Confronting Legacy While Continuing the Fight for Justice

Mónica Ramírez

Posted March 26, 2026

Like so many of you, I was shocked and dismayed to learn of the allegations against César Chávez. The reporting published last week is deeply disturbing and painful to read. As a member of the farmworker community and the farmworker movement, I was heartbroken when I heard this news and have struggled to reconcile it with the legacy that has shaped so many of us. Farmworker community members have been subjected to a range of violations and harms at the hands of many people, which is why it is truly devastating to hear these allegations against a leader who fought to improve farmworker rights and protections. It feels incongruent with the memory that we have of him and, yet, both things can be true at the same time. We have to be willing to confront what has been reported, even when it is painful and challenges what we have long believed.

My heart is with Dolores Huerta and the other survivors who have bravely come forward to share what they have experienced. We remain unwavering in our commitment to them and to all survivors. This situation is not easy for anyone, but it is certainly most difficult for the survivors who have spoken out. We also have to acknowledge that too often, harm within movements has been minimized or ignored—and we cannot repeat that pattern now.

This moment calls on all of us to ensure that people who have been harmed are supported and that accountability is not set aside to protect legacy.

To the Chávez and Huerta families, the United Farm Workers union, and to every single person who makes the farmworker movement strong, I imagine that you are reeling. I am thinking of so many people who shaped this movement, including Dolores Huerta, and the many women whose contributions and experiences are part of its history. Movements are possible because of the millions of people who make them possible, not because of one person or one leader.

This moment calls on all of us to ensure that people who have been harmed are supported and that accountability is not set aside to protect legacy. In this moment, let us all double down on protecting women and all people in farmworker communities, ensuring their safety, dignity, and rights are always upheld.

Our responsibility now is to move forward with integrity: to seek truth, support survivors, and ensure that our work reflects the values we claim to uphold. May we remain loyal to the cause of justice. May we also remain focused on our work and our shared mission to serve the farmworker community, to provide education, information, and support during this difficult time and always.

As we continue to process, we share the following resources for support, care, and healing.

Mónica Ramírez, Founder and President, Justice for Migrant Women.