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<td width="343" valign="bottom"><p class="date"><!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="date" --><a href="default.html">3/29/04 • Vol.
128, No. 28</a><!-- InstanceEndEditable --></p></td>
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<p><a href="chavez.jsp">Chavez vigil shines light on his legacy</a></p>
<p><a href="summerschool.jsp">Summer school deadline approaches</a></p>
<p><a href="wesson.jsp">Professor calls Wesson family an extreme
case of domestic violence; dismisses cult claims</a></p>
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<h1><font size="5">Chavez vigil shines light on his legacy</font></h1>
<p class="byline"> </p>
<p class="byline">By Maggie Thach</p>
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<td><p><a href="cesarchavez.jpg"><img src="cesarchavez.jpg" alt="" name="Photo" width="232" height="141" border="1" style=""></a></p>
<p align="justify">Frank Renteria (far left), a counselor at West
Hills College, performs a prayer walk as onlookers attempt to
keep their candles lit during Friday night’s Cesar Chávez
vigil. The vigil, in its 11th year, featured Native American
symbolism, song and dance. </p>
<p class="byline">-Photo by Adi Susanto</p>
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<p>Rough winds blowing through the Peace Garden Friday evening weren’t
enough to deter spectators from honoring Cesar Chávez. </p>
<p> The 11th annual candlelight vigil drew a crowd of about 50 people,
most of whom had either worked in the fields or had parents that did.</p>
<p> “
My mom worked in the fields,” Ralphy Avitia, a high school history
teacher at Madera High School said. “My whole family did. I think
I benefited from farm workers. I have a commitment, a moral and ethical
obligation to continue this event.”</p>
<p> Others felt the same sentiment. </p>
<p> Gloria Hernandez, a farm workers advocate for more than 30 years, was
there when a picket line was formed to protest the Del Monte Company
in Kingsburg.</p>
<p> “
I was 19 at the time. I didn’t get to go to prom like my friends
did,” Hernandez said. “I was out there in the fields picketing.”</p>
<p> Frank Renteria, a counselor at West Hills College and former Fresno
State graduate student, brought his family and performed a Native American
song and dance with his daughters.</p>
<p> “
I was raised in the fields,” Renteria said. “The struggle
goes on. I want my girls to be exposed to his greatness. I want them
to carry it on.”</p>
<p> The eagle, a significant symbol in Native American culture, played
a big role in the ceremony. </p>
<p> “
Native Americans believed that since the eagle flew so high, it was a
messenger to the gods,” Renteria said.</p>
<p> Renteria blew the eagle whistle north, south, east and west, then to
the sky and toward the ground. </p>
<p> “
We recited the song verse four times,” Renteria said. Each verse
represented the four colors of humanity: black, red, yellow and white.</p>
<p> “
Cesar Chávez didn’t just stand up for Chicanos,” said
Lucy Aguilar, a credential student in social science. “He stood
up for humanity.”</p>
<p> The event reached out to two people who didn’t even know who Cesar
Chávez was before they came to the event.</p>
<p> “
I am from New York,” Khara Matcham, a grad student in linguistics
said. “I was interested in coming because I didn’t know anything
about him. I didn’t learn about him in school.”</p>
<p> Shawn Putnam, also from New York, shared the same fascination. </p>
<p> “
I recently saw a movie about him,” Putnam said. “He stood
for peace and solidarity. The youth need to embrace it because it’s
going to be up to us to carry it on.”</p>
<p> To end the event, the small, intimate crowd formed a tight circle and
passed a flame from candle to candle. </p>
<p> “
Cesar Chávez fought for our rights,” Ana Luz Torres said,
a freshman psychology major. “This is just a small way to thank
him.”</p>
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