Hundreds in El Paso gather to honor César Chávez
Hundreds of people gathered Sunday at Lincoln Park in Central El Paso to celebrate César Chávez Day.
The message throughout the celebration was how important it continues to be for the Chicano community to preserve the struggle and legacy of the late farmworkers’ activist.
Senator José Rodríguez, D-El Paso, delivered a message in Spanish encouraging the community to stand up against Texas legislative bills seen as harming public education, and to support programs for Chicanos.
"We shouldn’t tolerate this," Rodríguez said in his speech. "César Chávez always believed in education as the key to a better life, especially for Hispanic community."
Rodríguez warned about bills intended to suppress the Chicano
Studies Department at UTEP, and cuts to public education.
"They don’t want our Chicano community to learn about their parents’ legacy and their Mexican ancestors," Rodríguez said. "Let’s preserve our value as a community and keep in mind the crucial role played by Chávez in the fight for rights not only for farmworkers, but for the Hispanic population."
In his address, Rodríguez vowed to keep working with Texas Department of Transportation to reopen the Lincoln Park Community Center, which closed in 2006.
Those in attendance enjoyed live music, a dance and a lowrider bicycle show.
The center, formerly a high school, serves about 6,000 people from Central El Paso, said Héctor Gonzalez, a member of the Lincoln Park Conservation Committee.
The community center, under lease to the neighborhood from the city of El Paso, was erected in 1912 as a school for segregated Mexican children and operated as a city recreation center from 1981 to 2006.
"The city of El Paso seized the opportunity to shut down the center during the 2006 flooding due to a lot of damages," Gonzalez said. "Inspectors did not even find mold in the building."
The Lincoln Center served as a venue for arts, exhibits, and activities for children and the elderly. In June, the Lincoln Center Committee will meet with TxDOT to try to save the center from demolition.
Marisela Ortega Lozano may be reached at mortega@elpasotimes.com.