Great union organizer Cesar Chavez would have been 84 years old on
Saturday and the community turned out to
celebrate his life and his legacy of activism.

Selma Rubin and Babatunde Folayemi are local
community activists who passed away in recent
days and weeks. They were also celebrated in art and speeches.

Akivah Northern speaks on Cesar Chavez day about her husband, activist and former Santa Barbara City Councilman Babatunde Folayemi.

Akivah Northern, wife of Folayemi,
spoke of Babatunde’s activism that began as a
child. A teacher was about to beat a little
girl with a pointer stick as punishment and the
young Babatunde (then Tony Northern) grabbed the
stick and broke it in two. He took the punishment
to stop what he saw as an injustice and he never
stopped his activism, from working in Africa to
mediating peace among gangs in Los Angeles and in Santa Barbara.

Guadalupe Romero, mother of Sergio Romero, also
spoke of justice. Sergio was just 15 years old
when he was run over in a Milpas Street
crosswalk. Ms Romero called for traffic signals
and to recognize that her son’s life mattered.

The County and the City issued proclamations for
the occasion. Elected officials speaking included
Mayor Helene Schneider, City Council Member Cathy
Murillo, Supervisor Salud Carbajal and School Board member Monique Limón.

Salud Carbajal speaks on Cesar Chavez Day. All photos by Robert Bernstein

Many organizations staffed tables at the event,
including SBCAN, Planned Parenthood, the
Coalition for Sustainable Transportation (COAST) and the Food Bank.

After the speeches, there was music and dancing and other entertainment.

Organizers considered the event a success and plan to do it again next year.