This article examines the first five years of the United Farm Workers' unionization of Minute Maid's workers in Florida. The UFW in Florida was a multiracial organization that reflected the "Nuevo South's" changing demographics in the 1970s. UFW organizers Mack and Diana Lyons, along with volunteer staff and rank-and-file members, cultivated a difficult but tenacious solidarity across racial lines through conscious, day-to-day activity in the union and in the community.

My book is about my work toward structural change in agriculture. We founded this country, I say we collectively, to be governed by “We the People.” That looked good on paper, but of course we know that Jefferson didn’t really mean everybody. What we’ve had since 1776 is a grand experiment in making a representative democracy work.