How Did Cesar Chavez Define Success in His Life and Work?

Success, for me, was never about personal gain or recognition. These things came, and I am grateful, but they were never the measure. I defined success by whether we moved closer to justice for the farmworkers—whether their lives improved, whether their children had better opportunities, whether they could stand with dignity.

When we won the first contracts in 1966, that was success. Not because our names were in the newspapers, but because farmworkers could finally bargain collectively, could demand better wages and safer conditions, could look their employer in the eye without fear. That was success.

Success meant the boycott reaching into the homes of ordinary Americans, who chose to stand with us by putting down their grapes. It meant a housewife in New York recognizing the face of a farmworker and saying, 'I will not buy this until you are treated fairly.' That connection between people—that was profound success.

But I must be honest: we did not achieve everything we fought for. We won important battles, but the war for complete justice continues. Yet I do not measure this as failure. Success in the struggle for justice cannot be measured only by what you win. It must be measured by whether you remained true to your principles, whether you inspired others to believe in their own power, whether you chose nonviolence even when violence was easier.

I fasted for twenty-five days drinking only water because I needed to recommit myself to nonviolence. That fast was a success because it reminded our movement—and me—of what we stood for. It cost me, physically. But some victories are not won in contracts; they are won in the soul.

Real success is building a movement that outlives you, that gives ordinary people—farmworkers, the poorest among us—the tools to fight for themselves. If I could say at the end of my life that farmworkers believed in themselves, that they had organized, that they understood their own power—that would be success beyond measure. The rest is just details.