Final answer:
Cesar Chavez was a Latino civil rights activist and labor leader who co-founded the United Farm Workers to combat economic inequality and improve the conditions for migrant farmworkers. His activism included nonviolent protests, hunger strikes, and the successful nationwide grape boycott, affecting change in the U.S. labor movement and advancing workers' rights.
Step-by-step explanation:
Cesar Chavez was a prominent Latino activist and labor leader who fought tirelessly for the rights of migrant farmworkers, many of whom were of Mexican origin like himself. As a U.S. citizen well acquainted with the hardships agricultural workers faced, Chavez became an advocate for economic equity and co-founded the United Farm Workers (UFW) with Dolores Huerta. The UFW's systematic approach included strikes and consumer boycotts, particularly the nationwide boycott of California grapes, which eventually led California grape growers to recognize the UFW and improve labor conditions.
Inspired by the principles of nonviolent protest modeled by Mahatma Gandhi, Chavez also undertook a hunger strike in 1968, emphasizing the severity of farmworkers' plight. His activism, in collaboration with other leaders like Dolores Huerta, and the UFW, played a critical role in securing essential rights and contracts for farmworkers previously unprotected under federal labor laws. By the mid-1970s, his efforts had unionized 50,000 workers and brought national awareness to the intersection of ethnicity and class within the American labor movement.