“Sometimes they won’t even provide us with water and clean bathrooms. Our rights must be respected. The basics: water, clean bathrooms, and equal treatment for everyone.”
Lourdes Cardenas, California
Lourdes is a 60-year-old farm worker from Fresno, CA who is an integral part of the farm worker community. Lourdes is a “raitera,” someone known in the community who give rides to other workers as many do not have transportation of their own and live in rural communities with limited public transportation. Without people like Lourdes, many farm workers wouldn’t be able to get to work. Lourdes’ day starts off her day waking up at 3 a.m., she picks up her coworkers and works all day returning home at about 4:30 p.m. Lourdes is a farm worker leader who inspires the next generation of farm workers to refuse to endure silence, mistreatment, or humiliation.
Watch Lourdes’ story
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