March 31st is the day that commemorates the life and legacy of civil rights, Latino and farm labor leader Cesar Chavez. Here are a few facts about Chavez that will inspire EOP students as they discover their inner leader.
1. Dropped out in 8th grade to work in the fields to help his parents.
2. At the age of 35 and with 8 children, Chavez left the security of his decent paying job and with $1,200 in life savings founded the National Farm Workers Association (Now known as United Farm Workers of America (UFWA).
3. Chavez knew that his association needed to become a MOVEMENT in order to remedy the economic and social injustices that workers suffer at the workplace. While the NFWA did fight for improving wages, hours and working conditions, Chavez also began a burial program, the first credit union for farm workers, health clinics, daycare centers and job-training programs.
4. From Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar adopted historic strategies and tactics that were novel to organized labor. He demanded farm workers strictly adhere to a pledge of nonviolence.
5. His slogan: "Sí, se puede" (Spanish for "Yes, one can" or, roughly, "Yes, it can be done"), was adopted as the 2008 campaign slogan of Barack Obama as "YES, WE CAN"
6. Chavez embraced "Voluntary Poverty". He never earned more than $6,000 a year, never owned a house and left no money behind for his family. Nonetheless, Chavez changed the lives of many, gave people the faith to believe in themselves, even if they were poor and unable to receive the best education.
