Lorraine Agtang-Greer: Being on the picket line was the first time that I had ever done anything that was questioning authority.  It was the first time that I did anything about farm worker oppression.  Oppression was the way we were treated and you accepted it if you wanted to work.  My father came here to the United States after WWI.  He fought against the bad treatment in his early days, but after having a family, he had to feed and house us so he accepted it, like everyone else.  People were just used to being paid low wages, not having any toilets or clean drinking water, and being treated like crap.  It had gone on for years and years.

So going on strike and being on the picket line was the first time I said “no more;” it was time for change.  For the first time, we were standing up and saying that we had a right to be treated with respect, to have clean water, just to have bathrooms!

I like to sing this song because I worked for Pagarulo, for Pavich, and Radich and Zaninovich. 

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Abby Rivera:  The first time I recall ever hearing it was at the Filipino Hall when Luis Valdez first sang it to us in the early years of the strike.  What I recall was how all of us packed in that hall laughed throughout the song.  The irreverent images of the song hit home; the Zaninovich Brothers from Delano and the play on words for “bitches” caused us to gasp delightedly; the great jab at the scabs that sold themselves cheaply for frijoles/beans (or “for peanuts” would be the English equivalent); and how proud we felt not to be in that group of slugs. It reminded us that the strike was on its third year (later it was changed to seven, then more years) and how one grower was now a grandfather and there you could still find us picketing. How proud we felt of what we were doing at the mention of Juarez and Zapata!

What many may not know is that all these lyrics were familiar to us who were in the daily strike lines in the grape fields.  “Sálganse, no se vendan por frijoles.”  Sálgansen de aquí con estos “Sanna-Vitches”, mira que al ranchero ya le están saliendo las canas pero de aquí no nos vamos (look at the grower; his hair is turning gray but we aren’t leaving, we’re staying), etc.   The lyrics were about things being said out in the picket line and we loved hearing them put to music. It was hilarious!  One final point about this song: I remember when Cesar first heard it with us. He was up in front standing quietly listening. Every time he heard a funny phrase his face would light in a huge smile and he would just shake his head back and forth.  His smile made us all laugh more and we would cheer louder!  We never could hear that song enough times.  Many may believe the song was written for the boycott picket lines in front of stores like Safeway, but in reality the song was referring to the strikers in the picket lines in the fields around Delano and later in Coachella.

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