Cesar Chavez Day
An Inspiring Man with an Inspiring Story

This is the first, and only, US holiday honoring a Mexican-American, Cesar Estrada Chavez (March 31, 1927-April 23, 1993).

Many people deserve to be honored for their work in life and the USA has in fact honored many. For agriculture, and especially agriculture in California, one person who certainly stands out is Cesar Chavez. He was a Hispanic labor leader who spent his life trying to improve conditions for farm workers, and encouraged them to be proud of their heritage.

Drive almost anywhere in California’s Central Valley and what do you see?---fields and fields of vegetables; rows and rows of fruit or nut trees. Go to virtually any grocery store’s produce section in the USA and what do you find?---that fresh produce, which has been cultivated, picked and packed by farm workers. Luckily for us, the consumers.

Chavez, named after his grandfather, was born on March 31, 1927, near Yuma, Arizona. Even as a young child he was acquainted with prejudice and injustice, as his family was sometimes swindled because they were poor. He began picking crops at age 10. He moved school many times, and only managed to finish 8th grade, as a migrant farm worker’s family was never in one place for very long. But later, education became his passion and he read widely, especially about non-violent ways to try and change conditions---he really liked the works of St. Francis, Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jnr.

In 1948 he married and settled in Delano, a town in the grape-growing region of San Joaquin Valley. He first worked for Community Services Organization (CSO), a Latino Civil Rights group, when he urged Mexican-Americans to register and vote, and promoted workers’ rights. He left CSO and co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA).

In 1965, Chavez and the NFWA called what became known as the Great Delano Grape Strike. He organized the historic farm workers’ march from Delano to Sacramento. Many Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, Filipinos and Filipino-Americans joined in, and the organization evolved into the United Farm Workers (UFW), which still functions today. Thousands of pickers let fruit rot on the vines, and around the nation Chavez also organized a consumer boycott of grapes. The strike and boycott lasted 5 years and got national attention. When the US Senate looked into the situation, Robert Kennedy gave Chavez full support. These activities led to similar movements in Texas and Wisconsin.

In 1970, grape growers finally responded. They agreed to sign contracts that provided better wages and working conditions.

Many of the people who labor in the nation’s fields and orchards are Hispanic, so through his efforts, Chavez helped Hispanics gain a stronger voice. His personal motto was “¡Si se puede!” (“Yes we can!”), a motto later officially used by UFW.

Chavez marched many times, once to the Mexican border with US Senator Walter Mondale. He organized strikes and boycotts to protest for, and later win, higher wages for farm workers, especially grape and lettuce growers. He also protested the use of pesticides on grapes.

“He inspired people into action. He inspired people into being proud about their heritage, “said Evalina Alarcon, who led the holiday campaign in California.

Chavez died in 1993 at age 66, of natural causes. What is his Legacy?

In recognition of Chavez’s importance as a leader of the Mexican-American community and as a champion of social justice, President Bill Clinton awarded the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to his widow, Helen Chavez, in 1994. Also in 1994, his family and officers of the UFW created the Cesar Chavez Foundation to inspire current and future generations by promoting his ideas. The Headquarters are in La Paz, Keene, CA, and his son, Fernando, continues to fight for workers’ rights (www.chavezfoundation.org ). Photo courtesy of the Cesar Chavez Foundation.

On August 18, 2000, California lawmakers passed a bill, making March 31 a state holiday to honor Cesar Chavez. California Governor Grey Davis signed the bill. It is celebrated on the 31st March, or the nearest Monday or Friday, and there may be marches of workers. In California, another focus of this holiday is educational, and many activities are suggested for students. This concept is based on one of Chavez’s famous sayings: “Real education should consist of drawing the goodness and the best out of our own students. What better book can there be than the book of humanity?’ Look for a Model Curriculum at http://chavez.cde.ca.gov/ModelCurriculum/
Teachers/Index1.aspx.

His birthday has become an optional holiday in a handful of states---Texas, Arizona and Colorado---and a number of parks, libraries, schools and streets have been named in his honor.

In 2003, the USPS issued a stamp featuring Chavez and the fields so important to him. PBS made a movie, “The Fight in the Fields”.