Best of Me - Braceros in Portrait

Homage to Mexican braceros sets archival photos and 'Braceros at 80' portraits to music by Los Cenzontles with David Hidalgo & Taj Mahal from their American Horizon CD. Portraits by Craig Sherod. Archival photos by many photographers including Leonard Nadel. Edited by Maureen Gosling.

Best of Me Lyrics


I've walked a thousand miles
To get to where I am
And I've grown much too tired
To have to start again

Worked every kind of job
As well I was able
But hardly make enough
To keep food on the table

What else is a man
Than what he can provide
To the people that he loves
And live his life with pride?

What have I got to show?
Who do I have to be?
What else can I do
But to give the best of me?

I went into a church
Although the pews were empty
I bowed my head to pray
To see if He was listening

I've tried to keep my faith
And hold my head up high
To put my trust in Him
And not to question why.

What else is a man ...

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Best
• of
• Me
• Braceros
• Taj
• Mahal
• David
• Hidalgo
• Los
• Cenzontles
• labor
• mexican
• american
• work
• workers
• border
• agriculture
• farmworkers

[mherzism]

nice vid..reflects those ancient major tragedies but somehow conquered..the song matched it anyway.

[cjg505]

Reflecting on the hard physical labor and abuses braceros faced daily -not so different from US laboring class experiences. Now aged- we are worn from back breaking hard-labor,-garnished by fickle and ungrateful US politics and racism and cancer causing pesticides resulting in undeveloped and still born fetuses. Recognize -also costly losses of quality of life and human dignity for the US to benefit from the fruits of yesterday and today's migrant labor . Thank you, nicely done.

[sonsos11]

It is great to see these historic images with new music to bring history to new generations.

[mrhoolie]

There are lots of photos and many other documents and memorabilia which were beautifully used by the Smithsonian Institution when they presented their traveling exhibition on the Brazeros in San Jose. It was incredibly comprehensive and with appropriate music from that time. I am not sure where you can see this now.

[idontfilm]

GREAT video and song. The fact that soe of family worked in the fields of the Salinas and Greenfield it really had some meaning to me. My parents would've loved the presentation. Thank You.

[MTeplitsky]

Second the previous comment - great idea and execution for teaching history in an exciting way

[dmdobkin]

I think this a very innovative way to teach history in bits and bytes to the youtube generation. Congrats on the medium and the message (well done).

[SandyRobinett]

This reminds me of my grandfather, a German immigrant who was a tenant farmer in south Texas. He answered the call to "cowboy" for Pancho Villa in about 1912 or so, and that money kept him alive. Later, he always hired workers coming across the Mexican/Texas border 100 miles to the south, and always made sure they had food to eat. When it didn't rain, the cotton did not produce, they could not pay back their farm loans for the seeds, and there was nothing to eat but pinto beans. I was there.

[fermata1220]

What a wonderful tribute to people who have helped us so much in our lives. Thank you, Maureen! The juxtaposition of the new - and stunningly beautiful - photos with the old is amazing. This is a piece I will want to watch over and over, to remind myself each day of the importance of a diverse and accepting world. We have a lot of work to do.

[HunterMann]

Que impresivo este cortometraje! La musica es excelente, los imagens son super hermoso y la edicion es absolutamente genial(bravo Maureen!). (Viva los braceros de hace y la necesidad de ellos pa' hoy mismo tambien...)