Cesar Chavez was born in 1927 in Yuma, Arizona. He was named for his grandfather who came to the United States in the 1880s seeking a better life. Cesar spent his early life on the family farm where he witnessed sharing the food of the farm with many.
The Chavez family lost their farm during the Great Depression, forcing them to seek work among the migrant community in the produce fields of California. They experienced first hand the danger and indignity of life in the fields meager wages, no bathroom, no drinking water and no medical care.
By 1952, Chavez had escaped the back-breaking labor of the fields and was working with a civil rights group registering Latinos/Latinas to vote. He quickly rose through the organization's ranks, ultimately achieving a life of comfort and safety. By 1962, he had a good paying job, a nice home, and a Volvo in the driveway.
He could not forget the desperate people still trapped in the fields. He resigned his comfortable job, packed up his family, and returned to them to advocate for the farmworker community.
He spent the rest of his life in service to the poor and vulnerable workers in the fields. He united them in solidarity as a community. Together they would fight for their rights and dignity as people and as workers.
Cesar Chavez died in 1993. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his nonviolent activism on behalf of workers' rights the following year. In 2014, President Obama proclaimed March 31 a national holiday and day of service in honor of Cesar Chavez. Every job has dignity, every life has value, and everyone - no matter who you are, what you look like, or where you come from - should have the chance to get ahead.
Join me on a walking tour in Barrio Logan. Exploring the murals and neighborhood of streets named after this great wonderful man.
please call me for dates and times. Annemarie Ausland 269 998-1733
Comments
Nice article. Cesar Chavez was certainly a humble man who spent his life helping his people.