Module Overview

Read and white print of Cesar Chavez with marchers and the words “Viva la huelga”

Introduction

Chicano art emerged from the Chicano movement, and many of its most renowned artists are directly tied to labor and civil rights activism. Cesar Chavez understood the power of symbols, and actively recruited artists to amplify the message of the movement (Benavidades, 1993; Zapata, 2019; Ramos, 2020). Chicano artists drew on a long Mexican tradition of using art as a tool for struggle with direct forebears in collectives such as the Taller de Gráfica Popular Links to an external site..

Cesar Chavez's brother Richard Chavez designed the UFW black eagle logo in 1962.  Chavez requested a logo that was minimalist and could be easily reproduced. Its simple yet powerful design conveyed Mexican, Indigenous, and Catholic iconography (Zapata 50).  Art historian Claudia Zapata describes the logo as graphically legible and observes that "visually spare and easy to replicate, the UFW's black eagle became the unofficial logo for the entirety of the 1960s and 1970s Chicano rights movements" (49). Art historian Carmen Ramos describes these Chicano graphics as "... active, emotional, and emboldened figures" with "bold lettering, declarative text, and eye-popping color" (31-32).  Ramos also describes Chavez's role in the Chicano art movement as a "patron, instigator, supporter, and inspiration" who was keenly aware of the power of art and symbols in social movements (32).

The primary sources in this module show the UFW logo in action and illustrate some of the ways these images were used to rally workers, build solidarity, and create community.

Learning Outcomes

Through this module, students will be able to: 

  • Analyze how social movements have used art to communicate, organize, and advocate
  • Discuss the visual language of the United Farm Workers
  • Analyze the use of images by the United Farm Workers using primary sources such as flags, banners, labels, buttons, newspapers, and videos

Overview of Sources

This module examines the visual language of the United Farm Workers, and specifically the use of the UFW  black eagle logo in different settings.  Each primary source includes guiding questions.  

  • Flags & Banners: UFW Flag, NFWA Banner
  • Posters: Una Sola Unión, Solidaridad
  • Labels: Farmworkers AFL-CIO Union Label
  • Buttons: Boycott Grapes, Boycott Grapes/Viva La Causa, Huelga Delano, Hasta la Victoria Siempre en Salinas Valley, Justicia y Dignidad, Support Strawberry Workers
  • El Malcriado: El Malcriado no. 33, El Malcriado no. 46
  • Teatro Campesino: Farm Workers' Theatre, Huelga

This module was created by Cabrillo College Links to an external site. Librarians Michelle Morton and Aloha Sargent and Labor Archives Research Center Links to an external site. Director Tanya Hollis.

"Viva la huelga!"  Labor Archives Research Center, San Francisco State University.

Benavidez, Max. "Cesar Chavez Nurtured Seeds of Art Links to an external site.." Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 1993, pp. 1. 

Ittmann, John W., et al. Mexico and Modern Printmaking: A Revolution in the Graphic Arts, 1920 to 1950 Links to an external site.. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2006.

Musacchio, Humberto. El Taller de Gráfica Popular Links to an external site.. Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2007.

Ramos, E. Carmen, et al. ¡Printing the Revolution! : The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now Links to an external site.. Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2020.

Zapata, Claudia.  "Branding 'Death' In A High-Tech Boycott:  United Farm Workers and the Wrath of Grapes Campaign Links to an external site.."  Journal of Latino/Latino-American Studies, vol. 10 no. 1, 2019, pp. 48-69.