Remembering Cesar Chavez
Mug of Cesar Chavez at grape boycott demonstration at Vons supermarket.
Written by
Elizabeth Aguilera
On Saturday:
5th annual Cesar Chavez Day March organized by the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, 10 a.m. at Cesar Chavez Park, 1440 Cesar Chavez Pkwy.
Community Celebration at Chicano Park "Voices of Change," hosted by the Cesar E. Chavez Commemoration Committee, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Chicano Park, at Logan Avenue and Cesar Chavez Pkwy.
The San Diego Cesar Chavez Service Clubs hosted more than 750 people Friday morning for its third annual Cesar Chavez Birthday Celebration in memory of the late labor leader. It was the first of several events this weekend in Chavez’s honor.
The group paid special tribute to Chavez’s counterpart in the farm worker movement, Dolores Huerta, during the breakfast for her life-long dedication to the cause.
“Dolores Huerta so deserved to be honored because of the sacrifice and commitment and dedication she has given to the movement her whole life,” said Linda LeGerrette, who co-founded the student organization with her husband Carlos LeGerrette. “Dolores is an icon and a role model, not just for working people and poor people but young women.”
Chavez Service Clubs oversees 21 student clubs in 14 local schools that include more than 400 students. The non-profit focuses on leadership development and community service in the spirit of Cesar Chavez and his legacy, said LeGerrette.
Chavez is well-known for his tireless work on behalf of farm laborers and for being the driving force behind the development of the United Farm Workers 50 years ago. He would have turned 85 on Saturday.
His birthday is officially recognized as Cesar Chavez Day. It is an official holiday in the states of California, Texas and Colorado. Golden State officials set the date aside in 2000 as a way to promote service in honor of Chavez’s life work.
State government offices, community colleges and libraries and some public schools closed on Friday in observance of the Saturday holiday.
President Barack Obama also marks March 31 as Cesar Chavez Day nationally but it is not an official federal holiday.
“Chavez left a legacy as an educator, environmentalist, and a civil rights leader. And his cause lives on,” then Sen. Obama said in 2008 when he lobbied for it to be adopted as a federal holiday. Activists are still working to get Congress to approve the holiday nationwide.
The “Las Mañanitas” breakfast was held at the Jacobs Center in San Diego. Previous honorees include Helen Chavez, the widow of Cesar Chavez, and Gilbert Padilla, one of the co-founders of the farmworker movement.
“People were inspired,” said LeGerrette. “For the kids, they are excited to know there is somebody like Cesar Chavez they can look up to.”