About 50 years ago, 14 million Americans stopped eating grapes — for a very good reason.
When I was in my early teens, I was aware of the grape boycotts that made the United Farm Workers a household name. Being raised in a union family, I kind of had an understanding of boycotts and how they affected things. And I was definitely aware of strikes, since my dad — and, consequently, the family — weathered a few of those at John Deere. And when we went to the grocery store, we were always cautioned not to buy California table grapes.
A Latina woman named Dolores Huerta was the seed and a good chunk of the powerhouse behind what eventually became the United Farmworkers Union, which made huge improvements to the lives of largely migrant farmworkers who worked the fields of California.
In the early 1950s, Huerta got a degree and then began teaching elementary school in Stockton, California, where she saw that her students were living in poverty with not enough to eat and other basic life necessities not met. She became one of the founders of the Community Service Organization in Stockton, which was instrumental in beginning to improve conditions for farmworkers and to fight discrimination. It also helped people fill out tax forms, get children into schools, and study for citizenship.
Also active in this effort were Gilbert Padilla and Cesar Chávez.
Chávez was active in organizing area workers to become more politically active and try to change things. The combination of Huerta's organizing and negotiating skills and the talents of Chávez, which included dynamic leadership and public speaking prowess, made them nearly unstoppable. They formed the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA).
One of the key tactics to their success was going door-to-door and holding house meetings, which connected people in community-based, intimate ways.
It worked.
The big event that birthed the United Farm Workers was when Filipino workers at Delano table grape growers struck, and the NFWA voted to join them. It was a rare instance of unity among two separate groups of workers with distinctly different heritages. They knew that employers often pitted workers in one area and type of farming against another whenever they demanded better wages and job conditions, so it was a prime opportunity for solidarity.
This was also a critical time to use the tactic of community support to rally people around them, especially with the political and financial resources that the grape growers would use against them.
But what also helped immensely was the use of nonviolence as both a tactic and a moral principle to guide them.
A national grape boycott was called.
A hunger strike by Chávez brought thousands of farm workers out to see him daily and to the evening masses, and it solidified their resolve. Robert Kennedy came out to meet him. Combined with pressure and awareness of the grape boycott from other unions like the UAW and AFSCME, as well as time and financial assistance to the strikers, in 1969, Delano finally came to the table and agreed to a new contract.
At its peak, 14 million Americans participated in the grape boycott.
What did they win?
— An end to the abusive system of “labor contracting," which meant jobs could be assigned by favoritism and bribery. Now, they had a hiring hall, with guaranteed seniority and hiring rights.
— Protection from the pesticides that sickened and killed many farmworkers
— Wage increases
— Fresh water and toilets in the fields (previously scarce commodities)
— A medical plan so farmworkers could access health benefits
In 1972, the United Farm Workers were officially accepted into the AFL-CIO.
A movie about the United Farm Workers and Cesar Chávez was released in 2014; here is the trailer in case you want to dig a little deeper. Link to the movie itself is below.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."