César Chávez

Cesar Chavez (born César Estrada Chávez (March 31, 1927April 23, 1993) was a Mexican-American farmworker, labor leader and civil rights activist. Chávez started the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) along with Dolores Huerta. He wanted equal rights for Native Hispanic/Latin-Americans working in the United States.  This union became the United Farm Workers. 

Early life
Chávez was born near Yuma, Arizona and went to over 37 schools.Carole Marsh, Cesar Chavez : Farm worker with vision (Peachtree City, GA:]  Gallopade International, 2002), pp. 1-4  He graduated from the eighth grade. He did most of his organizing in California, especially near Bakersfield. Fred Ross taught him to lead unions. Fred Ross was a student of Saul Alinsky.

Activism
In 1965, Chávez and the NFWA started a strike for grape-pickers in California. At the same time, he asked Americans to boycott grapes from California. In 1970, the migrant workers won their fight for better pay.

He kept working against unfair labor rules. He stopped eating in protests three times because of low pay and bad working conditions. When he died, he was leading another grape boycott to stop the use of pesticides.

 Legacy 
Chávez is respected in California and other states. In 2000, California's state legislature started a holiday to honor him. The holiday is on March 31, Chávez's birthday. This is the first time that a US public holiday honored a Native Hispanic/Latino-American or a union leader. Many cities have streets or places named for him. These cities include San Francisco, Los Angeles, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Austin, Texas, Chicago, Illinois, Milwaukee, and Salt Lake City. In 1998 he was inducted into the Hall of Honor by the United States Department of Labor.

References

Other websites

 "The Story of Cesar Chavez" , United Farmworker's official biography of Chavez.
 César E. Chávez Chronology , County of Los Angeles Public Library.
 Five Part Series on Cesar Chavez , Los Angeles Times, Kids' Reading Room Classic, October 2000.
 "The study of history demands nuanced thinking", Miriam Pawel  from the Austin American-Statesman, 2009/7/17. A caution that histories of Chavez and the UFW should not be hagiography, nor be suppressed, but taught "wiktionary:warts and all"
 The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworker's Struggle , PBS Documentary.
 Farmworker Movement Documentation Project 
  New York Times obituary, April 24, 1993
 Walter P. Reuther Library – President Clinton presents Helen Chavez with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1994

Category:1927 births
Category:1993 deaths
Category:People from California
Category:American labor leaders
Category:Nonviolence advocates
Category:People from Arizona
Category:Recipients of the Order of the Aztec Eagle