Imagine Cesar Chavez quietly sitting in the gallery during a State of the Union — he’d notice the flags and applause, sure, but he’d really be listening for the people who harvest our food. Chavez didn’t ask for sympathy; he demanded dignity, using nonviolent strikes and boycotts to make invisible lives impossible to ignore.

This short piece presses the questions Chavez always asked: who truly benefits from growth, are immigrant workers protected from exploitation, and does patriotism include compassion for the vulnerable? It’s a reminder that a nation’s success means little if the hands that feed it remain unseen.