Looking Backward from the Tricentennial

Chapter Thirty-One

The knot in Julian's stomach was still there hours later, pulsing anxiety through his body as he sat waiting for Professor Carlton's thirty-day-challenge group to begin. The chair he selected was one he'd never occupied before, in order to give himself a slightly different perspective on the room.

His seat also allowed him to avoid looking directly at where Connor Sullivan had breached the space. He and Ray had ceremoniously disposed of the condo's alcohol yesterday to kick off the challenge, and large chunks of Julian's afternoon were spent trying not to think about how it might have calmed his roiling emotions. Instead, he distracted himself with his journal, recording impressions of the tricentennial and spreading his thoughts across the page.

Among those thoughts was Idabee—what would she say when she saw him? When she appeared a minute later in the seat farthest away from him, the only sign of familiarity was a curt nod. It was a little uncomfortable, but he was looking forward to hearing the discussion.

"Good evening," Professor Carlton announced to the room from the chair on Julian's left. "We'll give the others another minute or two to arrive, and then get started." He gave Julian an encouraging look, seeming pleased to have him there.

A flickering on his opposite side turned out to be Adon, who greeted him with a wide grin and a brief touching together of his hands. He shot a quick finger toward Idabee. "What's going on with you two?" he asked.

"It doesn't look like it's going to work out," Julian acknowledged, spotting Faith arriving next to Idabee. "But it's good to see you again."

The last seat filled up, and Carlton called the group to order. "Let's get started; Adon, would you lead us in the Preamble to remind us of our duties?"

Adon gave a sharp nod that shook his locs. "We the people," he began, and the room joined in, "of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Carlton thanked him and briefly introduced Julian before launching into a story. "One of Gandhi's students would have turned one hundred forty-nine yesterday. Cesar Chavez, for those who don't know, was a co-founder of the United Farm Workers in California during the 1960s. Agricultural workers, an occupation predominantly held by people of color, had been specifically excluded from many New Deal labor protections. Chavez dedicated himself to unionizing the workers in order to improve working conditions and the quality of their lives.

"Gandhi was his role model; his personality and organizing techniques intrigued Chavez. Besides the commitment to nonviolence, there was the voluntary poverty and the fasting. In February 1968, Chavez called a meeting to announce he had begun an indefinite fast to center the UFW on the principles of nonviolence. For more than an hour, he explained why violence was unacceptable as a means to an end. The United States was involved in a war in Vietnam, and if the senseless violence there was wrong, it was just as wrong in America.

"Finally, after telling the gathering he loved them all, Chavez walked five kilometers to Forty Acres, the future site of the union's headquarters in Delano, California. Over the following weeks, thousands of people visited to show support, and a local priest held mass each night. Martin Luther King Jr. sent words of support, writing, 'You stand today as a living example of the Gandhian tradition with its great force for social progress and its healing spiritual powers.' Chavez kept himself busy with meetings, but after twenty-one days, he wasn't doing well. On the advice of his doctors, he added nutrients to his water and began planning for the end of the fast.

"Robert F. Kennedy was invited to be the guest of honor for the literal breaking of the fast. RFK was the brother of the former president and about to announce his own campaign for the Oval Office. He flew into Delano on March 10, 1968, and the two men broke bread together, ending the fast after twenty-four days.