Manda y Peregrinación
Striker Anita Contreras, pictured below, proposed a manda y peregrinación, or an offering and pilgrimage, to ask God to intervene on behalf of the strikers. After a five-day hunger strike strikers proceeded on their knees for a half mile from the plant on Walker Street to St. Patrick's Church on Main Street. Contreras would later see an apparition of the Virgen de Guadalupe in the bark of a tree at Pinto Lake that has since been a shrine visited by pilgrims.
One article below identifies the leader of the procession as Anita Contreras, the other identifies her sister Esperanza Contreras. Both sisters participated in the pilgrimage, with twenty-some other pilgrims and several children.
Questions
- What role might the faith of the workers play in their sense of purpose?
- How is the use of a religious tradition, the pilgimage, a way for the strikers to unite with the community?
Text of article Below (PDF) Download Text of article Below (PDF)
"New Hope in Watsonville Strike Links to an external site.." Santa Cruz Sentinel, 11 Mar. 1987, Santa Cruz Public Library Local History.
"Pilgrimage." Register Pajaronian, 11 Mar. 1987, pg. 15.
Note: The Register Pajaronian is available online through the Watsonville Public Library.