HOT to lobby for Cesar Chavez Day
Doug Graham
Their ultimate goal, Hispanics of Today (HOT) group members say, is to establish a national holiday honoring Chavez. They will collect signatures for a petition, which will be sent to President George W. Bush at some point in the future.
"He was an inspirational figure, not only to Mexican-Americans, but all other Americans," said Rachel Azuara, junior in international business and HOT secretary.
Azuara says HOT was inspired to hold the information table and petition after taking a trip to the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute. A speaker there encouraged her and other HOT members to hold events like info tables to spread the word on Chavez.
"[He’s the] Martin Luther King of Latinos," said Natalie Mari, senior in psychology, another HOT member.
Chavez is perhaps best known as the co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association, which later became United Farm Workers, a union that looks after farm workers’ rights.
Another of Chavez’s more famous accomplishments was in helping with the Delano grape strike in 1965, in which grape pickers marched from Delano, Calif., to the state’s capital, Sacramento, in protest of low wages.
Azuara says that Chavez also lobbied against issues like the use of harmful pesticides and mistreatment of farm workers.
But, says Laura Hernandez, freshman in international business, Chavez never caused harm to others during his protests.
"He taught people how to make a change without violence," Hernandez said.
Natalie Mari, senior in psychology, says Chavez deserves all the recognition he can get.
"The fact that he is Latino and what he represents – it gives Latinos motivation to strive in life," Mari said. "He’s just motivation for us, and everybody else, too."
HOT members say that students with questions about Chavez, or the group’s other activities, can e-mail hispanicsoftoday@hotmail.com.