Lubbockites borrowed the words of Cesar E. Chávez on Friday evening to rally themselves for a march through North Lubbock today to honor the late civil rights leader.

Nearly 100 Texas Tech students and others from the Lubbock community gathered on the steps of the university’s Student Union Building amphitheater for the Spirit of Cesar Chávez event to recall quotes from Chávez, who led marches and a nationwide effort in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s to advocate for rights of farm laborers.

Robert Reyna, a student and organizer in Tech’s chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said he hoped to set a tone for peace and solidarity with his reading of Chávez’s prayer “Show me the suffering.”

“Let us remember those who have died for justice, for they have given us life,” Reyna said, quoting the prayer. “Help us love even those who hate us, so we can change the world.”

The event featured a visit from Chávez’s nieces, Lupe Chávez Gilbreath and Dorothy Chávez Velasquez, who received a copy of the metal street sign honoring their uncle on Cesar E. Chávez Drive in North Lubbock.

Dorothy said she was grateful for the honor and encouraged by the continued remembrance of her uncle since he died in 1993.

She said seeing the dozens of college students reading quotes from Cesar and speaking of his legacy was a good sign.

“It’s important to not forget our past, especially for the students, because they are our future,” she said. “I think this means people are getting more educated.”

Alejandro Huerta, president of the Tech LULAC chapter, alluded to the decades of sit-ins, marches, starvation campaigns and arrests the civil rights leader endured in his efforts advocating against the use of such practices as using pesticides in fields full of laborers.

“Cesar Chávez is the perfect example of sacrificing yourself so others can live in better conditions,” he said.

Christy Martinez-Garcia, a chairwoman of the Cesar Chávez Celebration Committee organizing the event, told the crowd she has always found inspiration in Chávez’s quote: “Si Se Puede” — Spanish for “It can be done.”

Though Martinez-Garcia said she was discouraged just fewer than 100 turned out for the Friday evening event, she said she was optimistic hundreds more will hit the streets of North Lubbock from 1 to 3 p.m. today for the 13th-annual Cesar E. Chávez People’s March.

“Sometimes you have to start small and grow,” she said.