Latino Hero Cesar Chavez was Born on this Day!

Latino Hero Cesar Chavez was born in Yuma Arizona on March 31, 1927. He grew up in a close-knit family. His father owned a small grocery store and lived in a small home on a ranch. His father lost both the business and the land due to a shady business deal.

The family stayed strong and stayed together,  moving to California and working as migrant laborers. They picked peas and lettuce in the winter, cherries and beans in the spring, corn and grapes in the summer and cotton in the fall. As a teenager, he helped other migrant workers by driving them into town for groceries and if they needed to see a doctor. Cesar quit school and worked full time in the fields so that his mother could stay home.

At seventeen, he joined the Navy and served for two years. He thought the Navy would teach him a trade, but back in the 40's, there was rampant racism. The only jobs in the Navy for Mexican Americans were as deckhands or painters. Cesar later said "These were the worst two years of my life." After his time in the service, he went back home, married his childhood sweetheart and worked again in the fields.

Cesar continued to help his fellow workers and joined a Latino Civil Rights group and encouraged Latinos to Vote. In 196 he and Dolores Huerta co-founded the United Farm Workers (UFW). They worked hard to improve the working conditions and improve the pay of the workers. They organized a Grape Boycott and helped improve conditions and pay. Cesar believed in Equal Rights for All People. He undertook several spiritual fasts to promote Equality and Fairness.
Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta are Heroes of ALL Latinos in our Country!

Happy Birthday Cesar! Thank you for fighting for our cause!

President Obama: 'Today we celebrate Cesar Chavez'

This afternoon, President Obama honored Latino Hero Cesar Chavez and designated his home as a national monument. Today's ceremony was in the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County, the 187-acre site, known as Nuestra Senora Reina de la Paz (Our Lady Queen of Peace), or simply La Paz. Starting in 1971, this was a center of the United Farm Workers of America and the place where Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and many organizers lived and strategized.
President Obama first toured the site with Latina Heroine Dolores Huerta.
During the ceremony, the President said, "Today, we celebrate a Great Man! Cesar Chavez..Today is the story of people, determined, fearless, hopeful people willing to devote their lives to make this country More Just and More Free..Today we celebrate Cesar Chavez."
When the Arizona-born Chavez began working as an organizer after World War II, "no one seemed to care about the invisible farm workers who picked the nation's food," President Obama said. "Cesar cared. And in his own peaceful, eloquent way he made other people care, too. Where there had once been despair, Cesar gave workers a reason to hope."

As head of the United Farm Workers of America, Chavez staged a massive grape boycott and countless field strikes, and forced growers to sign contracts providing better pay and working conditions to the predominantly Latino farmworkers. He was credited with inspiring millions of other Latinos in their fight for more educational opportunities, better housing and more political power.
President Obama seemed to tie Chavez to his own re-election campaign, saying: "Even though we have a difficult road ahead, I know we can keep moving forward together. " President Obama's 2012 campaign motto is "Forward."
Thousands of people were in attendance, many of them wearing shirts and hats with the UFW eagle stitched into the fabric. The attendees were excited and enthusiastic. The area was marked with pretty new green Cesar E. Chavez National Monument signs. The crowd at the site was the biggest since Chavez died. A spokesperson said, "Clearly, we all underestimated the passion people have for Cesar, the farm workers union and the opportunity to see the president," he said.
Helen Chavez and son Paul Chavez were among those attending the ceremony. Dolores Huerta, co-founder with Chavez of the UFW, and current union president Arturo S. Rodriguez also were present, as were Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, California Gov. Jerry Brown and other officials.

President Obama issues Proclamation - Cesar Chavez Day, May 31

César Estrada Chávez (March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (now: United Farm Workers - UFW).
César Chávez's birthday, March 31, is celebrated in California and Texas as a state holiday, intended to promote service to the community in honor of Chávez's life and work. The President has proclaimed March 31 Cesar Chavez Day with Americans being urged to "observe this day with appropriate service, community, and educational programs to honor Cesar Chavez's enduring legacy."

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION

One of our Nation’s great civil rights leaders, Cesar Estrada Chavez came of age as a migrant farm worker, witnessing the injustice that pervaded fields and vineyards across California. Facing discrimination, poverty, and dangerous working conditions, laborers toiled for little pay and without access to even the most basic necessities. Yet amidst hardship and abuse, Cesar Chavez saw the promise of change — the unlimited potential of a community organized around a common purpose. Today, we celebrate his courage, reflect on his lifetime of advocacy, and recognize the power in each of us to lift up lives and pursue social justice.

Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other visionary leaders, Cesar Chavez based his campaign on principles of nonviolence, which he called “the quality of the heart.” Through boycotts, fasts, strikes, and marches that demanded both endurance and imagination, he drew thousands together in support of “La Causa” — a mission to ensure respect, dignity, and fair treatment for farm workers. Alongside Dolores Huerta, he founded the United Farm Workers of America (UFW), an organization tasked with defending and empowering the men and women who feed the world.

As a tribute to Cesar Chavez’s life and work, my Administration designated the Forty Acres site in Delano, California, as a National Historical Landmark last year, forever commemorating the birthplace of the UFW. In May 2011, the United States Navy named the USNS Cesar Chavez in recognition of his service during World War II. And this month, we honor ten Americans as Champions of Change for their commitment to realizing Cesar Chavez’s dream of a more just tomorrow. Decades after his struggle began, Cesar Chavez’s legacy lives on in all who draw inspiration from the values of service, determination, and community that ignited his movement.

On the 85th anniversary of Cesar Chavez’s birth, we are reminded of what we can accomplish when we recognize our common humanity. He told us, “We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community. Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.” As we honor his broad ambitions and expansive vision, let us pledge to stand forever on the side of equal opportunity and justice for all.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2012, as Cesar Chavez Day. I call upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate service, community, and education programs to honor Cesar Chavez’s enduring legacy.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this

twenty-third day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.

BARACK OBAMA