Invited to underscore Farmworkers Awareness Week, which runs from March 17-23, Brown told the audience that the federal government should intervene and protect farmworkers' rights.
Brown, a Durham City Council member from 1995-99, is running for the Democratic Senate nomination against several candidates to fill a seat being vacated by Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C.
With a platform formulated on three key issues -- universal health insurance, economic justice and environmental security -- Brown hopes to win a hotly contested Democratic nomination also being sought by former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, N.C. Rep. Dan Blue, D-Wake, and current N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall.
"I hope to be the next senator. I truly think I'm the best candidate. In fact, I know I am," she said before her speech.
The key policy elements of her speech involved the granting of collective bargaining capabilities to farmworkers and the institution of a grievance process for displeased employees. "There are policies based on corporate greed and not on human need," she said.
During her speech, Brown discussed traveling around the state to speak with abused farmworkers. "I had one woman say after a whole week working 12 hours a day, she had $18," she said.
She also noted the tendency of Americans to forget the value of the farmworker. "(Farmworkers) are responsible for us to have food for us to eat on our tables," Brown said.
The event was sponsored by Student Action with Farmworkers. Members of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee also were present.
Libby Manley, an SAF leader, said she supports Brown. "We believe that she's the only progressive candidate for 2002," she said. "It's really admirable without that cash in her back pocket to be getting on the road and meeting people."
