Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Wednesday 25 september 2019
Film explores Latina union leader who

organized farmworkers

By RUSSELL CONTRERAS her. Laurie Coyle, the film's many farmworkers into
Associated Press director and producer, said near starvation. One of her
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) the idea for the project be- sons went blind temporarily
— Years before Cesar gan after she found photos due to starvation, reporters
Chavez and Dolores Huer- of Moreno tucked away and family members said.
ta began organizing poor in an archive. The images "How do you think that I feel
farmworkers in California, — captured by the late ... seeing my son blind only
a woman named Maria farmworker photographer because we don't got noth-
Moreno sought to sign up George Ballis — showed ing to eat?" Moreno said in
impoverished farmworkers Moreno speaking in front one impassionate speech.
for a fledgling union. The of crowds, organizing work- "(Meanwhile), some other
In this undated photo, labor leader Maria Moreno speaks with Mexican American mother ers in the fields of Califor- tables are full and wasting
migrant farmworkers in rural California.
Associated Press of 12 coordinated rallies, nia and racing to other food."She became active
recruited members in iso- events with her children in the Agricultural Workers
lated areas and inspired and husband. "She had this Organizing Committee, a
others to demand a living piercing glaze and always fledgling union sponsored
wage. seemed to be surrounded by the AFL-CIO, gaining
By 1961, her work was so by children," Coyle said. "I broad support from Okla-
admired she was sent to a couldn't help to be capti- homa migrants, Filipino
national union convention vated." With little informa- American workers and La-
to address attendees that tion to go by, Coyle began tino pickers. "It was so un-
also heard from President investigating Moreno's life usual for a woman like her
John F. Kennedy and the and discovered radio jour- back then to be in this posi-
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. nalist Ernest Lowe had fol- tion," Coyle said. Speaking
Then, Moreno disappeared lowed Moreno during her invitations started pouring
from the public eye. activist days. He, too, had in after Moreno's reputation
"Adios Amor: The Search been enchanted by More- grew as a tireless organizer
for Maria Moreno" on PBS no. Born in Karnes City, Tex- and a hypnotic speaker.
examines the life of the as, to a Mexican immigrant "The first time I understood
obscure labor leader who father and Mescalero that she was somebody dif-
galvanized poor agricul- Apache mother, Moreno ferent was when she went
tural workers during the and her family had been to (University of California,)
late 1950s and early 1960s. migrant farmworkers for Berkeley," Martha Moreno
Moreno's work helped set years, following the crop Dominguez, her daughter,
up a farmworkers move- in Utah, California, Arizona said in the film. "I realized
ment that later would cap- and Texas. who my mother really was
ture the nation's heart, but Coyle also found out that ... I said, wow, you know.
her whereabouts later in life Moreno started her union Here's my mother, a sec-
had remained a mystery to activism following an April ond grade education do-
those who encountered 1958 flood that forced ing this."q
Guitar czar Joel Paterson rules on retro

Beatles ode

By LINDSEY TANNER a jilted boyfriend. The jazzy
Associated Press plucking on "Honey Pie" cre-
Joel Paterson, "Let it Be Gui- ates a jauntier feeling. Fans
tar!" (Bloodshot Records) who've watched Paterson
Close your eyes, picture perform live know his mas-
Chet Atkins pulling up a tery comes straight-faced.
bar stool on the beach at The emotion comes from
Waikiki and coolly pluck- his nimble fingers, picking,
ing out a surfy rendition of plucking and strumming
Paul McCartney's iconic to evoke ethos and a mid-
"Michelle." century mood. On the mod This cover image released by
That's just one of the sounds and swoony "If I Fell," the Bloodshot Records shows “Let
Chicago-based guitar wiz- playful undertones almost it Be Guitar!" by Joel Paterson.
ard Joel Paterson conjures make you want to blurt out Associated Press
up on his new instrumental "cha, cha, cha." drums and organist Chris
collection of 16 classic Bea- Paterson is a titan in Chi- Foreman. The tracks cover
tles' songs. "Let it Be Guitar!" cago's roots music scene some of the Fab Four's most
showcases Paterson's sig- and has toured in Europe iconic records, including
nature self-assured retro but deserves broader at- "Abbey Road," ''A Hard
style, filled with flourishes tention. He's accompanied Day's Night," ''Rubber Soul"
of vintage rock, jazz, coun- here by a trio of equally and the "White Album,"
try and blues. The reverb- stellar Chicago-based but oddly — given the title
heavy trills and twangs of musicians and sometimes choice — not "Let it Be." Be
Paterson's "This Boy" per- bandmates: Beau Sam- assured that Paterson has a
fectly echo the longing of ple on bass, Alex Hall on reason.q