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Fort Wayne Journal Gazette: Granddaughter tells of Chavez

Granddaughter tells of Chavez

Efforts to unite farmworkers heard at IPFW

Kelly Soderlund

                                                           Laura J. Gardner | The Journal Gazette

Christine Chavez told an audience at IPFW on Monday about her famous grandfather, Cesar Chavez.

Cesar Chavez told his granddaughter that their family doesn’t have family picnics, they have family pickets.

It was important to the founder of the National Farm Workers Association, now called United Farm Workers of America, that his entire family be involved in the protests meant to defend the rights of migrant farmworkers.

The picket line is where Chavez’s granddaughter, Christine Chavez, was arrested at the age of 4 when her family refused to leave the front of a Chicago supermarket that sold grapes the UFW was boycotting.

Christine Chavez was filled with anecdotes about her activist grandfather as she spoke to more than 30 people Monday at the Latino Cultural Expressions event at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.

She worked for the UFW as its political director, raising awareness of civil rights and immigrant issues, and, with the Rev. Al Sharpton, formed the Latino and African American Leadership Alliance to combat tensions between the two communities.

“Christina’s work is based on the values passed down to her from her grandfather,” said Max Montesino, IPFW professor and a member of the Hispanic Leadership Coalition of Northeast Indiana, who introduced Chavez.

Cesar Chavez was born near Yuma, Ariz., in 1927, and because of a bad business deal, his family lost its land, Christine Chavez said. So they become migrant farm– workers in California, following the crops, which in turn forced Cesar to attend 25 different schools before dropping out in eighth grade to help his family, she said.

Cesar Chavez knew about the mistreatment of farm– workers – no bathrooms or water in the fields – so when he was asked to become a community activist – partly because of his outspokenness and big mouth – he agreed, Christine Chavez said.

After forming the union for farmworkers, Cesar Chavez led grape and lettuce boycotts and took the fight from small-farm towns to big cities.

“(He) really showed the American people what it takes to put food on their tables,” she said.

Christine Chavez endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president and said the Democrats have done a better job of talking about issues Hispanics care about: mainly health care and education. She feels the next president needs to do better on immigration than the current administration, which proposed a controversial immigration bill last year.

She believes that Obama’s grass-roots efforts of knocking on doors and inspiring those who have never been involved in politics to help on the campaign and register to vote will prove successful. Many have mocked Obama’s community-organizer roots, but Chavez feels it’s that mentality that will prevail.

“A community organizer knows what the pulse of the community is,” Chavez said.

ksoderlund@jg.net