He was named a MacArthur Fellow (also known as the "Genius Grant") in 1989, and awarded the Order of the Aztec Eagle in 1994, the highest honor Mexico can bestow on a non-citizen.

[5] Baldemar Velásquez later said that his parents instilled in him a strong work ethic and a passion for social justice linked to the Christian faith.

[6] They rode with other migrant workers in a pickup truck with a canvas-covered bed, huddling around a can of hot ashes and covering themselves in blankets to stay warm.

[10] He attended Pandora-Gilboa High School, where he participated in baseball, basketball, football, and track and field, and took college preparatory courses.

[10] His high school career guidance counselor advised him to only focus on industrial arts courses, but Velásquez refused.

[10] A local Roman Catholic priest assisted him in obtaining financial aid, and he transferred to Ohio Northern College (a private, United Methodist Church-affiliated school) in 1966.

Baldemar Velásquez spent several weeks in the summer of 1968 working with CORE and living with an African American family in Cleveland, Ohio.

[6][13][14] Velásquez had been deeply influenced by the ideas of Gandhi, César Chávez and Martin Luther King Jr.[13] Initially, his goal was merely to organize the farmworkers so that they could cooperate with the growers to improve pay, housing, and education for the pickers.

[19] Velásquez later said the tomato cannery strike helped improve FLOC's negotiating and worker mobilization skills and provided a trial run for the union's dealings with large corporations.

[23] Velásquez required that all strikers be trained in nonviolent protest techniques, and he worked closely with local churches and religious groups so that large numbers of clergy and nuns were present (which inhibited violence).

[24] Campbell's denied any involvement in the strike (claiming the union's dispute was with the growers and not the soup company), and Velásquez announced a boycott in 1979.

[23] Four months later, he took out advertisements in newspapers denouncing the conditions in the fields, and Campbell's responded with ads promoting its labor practices.

[23][25][26] At the 1984 Democratic National Convention, Velásquez strategically positioned farmworkers in the audience with signs reading "Boycott Campbell's."

[25] On the advice of Ray Rogers, a comprehensive campaign expert, Velásquez agreed to raise the financial pressure on Campbell.

Velásquez personally traveled to Mexico, successfully lobbied the Mexican unions to raise their wages and benefits, and closed the price differential.

[30] On September 16, 2004, FLOC signed a collective bargaining agreement with Mount Olive and the growers which covered more than 8,500 of the state's 10,000 guest workers.

[31] In 2010, Velásquez led FLOC in joining with the United Auto Workers in announcing a boycott of JPMorgan Chase to protest the banking concern's efforts to begin extensive foreclosure proceedings against homeowners nationwide.

[32][33] The same year, he was one of only 15 individuals appointed to a committee of the International Labour Organization to create global working condition standards for farmworkers.

He received an inaugural Bannerman Fellowships in 1988 for helping organize people for racial, social, economic, and environmental justice.