
By Linda Alvarado-Arce
This month’s Fellowship of Reconciliation’s (FOR) Gathering Voices, on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, featured our very own Mr. Baldemar Velasquez, a prolific activist, labor organizer, and man of faith. In this meeting, Mr. Velasquez shared invaluable insights from his experience of organizing throughout the years, including his founding of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) with his father in 1967 and his friendship and work with co-founder of the United Farm Workers and former FOR member, Cesar Chavez. Mr. Velasquez reflected on what people of conscience can do to support immigrants, migrants, and refugees, especially during the second Donald Trump presidency. Baldemar is a highly respected national and international leader in both the farm labor movement and the Latinx and immigrant rights movements. Through his community organizing history, Baldemar has seen how international structures and policies directly affect the lives of migrant workers. FOR sees the struggle for justice as a vital aspect of the call to respect all people.
For more information about FOR, please contact: The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) at P.O. Box 271, Nyack, NY 10960 www.https://forusa.org or youtube.com:FellowshipUSA or Contact: Linda Alvarado-Arce, FOR National Council Co-Chair
For more information about FLOC, please contact: Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) at 1221 Broadway Street, Toledo, OH 43609 www.cmwj.org