FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — New York Times journalist Manny Fernandez returned to his alma mater, Fresno State, to host an open forum about an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse involving late labor leader Cesar Chavez.
Fernandez, a Fresno State graduate, and investigative reporter Sarah Hurtles published their story in March under the headline, “Cesar Chavez, a Civil Rights Icon, Is Accused of Abusing Girls for Years.”
The investigation was based on five years of research and reporting, including more than 60 interviews.
During the forum, Fernandez discussed the work that went into telling the stories of women who accused Chavez of sexual assault.
“It took years to talk to those women, develop their trust, learn about what they said happened to them and then, after we find out what happened to them, we do our own independent corroboration and look at documents, listen to tape-recorded meetings from the UFW from the 70s, to interview people, the women told what happened in the 1990s and that’s like part of it.”
UFW co-founder and Chavez’s close ally Dolores Huerta broke her silence about decades of sexual abuse by Chavez before the New York Times story was released.
The investigation prompted a wave of event cancellations and renamings, including the state of California changing “Cesar Chavez Day” to “Farmworkers Day.”
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