Chavez celebration is a call for action

By Mallory Stiles
Editor in Chief

The annual Cesar Chavez Day Celebration will be held in LCC's Cesar Chavez Learning Center on Tuesday, March 26, from 3 to 5 p.m. The center is located in the Arts & Sciences building on LCC's main campus.

Dr. Olga Correa, the new director of the center, said the event is to honor Cesar Chavez, his team and their many strides toward achieving social justice.

“His birthday would have been March 31,” Correa said, “so, you will notice there are tons of different events and programs with theme of Cesar Chavez, to celebrate his legacy.”

For those who may not know, Chavez was born in Arizona in 1927. Shortly after, he and his family were forced to move to northern California because their family homestead was lost in the Great Depression.

Chavez quit school in eighth grade and began working in the fields to earn a wage to help support his family. At 17, he joined the Navy and saw enough of the world to know the U.S. citizens could do better at home.

After an honorable discharge, he decided to pursue his passion for advocacy, and became an organizer for a grassroots organization focused on Latino civil rights.

Eventually, he, and a few other like-minded individuals, formed an organization of their own, in Fresno, Calif. It is still alive today and is now known as the “United Farm Workers of America.”

Chavez and his co-founders, Dolores Huerta and Philip Vera Cruz, began their organization with a strict non-violence policy, choosing instead to show resistance through boycotts, marches and fasts.

The United Farm Workers of America (UFW) secured labor contracts with improved working conditions and higher wages. To this day, the UFW continues to fight for the rights of all American agricultural workers.

Sadly, Chavez died in 1993 and Vera Cruz died in 1994. Huerta is still alive, and continues her humanitarian efforts at the remarkable age of 93.

It is their awe-inspiring work that will be honored with LCC’s celebration on March 26. Correa explicitly emphasized that EVERYONE is welcome.

There will be a few performances, free food and a special keynote speaker, Dr. Estrella Torrez, who is a Michigan State University professor and renowned researcher.

“She is going to come in and talk not just about Cesar Chavez’s legacy, but also really push us to see how we can better make some changes,” Correa said. “This is really about calling our community to action.”