Cesar Chávez’s grandson talks with Woodland’s Midtown students about building positive relationships

   

"The relationships you develop are important to building community," said Anthony Chávez of Sacramento. "The more people you can connect with on a positive level, the more potential you have to improve your life and those of others."

Alex Perez, a case manager with the Yolo Family Resource Center, a local non-profit agency that works closely with Midtown students, contacted the Cesar E. Chávez Foundation to see if it would be interested in interacting with Midtown students.

"I was hoping a representative of the foundation would come in and talk to the students about exceeding their own expectations, in the mold of Cesar Chávez," Perez said. "Instead, we got a direct link to the legacy. I was quite impressed."

For up to 90 minutes at a time, two groups of students listened to Chávez talk about his hope that Midtown students improve how they relate with others, especially their elders.

"I was impressed by how easy he was to speak to," said one seventh-grader. "One by one, people would shout questions at him and he would respond without hesitation."

"At first, I didn’t know what to think about Anthony," another student said. "But after hearing him out, I get what he’s saying."

Raised in the farm worker movement his grandfather founded, Anthony Chavez, 24, grew up participating in United Farm Workers’ marches, rallies and political campaigns. The oldest son of Socorro and Paul Chávez, Cesar Chávez’s middle son, Anthony has spoken before numerous student and community groups on behalf of the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation, established by the Chavez family to further his grandfather’s life and work.

He is also serving as travel assistant to Benedictine Brother David Steindl-Rast, a world-renowned author, lecturer and spiritual guru. Anthony is a recent graduate CSU Bakersfield, where he majored in religious studies.