00:47:55.292 --> 00:47:56.998
 Martie, every time
 I see these pictures,
 
 00:47:56.999 --> 00:47:59.833
 I don\'t know,
 something quivers within me.
 
 00:47:59.834 --> 00:48:00.998
 -Yeah.
 
 00:48:00.999 --> 00:48:05.998
 ♪♪
 
 00:48:05.999 --> 00:48:08.998
 - For over a decade, the family
 lived in the desert
 
 00:48:08.999 --> 00:48:14.000
 while Maria pursued her calling
 as a Pentecostal minister.
 
 00:48:14.999 --> 00:48:16.998
 It was a return to her roots.
 
 00:48:16.999 --> 00:48:18.416
 Her father had been a preacher,
 
 00:48:18.417 --> 00:48:21.998
 and she was following
 in his footsteps.
 
 00:48:21.999 --> 00:48:23.998
 Then she moved her family
 to the border,
 
 00:48:23.999 --> 00:48:26.999
 where she felt
 she could do the most good.
 
 00:48:27.000 --> 00:48:31.041
 She called her ministry
 Pregoneros de Justicia,
 
 00:48:31.042 --> 00:48:34.082
 Cryers for Justice.
 
 00:48:34.083 --> 00:48:35.998
 - Oh my God, I saw this
 truck coming down,
 
 00:48:35.999 --> 00:48:38.875
 and I just thought
 it was the Mexican Hillbillies.
 
 00:48:38.876 --> 00:48:40.998
 And they came in
 an old, old truck,
 
 00:48:40.999 --> 00:48:47.250
 and they had tires piled up on
 top of the truck and everything.
 
 00:48:48.417 --> 00:48:52.998
 They would stop along the road
 and either pick tomatoes,
 
 00:48:52.999 --> 00:48:54.583
 onions, whatever they could,
 
 00:48:54.584 --> 00:48:57.249
 you know,
 to make a dollar here or there.
 
 00:48:57.250 --> 00:49:01.998
 Her ministry took her all over,
 from San Jose, California,
 
 00:49:01.999 --> 00:49:06.082
 all the way deep into Mexico.
 
 00:49:06.083 --> 00:49:08.374
 They would go from town to town.
 
 00:49:08.375 --> 00:49:12.082
 It was like
 the Church of the Four Winds
 
 00:49:12.083 --> 00:49:16.500
 because there was no walls,
 just chairs.
 
 00:49:16.501 --> 00:49:18.998
 -[ Singing in Spanish ]
 
 00:49:18.999 --> 00:49:24.249
 ♪♪
 
 00:49:24.250 --> 00:49:28.998
 ♪♪
 
 00:49:28.999 --> 00:49:32.374
 - As the years went by,
 we built a mission.
 
 00:49:32.375 --> 00:49:36.458
 From there, we would
 distribute clothes and food
 
 00:49:36.459 --> 00:49:38.249
 that people would give us.
 
 00:49:38.250 --> 00:49:40.998
 So if you go across
 San Luis, Arizona,
 
 00:49:40.999 --> 00:49:41.999
 across San Luis, Mexico,
 
 00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:44.998
 there\'s very few people
 that don\'t know about my mother
 
 00:49:44.999 --> 00:49:48.249
 because she touched
 a lot of hearts.
 
 00:49:48.250 --> 00:49:50.998
 - She used to tell me,
 \"Tienes fé hija?\"
 
 00:49:50.999 --> 00:49:51.667
 You have faith?
 
 00:49:51.668 --> 00:49:54.500
 \"Come on with me,\" she goes,
 \"Cause I have to be
 
 00:49:54.501 --> 00:49:57.998
 at this church service tonight.\"
 
 00:49:57.999 --> 00:49:59.998
 And I would go with her,
 you know,
 
 00:49:59.999 --> 00:50:02.583
 with my baby
 strapped on my back.
 
 00:50:02.584 --> 00:50:04.750
 And we would stand
 on the freeway, and she goes,
 
 00:50:04.751 --> 00:50:07.750
 \"Ahora sí hija, levanta el dedo.
 Boom. Ese carro.\"
 
 00:50:07.751 --> 00:50:10.998
 She knew that car
 is gonna pick us up.
 
 00:50:10.999 --> 00:50:13.750
 \"Ese carro nos va a levanter,
 alza el dedo.\"
 
 00:50:13.751 --> 00:50:16.958
 And I\'d go like that,
 and boom, sure enough.
 
 00:50:16.959 --> 00:50:19.998
 We\'d get a ride all the way
 to the border, get off.
 
 00:50:19.999 --> 00:50:21.249
 And as soon as we would get off,
 
 00:50:21.250 --> 00:50:23.999
 it seemed like
 somebody was waiting for us.
 
 00:50:24.000 --> 00:50:26.958
 -[ Singing in Spanish ]
 
 00:50:26.959 --> 00:50:34.959
 ♪♪
 
 00:50:34.999 --> 00:50:42.999
 ♪♪
 
 00:50:43.584 --> 00:50:50.998
 ♪♪
 
 00:50:50.999 --> 00:50:56.666
 - My mother, when she found out
 that she had breast cancer,
 
 00:50:56.667 --> 00:50:57.998
 that didn\'t stop her.
 
 00:50:57.999 --> 00:51:01.249
 -[ Singing in Spanish ]
 
 00:51:01.250 --> 00:51:07.998
 ♪♪
 
 00:51:07.999 --> 00:51:13.998
 ♪♪
 
 00:51:13.999 --> 00:51:16.998
 [ Singing in Spanish ]
 
 00:51:16.999 --> 00:51:24.998
 ♪♪
 
 00:51:24.999 --> 00:51:32.458
 ♪♪
 
 00:51:32.459 --> 00:51:37.998
 - She had started a mission
 a few months behind, back.
 
 00:51:37.999 --> 00:51:42.998
 She had started a mission with
 another brother, another pastor.
 
 00:51:42.999 --> 00:51:45.666
 And she\'d always say,
 \"Cuando me levante de aquí\"...
 
 00:51:45.667 --> 00:51:48.500
 When I get up from this bed
 I\'m going to finish this,
 
 00:51:48.501 --> 00:51:49.958
 I\'m going to do this.
 
 00:51:49.959 --> 00:51:54.999
 Of course she never did,
 but she knew that we would.
 
 00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:58.583
 -My mom was a unique person.
 
 00:51:58.584 --> 00:52:03.791
 And, uh, no one can top her.
 
 00:52:03.792 --> 00:52:06.583
 One day, they asked me
 to go speak,
 
 00:52:06.584 --> 00:52:09.625
 and I told the congregation,
 I says,
 
 00:52:09.626 --> 00:52:13.958
 \"You\'re gonna hear me speak.
 
 00:52:13.959 --> 00:52:17.291
 Maria Moreno is no longer here.
 
 00:52:17.292 --> 00:52:19.999
 You all knew how she spoke,
 
 00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:22.208
 how did she carry herself,\"
 I says.
 
 00:52:22.209 --> 00:52:25.998
 \"But her shoes are still
 too big for me.\"
 
 00:52:25.999 --> 00:52:29.998
 So, and then this man
 told me, he says,
 
 00:52:29.999 --> 00:52:33.208
 after I spoke and all that,
 he came and gave me a hug.
 
 00:52:33.209 --> 00:52:36.833
 He says, \"Don\'t worry about
 your mother\'s shoes.\"
 
 00:52:36.834 --> 00:52:39.584
 He says,
 \"You\'ll make your own.\"
 
 00:52:41.667 --> 00:52:43.998
 ♪♪
 
 00:52:43.999 --> 00:52:47.625
 - There\'s one more step
 on the journey.
 
 00:52:47.626 --> 00:52:50.998
 The family travels hundreds
 of miles from Texas,
 
 00:52:50.999 --> 00:52:53.291
 Arizona, and California.
 
 00:52:53.292 --> 00:52:55.041
 - And the house
 was right about here.
 
 00:52:55.042 --> 00:52:57.998
 - Yep.
 - \'Cause the water pump
 
 00:52:57.999 --> 00:52:58.999
 was right there.
 
 00:52:59.000 --> 00:53:00.998
 - They\'re returning to their
 desert home
 
 00:53:00.999 --> 00:53:05.998
 for the first time in 40 years.
 
 00:53:05.999 --> 00:53:08.750
 - There\'s nothing that shows.
 - Nothing.
 
 00:53:08.751 --> 00:53:09.998
 -[ Speaking Spanish ]
 
 00:53:09.999 --> 00:53:14.750
 - I don\'t want to break my neck.
 I\'m not gonna...
 
 00:53:14.751 --> 00:53:16.166
 -Run to the tank!
 
 00:53:16.167 --> 00:53:17.998
 Somebody\'s coming.
 
 00:53:17.999 --> 00:53:19.166
 -Somebody\'s coming.
 
 00:53:19.167 --> 00:53:22.458
 - I\'m trying to look for
 some handprints, initials.
 
 00:53:22.459 --> 00:53:24.208
 I don\'t see nothin\' here.
 - Here, let me try.
 
 00:53:24.209 --> 00:53:24.999
 -No, Libby.
 
 00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:26.998
 - I trying to look for some...
 - Can you make it?
 
 00:53:26.999 --> 00:53:30.166
 - Yeah, I can make it.
 - You\'re gonna break that thing.
 
 00:53:30.167 --> 00:53:31.998
 -There should be water in there.
 
 00:53:31.999 --> 00:53:33.082
 Remember when Joe used
 to get in there,
 
 00:53:33.083 --> 00:53:35.998
 one time he got in there
 and started to clean it?
 
 00:53:35.999 --> 00:53:38.583
 - You\'re not going to be
 able to make that.
 
 00:53:38.584 --> 00:53:40.249
 -Yes, I am.
 
 00:53:40.250 --> 00:53:41.998
 -By doggone it, yes, I will.
 
 00:53:41.999 --> 00:53:44.998
 - But you\'re not gonna to be
 able to get into the top.
 
 00:53:44.999 --> 00:53:48.999
 I\'m not gonna try it.
 - Libby, be careful.
 
 00:53:49.167 --> 00:53:51.082
 -Go ahead. I got you.
 
 00:53:51.083 --> 00:53:54.166
 - Ah, Libia.
 - I made it.
 
 00:53:54.167 --> 00:53:55.998
 -Hold her by the pants.
 
 00:53:55.999 --> 00:53:58.500
 Got it?
 - It\'s got water.
 
 00:53:58.501 --> 00:53:58.999
 -Well, duh.
 
 00:53:59.000 --> 00:54:01.041
 - You don\'t want to go up there
 any further?
 
 00:54:01.042 --> 00:54:03.999
 -No, let her get down.
 
 00:54:05.999 --> 00:54:07.249
 -I think this is a...
 
 00:54:07.250 --> 00:54:08.998
 -[ Speaking Spanish ]
 
 00:54:08.999 --> 00:54:12.083
 - Yeah, right here.
 - All the way over here.
 
 00:55:12.083 --> 00:55:15.751
 -Oh, Mama.
 
 00:55:22.999 --> 00:55:25.792
 [ Sighs ]
 
 00:55:31.999 --> 00:55:32.999
 -I know.
 
 00:55:33.000 --> 00:55:34.291
 [ Speaking Spanish ]
 
 00:55:34.292 --> 00:55:36.583
 - Are we gonna make
 another fire here?
 
 00:55:36.584 --> 00:55:37.999
 You\'d better close the door.
 
 00:55:38.000 --> 00:55:41.666
 -[ Speaking Spanish ]
 
 00:55:41.667 --> 00:55:44.666
 - Okay, this is the last time
 we\'ll come back, I guess.
 
 00:55:44.667 --> 00:55:47.374
 You better
 make sure it\'s locked.
 
 00:55:47.375 --> 00:55:50.750
 ♪♪
 
 00:55:50.751 --> 00:55:52.500
 Well, I\'m going to sit down.
 
 00:55:52.501 --> 00:55:55.998
 - Before you fall.
 - No, not yet.
 
 00:55:55.999 --> 00:56:03.999
 ♪♪
 
 00:56:04.167 --> 00:56:12.167
 ♪♪
 
 00:56:12.292 --> 00:56:17.998
 [ Singing in Spanish ]
 
 00:56:17.999 --> 00:56:25.999
 ♪♪
 
 00:56:26.999 --> 00:56:34.999
 ♪♪
 
 00:56:35.999 --> 00:56:43.999
 ♪♪
 
 00:56:44.999 --> 00:56:52.999
 ♪♪
 
 00:56:53.999 --> 00:57:01.999
 ♪♪
 
 00:57:02.999 --> 00:57:10.999
 ♪♪
 
 00:57:11.999 --> 00:57:19.999
 ♪♪
 
 00:57:20.999 --> 00:57:28.999
 ♪♪
 
 00:57:29.999 --> 00:57:37.999
 ♪♪
 
 00:57:38.999 --> 00:57:46.999
 ♪♪
 
 00:57:47.999 --> 00:57:55.999
 ♪♪
