Professor Mabalon Discusses Keeping Farmworker Movement Relevant

FRESNO BEE -- California Humanities hosted the fifth in its six-part series of statewide forums at the Fresno Art Museum. “The Farmworker Movement in California: From Chavez Onwards” featured Luis Valdez, playwright and co-founder of El Teatro Campesino, Miriam Pawel, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former Los Angeles Times reporter, Dawn Mabalon, associate History professor at San Francisco State University, and Samuel Orozco, national news director at Radio Bilingue. Mabalon said the next generation of organizers should be trained through ethnic studies classes, where they can learn about the contributions of Filipinos and Mexicans to the labor movement and social justice. “We can’t wake them up when they’re in their 20s and 30s, because they’re gone,” she said.