Honoring Nelson Carrasquillo

It is with heavy hearts that we mourn the passing of ally, friend, and Warrior en la Lucha, Nelson Carrasquillo.

Nelson was the dynamic Executive Director of CATA (Comite de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agriculas, or Farmworker Support Committee) - a close ally of the Farmworker Association of Florida - in New Jersey for 25 years. During that time, with his creative and visionary thinking, he helped to form many alliances and coalitions, including the Agricultural Justice Project, the Farmworker Health and Safety Institute, the Food Chain Workers Alliance, the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, the Domestic Fair Trade Association, and Building Equity and Alignment for Environmental Justice. In more recent years, he embraced the concept of food sovereignty as a necessary part of the road towards justice for farmworkers and communities, which led to his establishing the first community-run community garden for immigrants in their area of New Jersey. Hailing from Puerto Rico, he later joined CATA and came to New Jersey where he helped to organize the first independent mushroom workers’ union. Since that time, his accomplishments in CATA have been too numerous to mention, as he worked tirelessly for immigrant rights, for better living and working conditions for farmworkers, and for a culture that honors the dignity, humanity, and human rights of farmworkers and their families. Retired Farmworker Association co-founder and General Coordinator, Tirso Moreno, and Nelson worked very closely together for more than two decades, with CATA and FWAF calling themselves “sister” organizations. Working together, they discussed and collaborated on ideas and strategies for organizing workers, for addressing root causes of exploitation, in educating the public on the farmworker reality, and in engaging elected officials to secure policy change improvements for agricultural workers across the country. FWAF staff members benefitted from Nelson’s many trainings, such as on popular education and community organizing methods and strategies. The close ties between the organizations served to strengthen both.  Over the years, Nelson earned and gained the trust and respect of the local farmworker communities he worked with, as well as of other organizations and agencies around the country. He is revered and respected around the country as the strong and unflagging leader he was. His commitment to Truth and Justice never died, and, in fact, they live on as a testament and legacy to his time on earth. Even as we mourn his passing, we celebrate Nelson and the life he lived and the legacy he leaves behind. He has made his mark and it can truly be said that he has left the world a better place for his having been in it.  Rest in Peace, Nelson, from all of us at the Farmworker Association of Florida.