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Celso Mendoza spent the last 2 decades of his life scratching out a living on the line at a chicken plant in Forest, MS. Though he lived humbly, he was a worker leader respected in his community. This week his life was cut tragically short by #COVID. He was 59 years old.
Celso and I first met in 2002, shortly after we both first arrived in Mississippi. As a grad student studying the poultry industry's labor practices, I had a lot to learn from Celso. As a migrant Veracruz, Mexico, he was there to work in the chicken plant for six dollars an hour.
Our friendship was an unlikely but easy one. We bonded initially over our shared love for a silly Colombian telenovela, Pedro El Escamoso. Laughing at the end of a long work day did both of us well, and over time our trust grew.
When Celso first arrived to Mississippi, he scraped by and saved money to support his family back home by sharing house with a dozen other men from his village. They slept in shifts, opposite their schedule at the chicken plant.
The floor of the living room sloped down toward one wall, and there was a two-inch gap under the front door. In the winter, a tiny electric heater worked overtime in the middle of the room, but it did little to keep them warm.
Once when I visited Celso, the pipes had been frozen for 3 days, the heat wouldn’t turn on, and the plumbing was out of commission. In a household of 13 men who handled raw chicken for most of their waking hours! The landlord was notoriously slow to respond for maintenance.
In 2004, when the subcontractor that supplied labor to the chicken plant reneged on a small raise it had promised, cutting workers' earnings by 10%, Celso was righteously indignant. In the span of one weekend he organized his co-workers to carry out a work stoppage.
When they arrived at the plant on Monday, dozens of people refused to enter the processing lines to work, demanding a reinstatement of their wages. Their action attracted the attention of the @UFCW, and by year’s end workers at the chicken plant had won a union contract.
In addition to securing better pay & working conditions, the contract gradually phased out contract workers. As a result, eventually Celso & many others were hired directly by the chicken plant, granting them hard-fought union protections and a slightly improved quality of life.
Though I moved away, I went back to visit Celso in 2014, when I read sections of my book manuscript to him. He graciously corrected, critiqued, verified. I last saw him in 2016, when I took him a published copy of the book.
I still remember his beaming smile when I put the book in his hands. And on the wall, tacked up next to his son Daniel's diploma, was a decade-old photo of us. We went out for dinner and took a new picture to commemorate the moment.
Celso's son, Daniel, generously called to tell me of his father's passing. "He would have wanted you to know," he said. I thanked him, telling him I esteemed Celso for his kindness, his generosity, his moral compass, and his leadership on issues of worker justice.
Because of the pandemic, Celso's family cannot commemorate his life as they would like. Instead, they've placed his framed photo and a vase of flowers on a table in their yard, inviting their community to stop by to pay their last respects in solitude.
Celso's wish was to return to Mexico, and his family is doing all they can to raise the $8,000 needed to send his body home. Meanwhile, his son Daniel's kidney disease has worsened, and he desperately needs a transplant to survive.
Daniel is now preparing to spend the money he had saved for his own medical treatment on his father's repatriation. In memory of Celso, will you please join me in contributing whatever you can to this family's needs during such a dire time? https://gf.me/u/xz5knt
Celso Mendoza's life mattered. Daniel Mendoza's life matters. Poultry & meatpacking workers' lives matter. Immigrant lives matter. Black lives matter. Our government MUST do better to protect our loved ones on the front lines. Regulate this industry! #FoodChain #EssentialWorkers
Please help by sharing Celso's story with your networks and giving to Daniel's transplant/Celso's repatriation fund if you can. Thank you. https://gf.me/u/xz5knt
Don Celso, presente! Que en paz descanse, y que su memoria siempre sea una bendición para todxs lxs que compartimos vida con este gran ser humano. 
