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Chavez, Flora (audio interview #3 of 5)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the third of five long interviews with Flora Chavez, conducted at the CSO (Community Services Organization) Center, next door to her house, in Venice. The Center was a hub of activity, and although the interviews were conducted in the quietest space that could be found, there was constant background noise and interruptions. Because of this background noise, the audio quality for most of this interview is only fair, and poor for side d. This is unfortunate, because these sides of the tape focus on her civil rights activity, and her relationship with some of the local and national leaders, including Fannie Lou Hamer. 12/5/1980
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- *** File: rrrfchavez8.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-4:53)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is fair. Although her behavior was frowned upon, Chavez never received any negative feedback from her White co-workers about eating lunch with the Black employees. Lockheed did not have an official policy of segregation and Blacks simply chose to sit by themselves during lunch breaks. Initially, Chavez was not welcomed in their group, but they eventually warmed up to her and she became well acquainted with many of her Black co-workers inside the plant. Just as employees accepted segregation, they also accepted the disabled people employed in the plant. Chavez periodically helped a man on her shift reach his time card because he was disabled. (4:53-6:46)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is fair. She did not socialize with her Black co-workers after work, indicating that she did not have much time for an active social life during the war. Besides, "people had the feeling that it was wrong for us to be living it up and being happy when the boys were over there [fighting]." (6:46-11:47)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is fair. Her civil rights activities began in the 1960s when she became the secretary for Earl Walters, the organizer of a group she names as the United Civil Rights Committee (UCRC). Her activities included registering Black voters and introducing them to ballot procedures. In conjunction with CORE leaders and other civil rights organizations in the Los Angeles area, members of the UCRC traveled to Alabama and participated in the freedom rides. (11:47-18:33)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is fair. Chavez notes that she encountered the most minority workers during the war when she worked at the Lockheed plant on 7th and Sante Fe. That is where she began eating lunch with her Black co-workers. There also were minorities employed in the shipyards. It was unclear whether she lived in San Diego or Los Angeles when she worked in a shipyard. She moved to San Diego while her brother was stationed there during the war. She talks about living in San Diego and her trips to Tijuana to purchase silk stockings. (18:33-27:18)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is fair. Chavez was arrested on many occasions during civil rights demonstrations in Los Angeles, but was never actually booked on charges. While she was marching on one occasion, she was shocked when a bystander urinated on her. She once marched in front of a Pasadena auditorium where a KKK convention was being held. On another occasion, Chavez and the UCRC picketed a business practicing racial discrimination. During this demonstration, an older woman drove her vehicle into their picketing line in retaliation. End of tape. *** File: rrrfchavez9.mp3 (0:00-4:21)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor. Chavez gave birth to her first child when she was eighteen or nineteen years old. At that time, New Mexico had the highest infant mortality rates in the US. Once she was old enough to vote, she supported bills that increased healthcare benefits for mothers and children. She discusses her political efforts regarding this issue (but the poor sound quality makes it difficult to follow the specifics of the conversation). (4:21-7:44)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor. Chavez tried to recall when and how she got involved in CORE and UCRC and she also discusses some of her activities with these organizations during the civil rights movement. (7:44-11:41)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor. Initially, there was some rivalry between civil rights groups in Los Angeles until Earl Walters and the UCRC united groups like CORE and the NAACP and convinced leaders to work together in their struggle for equality. (11:41-12:25)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor. There were several Whites involved in the UCRC. Whenever rallies were held in Los Angeles, local politicians were invited to participate in the demonstrations. Although she names some of these politicians, it is difficult to understand her responses because of poor audio quality. (12:25-19:53)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor. Chavez discusses picketing and the arrests during civil rights demonstrations. The UCRC and the civil rights groups in Los Angeles picketed city and state agencies that discriminated against minorities, including the Board of Education. She describes the changes she expects to see in education so that every ethnic group receives an equal education. (19:53-29:59)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor. Chavez frequently went to demonstrations after her shifts in the aircraft plant. She talks about some of the demonstrations she was involved in after the war, and the ensuing police brutality and violence. However, it is difficult to understand this portion of the discussion due to poor audio quality. End of tape. *** File: rrrfchavez10.mp3 (0:00-0:28)... Chavez briefly comments on poverty in minority communities. (0:28-10:00)... Chavez talks about Fanny Lou Hamer's activities during the Civil Rights Movement. She describes Lou Hamer as a wonderful woman full of energy and courage. Hamer frequently stayed with Chavez when she visited Los Angeles. On these occasions, Chavez enjoyed listening to Hamer talk about her experiences on the road. (10:00-15:14)... In addition to Fannie Lou Hamer, other civil rights leaders stayed with Chavez. Occasionally, Klansmen came to her home looking for civil rights activists. She continues to discuss Hamer's personality, indicating that she expressed nothing but love for those who harassed and/or beat her. (15:14-21:10)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is fair. Both Black and White religious organizations were active in the civil rights activities that took place in Los Angeles. She recalls when Martin Luther King came to Santa Monica and his sermon was poorly attended. "Of course Santa Monica was like that. They never really embraced civil rights," says Chavez. A Reverend Kyle organized the first civil rights march in Santa Monica, for which he was required to obtain a permit. The march was not as significant as those that took place in Los Angeles. (21:10-21:42)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is fair. Most of Chavez's civil rights work in Los Angeles involved "knocking on doors" and getting people registered to vote. (21:42-22:33)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is fair. Black business owners in the community were very supportive of the civil rights activities in Los Angeles. (22:33-28:11)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is fair. Although civil rights activists did not challenge Malcolm X and those involved in the Black nationalist movement, the two groups conflicted in their philosophies and their strategies for achieving equality. She recalls when Black nationalists organized a picketing campaign against a civil rights march in Los Angeles. She never had any contact with the Black Panthers or similar organizations, stating that civil rights activists were expressly opposed to the violent actions perpetrated by these groups. (28:11-30:28)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is fair. Chavez's activities in the Civil Rights Movement began to diminish when the UCRC was disbanded after Earl Walters died. By that time, however, activists had made a lot of gains and people were becoming less active in the movement. End of tape. *** File: rrrfchavez11.mp3 (0:00-1:29)... Chavez discusses the impact of Martin Luther King and Cesar Chavez on the Civil Rights Movement. She believes that King would still be peacefully organizing the movement if he was alive. (1:29-6:04)... Chavez was sick in bed during the Watts Riots. She was shocked by the riots because she had spent so much time there organizing voter drives with the UCRC during which she did not detect any signs of unrest. UCRC activities decreased some time before the riots broke out. As early as 1963, she was involved in a march from the Los Angeles City Hall to a park in Watts that was organized by James Meredith. After the riot, friends who lived in Watts told her that the people they saw looting and setting businesses on fire were strangers and did not reside in the neighborhood. (6:04-11:13)... Chavez discusses the voter registration drive organized by the UCRC during Tom Bradley's mayoral campaign. (11:13-17:00)... She was not involved in the rebuilding efforts that took place in Watts following the riots. Besides the addition of Martin Luther King Hospital, she thinks that there were very few improvements made to the city following the riots. She blames this lack of progress on the mismanagement of programs like the Poverty Program. Most of the money in the program was spent "at the top" on administration costs resulting in very few funds actually meeting the needs of those living in impoverished communities. (17:00-22:40)... Her involvement with the migrant farm workers began soon after Cesar Chavez organized the first march to Sacramento. Her efforts involved working with Cesar's cousin, Mrs. Rivas, and transporting food and supplies from East Los Angeles to Delano, sometimes twice a day. She describes the conditions she observed when she delivered supplies to the workers. She also discusses the gang activity she encountered while driving through East Los Angeles. (22:40-26:22)... During a late food delivery to Delano, Chavez was invited to stay the night at Cesar's home. His home was crowded with farm workers sleeping on the floor. In addition to guard dogs, Cesar's home was gated and patrolled by security guards. Although Chavez slept through the incident, she learned the next morning that someone had shot at the house and blew out the windows of a car parked in front of the residence. She was relieved when Cesar and his family left Delano because there were many attempts on their lives when they lived there. (26:22-27:29)... Cesar's children stayed with Chavez during their summer vacations and whenever they came to Los Angeles for medical and dental appointments. She spent most of her time with Cesar's two youngest children and was closest to them. (27:29-30:08)... Chavez continues to discuss her activities in the farm workers movement. When she was hired as an employee at the CSO in 1972, her activities with the farm workers decreased. End of tape.
- SUBJECT BIO - Flora Siler Chavez was working in various factory and service jobs for one year prior to going to work at Douglas in 1942. The third of seven children, Chavez grew up in a poor family on a small farm in New Mexico, where she lived with her mother and six siblings. At an early age she began to assume a heavy workload, and continued to work hard all her life. The family moved back and forth between Albuquerque and the Los Angeles area and after she married long time neighbor and playmate, Filiberto Chavez in Albuquerque, she moved to Los Angeles. Her husband didn't like it in Los Angeles, and returned to Albuquerque. This was the first of many separations in their married life. At the end of the war, Chavez returned to Albuquerque again for a year, and worked in a factory there. In 1946, she and her husband returned to Los Angeles, and she worked on and off for the next twenty six years in the aircraft industry (at Douglas, Lockheed and Hughes). Her activism in the union during the war was the beginning of her long career in the civil rights movement and her later engagement with Cesar Chavez and the United Farmworkers. After her retirement from the aircraft industry in 1972, she became the Project Director of CSO (Community Service Organization) in Venice, and continued to work and live and organize in the Chicano community in Venice. Despite her very busy schedule, Chavez was always willing to make time for the interviews, which were all conducted at the CSO Center next door to the house that she lived with her husband. The Center was always a hub of activity, and although the interviews were conducted in the quietest place of the Center, there was always background activity and noise, and frequent interruptions by phone calls or other Center-related business. All this makes it difficult to hear the narrator at times. Chavez spoke freely about her life, although she had some difficulties remembering specific details. As a result, the chronological sequence of events is sometimes difficult to follow. When Chavex died in September, 2003, the Los Angeles Times published a lengthy, laudatory obituary, testifying to the acknowledged value of her work and her importance as a grass roots community activists (September 14, 2003, B18). TOPICS - race relations; segregation in the plant; disabled employees; social life; civil rights activism; work in the shipyards; living in San Diego; marching and picketing activities with the UCRC; Note: the audio qualitychildbirth; healthcare; political activism; equal opportunity; UCRC activity; civil rights; Earl Walters; demonstrations and picketing; education; and violence and police brutality during demonstrations; Note: theFannie Lou Hamer; civil rights activity in Santa Monica; Malcolm X and Black nationalism; UCRC; and Earl Walters; Note: the audio quality of this interview is only fair;Martin Luther King; Cesar Chavez; Watts "Riot"; voter registration drive in Watts; mayoral campaign of Tom Bradley; Poverty Program; activities with migrant farm workers movement; violence towards farm workers; and
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