{"id":68397,"date":"2024-10-28T15:56:29","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T22:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=68397"},"modified":"2024-10-28T15:56:29","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T22:56:29","slug":"remembering-nagi-daifallah-whose-death-propelled-the-fight-for-farm-worker-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=68397","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Nagi Daifallah, Whose Death Propelled the Fight for Farm Worker Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By<\/span>Araceli Martinez<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The unveiling of a mural honoring the legacy of Nagi Daifallah, whose death at the hands of local law enforcement propelled the fight for farm worker rights. (Credit: Araceli Mart\u00ednez.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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POPLAR, Calif. \u2013 More than 50 years after the murder of Yemeni farm worker Nagi Daifallah, a diverse gathering of Poplar residents came together on a recent weekend to honor the organizer\u2019s memory, and to demand justice for his killing.<\/p>\n

Organizers also unveiled a mural inspired by the slain activist, whose death helped propel the fight for farm worker rights.<\/p>\n

The Oct. 20 gathering drew hundreds and reflected the rich diversity of this small, mostly agricultural community in California\u2019s Central Valley. Mexican, Filipino, Yemeni and Indigenous residents marched from the Larry Itliong Resource Center\u00a0\u2014 named for the celebrated Filipino civil rights leader\u00a0\u2014 to the newly named Nagi Daifallah Unity Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is the culmination of years of reflection on the work of our predecessors, especially Nagi Daifallah,\u201d said Arturo Rodr\u00edguez Le\u00f3n, director of the Poplar Community Services District, a position roughly akin to mayor.<\/p>\n

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Mari P\u00e9rez Ruiz (at podium) with the Central Valley Empowerment Alliance alongside Arturo Rodr\u00edguez Le\u00f3n (L), director of the Poplar Community Services District during the unveiling of a mural honoring the legacy of slain Yemeni farmworker Nagi Daifallah. (Credit: Araceli Mart\u00ednez)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Situated on the site of a former United Farm Workers (UFW) branch office, residents pushed for and eventually succeeded in winning the Poplar City Council\u2019s approval for the park\u2019s renaming in honor of Daifallah.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was here where the first fields were organized under contract with C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez and Larry Itliong,\u201d noted Rodr\u00edguez, adding that local white ranchers opposed to the organizing efforts quickly turned to violence in an attempt to suppress the movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is when the Arab community united with Filipinos and Mexicans to protect themselves and combat racism. The police didn\u2019t come to help. The following year they killed Nagi,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Not all in the community have embraced the mural.<\/p>\n

A campaign to remove it is currently underway, led by the Pleasant View Elementary School District and Lower Tule River Irrigation District, which have accused city officials of misappropriating funds designated for the park and have opened a Grand Jury investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ranchers who opposed the (UFW) and continue to oppress the community are the same ones who do not want the mural,\u201d said Rodr\u00edguez.<\/p>\n

A bridge between communities<\/h2>\n
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A diverse crowd marched from the Larry Itliong Resource Center to the newly named Nagi Daifallh Unity Park for the mural unveiling. (Credit: Araceli Mart\u00ednez)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Daifallah died at age 24 on the morning of August 15, 1973. He was among a group of picketers outside the Smokehouse Cafe in Lamont, California, some 70 miles south of Poplar, when a group of three Kern County sheriff\u2019s deputies arrived.<\/p>\n

Sheriff\u2019s Deputy Gilbert Cooper targeted picket captain Frank Quintana and attempted to arrest him for allegedly disturbing the peace.<\/p>\n

Quintana and the picketers fled, and when Daifallah began to run, Cooper caught up with him and hit him on the head with a metal flashlight, causing him to fall to the ground. The officers then dragged his unconscious body to their vehicle and refused to help him even as blood flowed from his head.<\/p>\n

Daifallah died later that day.<\/p>\n

An immigrant from Yemen, Daifallah taught himself English and Spanish. He worked as a translator and was a key go-between for Arabic- and Spanish-speaking farm workers looking to join the strike.<\/p>\n

In 1975, two years after his death, the state of California passed the Agricultural Labor Relations Act, which finally granted farm workers collective bargaining rights.<\/p>\n

Pushing for justice<\/h2>\n

Saqr Alrafai is a licensed chiropractor with offices in nearby Visalia. An immigrant from Yemen, he said he learned about Daifallah from the farm workers who are his patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started investigating, looking for any information that could lead not only to his legacy, but how his legacy impacted different communities,\u201d said Alrafai, who along with several others met with California State Attorney General Rob Bonta the day prior to the march seeking justice for Daifallah\u2019s killing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a meeting with the Attorney General, and we brought the family of Nagi\u2026 they expressed how devastated they were back home after he died,\u201d noted Alrafai, who said the group submitted a formal request for Bonta to open an investigation to determine if \u201cjustice was served our not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of the gains in farm worker rights have come because of the sacrifice of individuals like Daifallah, Alrafai stressed. \u201cIt\u2019s really important that we teach our kids, teach the next generations about those impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahmed Almori is\u00a072 and knew Daifallah personally, the two having once shared a room in one of the modest farm worker quarters that to this day many farm workers rely on for shelter. He described Daifallah as a hard-working man who liked to bring people together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he met C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez, he was very surprised with what he had started and wanted to join that group and expand it,\u201d said Almori, who recalled falling into a deep depression after Daifallah\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt brings back memories,\u201d said Almori, gazing at the crowd around him, and maybe \u201csome justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

A \u2018catalyst for change\u2019<\/h2>\n
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Artist Carlos P\u00e9rez David, part of the team that worked on the mural\u2019s original design. (Credit: Araceli Mart\u00ednez)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Mexican cowboys \u2014\u00a0charros<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 on horseback, Filipina women dressed in traditional attire, and young Indigenous people singing and playing drums were among those gathered Sunday. Members of the Yemeni community were also on hand as a young African American woman performed the U.S. national anthem.<\/p>\n

Mari P\u00e9rez Ruiz with the Central Valley Empowerment Alliance noted the mural depicts the colorful diversity of the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe decided we didn\u2019t just want a pretty mural,\u201d she said, but a painting where the community could see itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s how we grow,\u201d she continued, adding, \u201cThe experience of Yemeni farm workers was erased. The story of our Filipino experience was also erased. It is important for us to bring those stories back.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than $250,000 was raised to pay for the mural and overall park project.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur responsibility is to make sure we protect it,\u201d said Alrafai, \u201cincluding from those now running for office who have said that the first thing they will do once they are elected is to remove the mural.\u201d<\/p>\n

Artist Carlos P\u00e9rez David, part of the team that worked on the original design, said he felt honored to do the mural.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is part of my life,\u201d he said, recalling his own childhood in Stockton where he also once worked the fields. \u201cIt reflects everyone: children, Indigenous people, Filipinos, Mexicans, African Americans. I tried to represent all the people who work in the fields.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mural is the first of its kinds in Tulare County.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hear a lot about C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez and Dolores Huerta, and they did a lot of work, but they didn\u2019t do it alone,\u201d said Ruiz. \u201cNagi played an instrumental role.\u201d<\/p>\n

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ByAraceli Martinez Oct 28, 2024 The...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local","category-u-s-a"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68397"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68398,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68397\/revisions\/68398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}