Photo by Ronnie L. Esparza.
José Anzaldo is a rising senior at UC Berkeley and works for Scholar System, an organization promoting equity in education. A Salinas local, he was a farmworker and was featured in the documentary East of Salinas, and its upcoming sequel, Beyond Salinas. Before sitting on a panel for the Zócalo and The James Irvine Foundation event—“‘What Is a Good Job Now?’ In Agriculture”—he joined us in the green room to talk education, basketball, and Chucky the doll.
What’s it like to see yourself on screen in Beyond Salinas?
It’s really hard to see myself, because it reminds me of the struggles that I went through, and what it took for me to get here. Because there’s a lot of moments where I think to myself, am I supposed to be here? Do I meet the standard of UC Berkeley? It’s imposter syndrome if you’re capable of doing it. But I wasn’t sure if I was capable. Education can’t really see, it can’t really feel, for what I’ve gone through, or understand me. I recognize now that the point should be just to make it to the end goal. If my journey through education looks different, that’s completely okay.
Did you have a nickname growing up?
I actually had two. If students are from the Sherwood area, they’ll remember me as “Mini Me” because I was really short. I still am, but I was much shorter back then. If you know me from Roosevelt Elementary School, you would call me Chucky. There was a student in the sixth grade while I was in the fifth grade, and she was like, You look like Chucky, the doll. And she passes by me one day as we’re lined up going to the library, and she’s like, Hi, Chucky. And everyone’s like, what Chucky? And the name is stuck. It’s stuck for the longest time. Some people don’t even remember that my name is José.
What’s one of your favorite places to go in Salinas?
There’s a place that I continue to go back to here in Salinas, it’s a small restaurant in the east side. It’s called El Zacatecano. The reason why I love it so much is because not only does the food taste well, but the people there have been really understanding and comforting for me. I’ve gone there in different moments of my life, whether it’s a low moment or a really high one.
Who’s your dream dinner guest—dead or alive?
I’m really into basketball and I’m a fan of the Mavericks, so I would love to have either Kyrie or Luka on the table with me. And if it was someone who’s not here anymore, it would definitely be someone in my family. I would love for my grandpa to be there with me and enjoy a meal with me and talk to me. I feel like elderly people really like to talk about their past experience. I would love to just sit there and learn about what it was like. They lived in Mexicali. A lot of elders helped give me perspective and wisdom to be where I’m at right now.
What do you remember most about actually being in East of Salinas?
What I remember most is how I would have to start the documentary. Because we tried to make it as unfiltered as possible—just raw footage of the experience—sometimes they would just walk in, late at night, while I’m still sleeping, just so that they could get that footage of me getting up. I always remember having to mentally prepare myself beforehand.
What has been one of your favorite classes at Berkeley?
“Wealth and Poverty.” The reason why I love that course is because it really helped put into perspective the inequity and the hardships that come due to money. And how money connects not only to our living situations, but also the businesses that benefit from the money. Professor [Robert] Reich, who teaches the course, makes those connections so well, and also how it contributes to the education system, and how we can be more aware how money is affecting the community. If I could take that class again, I definitely would; even for no credit.
What’s one way we can support farmworkers?
Depending on where you are, you can support agriculture workers in different ways. People who are not working agriculture, who might be working regular jobs, what they could do is continue to spread the information of what it’s like. Even though it’s such a big contributor to the economy, it’s not necessarily covered enough. It’s very rare to see people cover what it’s like being an agriculture worker. And, if we had to increase the price of the products that come out in order to be paid more as agricultural workers, would the community really be okay with that? I see people talk so much about how unfair the pricings are instead of how unfair the working conditions are. Why? If the price increased would that really matter to you if it meant that a worker can be paid a living wage? As a community, it’s just important that we make that known, make that fact understood.