02 Courage
Coachella Valley
A worker climbs a tall ladder into the crown of a date palm in Coachella Valley. This is the only place outside of the middle east and north Africa where dates are grown. Palmeros are a special, almost exclusive group among farmworkers, bound together by pride in their skill, and their willingness to do dangerous work at great heights. "Only a Mexican," they say, "has the courage to do this work."

photographs and stories by David Bacon © 1990-1999

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