The fact that the Texas State Board of education is running rough shod over culturally important parts of our history should be reason enough, but if you need a few reasons to sign the National Cesar Chavez Day Petition they are not hard to find. Aside from being a hero for millions of farm workers across the United States, he is one of the 20th century’s most profound social movement theorists. Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr are only a third of the great peace activism story.
Cesar Chavez on Time Magazine
Cesar E. Chavez, an extreme intellectual with an eighth grade education, lived his philosophical education and earned a Phd in organizing people to action in the face of certain death.
In 1968 Robert F. Kennedy was in the middle of running for President, and he recognized the deep devotion Cesar had to his cause by appearing with him at the end of a prolonged hunger strike. The emaciated, dying Chavez sat next to one of the nation’s most beloved leaders and made him see the pain and exploitation farm workers were suffering.
Cesar Chavez and Robert Kennedy
I won’t keep going. If you would like to read more please visit the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation, United Farm Workers, and read José-Antonio Orosco’s Cesar E Chavez and the Common Sense of Non-violence. If you want to see the statement from the UFW Web site follow the jump, I’ve posted it there. Then go sign the petition.
Sign the Petition for a National Cesar E. Chavez Holiday!
The United Farm Workers and the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation are proud to support the grassroots efforts of the Cesar E. Chavez National Holiday Coalition.
Cesar was in Sen. Robert F. Kennedy’s words, “one of the heroic figures of our time.” He led the historic non-violent movement for farm worker rights and dedicated himself to building a movement of poor working people that extended beyond the fields and into cities and towns across the nation.
He inspired farm workers and millions of people who never worked on a farm to commit themselves to social, economic and civil rights activism. Cesar’s legacy, like the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., continues to educate, inspire and empower people from all walks of life. He is a role model for all Americans and for generations to come.
Please help us ensure all Americans learn about Cesar’s life and work. The Cesar Chavez National Holiday Coalition is gathering signatures on petitions asking Congress to designate March 31, Cesar’s birthday and the day the UFW was founded, as Cesar Chavez Day. Sign the petition today. Help ensure Cesar’s legacy is recognized and celebrated throughout our nation with a federal paid holiday and a day of service and learning in our public schools.
Chronicle of Higher Education