Youth to play a big part in César Chávez March
By Vincent T. Davis
Speaking to an audience of more than 40 people at the César E. Chávez Center, 1504 E. Commerce St., organizers of the march praised the students who have joined the César E. Chávez Legacy and Education Foundation and are spreading the word at their universities and high school campuses about the march.
Chávez’s son Paul E. Chávez is scheduled to be the grand marshal and guest of honor this year. People will begin to assemble at 8 a.m. at Guadalupe and South Brazos streets, with the march to the Alamo beginning at 10 a.m.
Mentoring the youth is an investment in continuing Chávez’s legacy and addressing the plight of farm workers, said Jaime P. Martinez, CEO and founder of the foundation.
“We’re passing the baton on to the young people to know our struggle,” Martinez said. “People died in the movement, they need to know, lest we forget our history. We plant a seed, someone else can water it and it will grow.”
One means of promoting the march is a public access television show that features Carlos de Leon, the foundation’s student outreach coordinator, along with a student from the University of the Incarnate Word who discuss such topics as immigration and the DREAM act.
Children from Columbia Heights Elementary School learn about the movement, Martinez said, when they draw and paint artwork each year for the Celebration of Life program co-sponsored by the City of San Antonio.
Taking part in the march helps young people have their voices heard, de Leon said.
“We’re calling upon all the students, it’s time for us to mobilize,” he said. “We can only do this by encouraging our students to join us in this march.”
T.C. Calvert of Neighborhood First Alliance said it’s time for the youth to come to the front.
“We’ve got to let the young people lead,” Calvert said. “We’ve got to learn how to pass it on.”
Vincent T. Davi, San Antonio Express-News Copyright 2012 San Antonio Express-News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.