Victory

Fidelia Carrisoza smiling with her daughter in the background.

Fidelia Carrisoza, pictured above, was an active organizer who recruited workers to join the strike and wrote "el corrido dedicado a los 1,000 de Watsonville*" to commemorate striker's victory.  After the strike she told reporters "It was like going to school... We learned how the government works, the police, the banks... We could never go back to the way we were before the strike" (Turner, 38).

This song is dedicated to the strikers.  It is a Corrido Links to an external site. or ballad, commonly used to share stories about heroic or tragic deeds. It tells the story of the brave women strikers; the scabs, police, and press that tried to break the strike; the hunger strike and the strikers' victory. 

*Ballad dedicated to the Watsonville 1,000

Questions  

  • How might a song or poem be used to build support for and solidarity with the strikers in their community?
  • How does using the form of the corrido enhance and solidify the legacy of the strikers?

Text version of the song below (Corrido Dedicado a los 1000 de Watsonville) Download Text version of the song below (Corrido Dedicado a los 1000 de Watsonville)

Translation of the song below. Links to an external site.

Image described in link aboveImage described in link above

Turner, Steve. " Strike Town U.S.A." San Francisco Examiner, 7 June 1987.

“Corrido dedicado a los 1000 de Watsonville.” Frank Bardacke Watsonville Canneries Strike Records, larc.ms.0093, Labor Archives & Research Center, San Francisco State University.

Translation by Omar Mendoza.