Cesar Chavez Commemorative Committee/SFV Expects Largest Turnout Ever for 24th Annual Cesar Chavez March for Justice
SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2017
Rally Begins at 9:30 AM at Brand Park, 15121 Brand Blvd. Mission Hills, CA followed at 11 AM by a 2 mile March to Ritchie Valens Park in Pacoima.
Arturo Rodriguez, President of the United Farm Workers Union, will be the keynote speaker at the 10 AM rally at Brand Park. The UFW is concerned about the anti-immigrant policies advocated by President Trump and the appointment of Senator Jess Sessions as Attorney General who as a U.S. Senator opposed comprehensive immigration reform. Rodriguez recently stated: “I’d hate to think of what a head of lettuce or a bottle of wine would cost if it weren’t for the immigrants who pick our crops and package our food.”
The CCCC/SFV supports: comprehensive immigration reform; $15.00 per hour minimum wage nation wide; health care as a human right; increased funds for education pre-school through college. The Committee opposes construction of a wall along the southern border and immigration policies that tear families apart.
Other speakers at the 10 AM Rally are: State Senator Bob Hertzberg; Assembly member
Raul Bocanegra; San Fernando City Mayor Robert Gonzales and Rudy Ortega, Jr., Chief of the San Fernando Tataviam Band of Mission Indians.
The March commemorates Cesar Chavez as a labor leader, civil rights advocate and humanitarian. “The March for Justice represents the need the struggle for social justice”, said Ruben Rodriguez, Executive Director of Pueblo y Salud, Inc., one of leading organizers of he March for Justice.
Chavez dedicated his life to improved working and living conditions for farm workers.
His legacy extends beyond the fields though his commitment to non-violent social change utilizing strikes, marches, fasts, and voter registrations drives. In 1988 Chavez undertook a 36-day fast to protest the use of cancer causing chemicals in agriculture that endangered the health of farm workers and impacted the nation’s food supply. President Clinton awarded (posthumously) the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Chavez. The medal is the highest honor a civilian may receive for service to the nation.
Organizers expect about 2,000 marchers to attend the March.