Labor leader honored in series of events

Students express feelings on effect of Chavez in their lives

By Natalie Garcia
The Collegian

Students, faculty and members of the community gathered Thursday at Fresno State to honor Cesar Chavez, a farm worker and advocate for workers’ rights.

The celebration in the Free Speech Area Thursday showed Cesar Chavez’s influence was not limited to the Mexican-American community.

Joaquima Dyer, an African-American student, whose parents worked in the fields, participated in the event. She read the “Prayer of the Farm Workers’ Struggle,” which was written by Chavez.

“My parents were farm workers also,” she said from the stage. “They picked cotton in Delano and Bakersfield in the 60s.”

“I think a lot of people don’t see the big deal. They see it as a Chicano event,” Dyer, a senior communications major said. “I don’t think that everyone sees it as a universal struggle against oppression.”

The event included Mariachi music, traditional Mexican dancers, the U.S. and Mexican national anthems and the presentation of both flags. The celebration ended with a red carnation wreath being placed on the statue of Chavez.

Chavez’s birthday and subsequent celebrations have come at a pivotal point in U.S. immigration policy, which has been at top of the national consciousness lately.

“It’s kind of tied to what’s going on right now with that stupid bill they are trying to pass,” Valerie Miranda, a junior Chicano Latino Studies major, said. “It gets people prepared to protest.”

Freshman English major Erica Paulsen doesn’t agree with the harsh laws against illegal immigrants that lawmakers are considering.

“It’s the perfect time for all this to come up,” she said. “If they are going to make everyone felons, I don’t agree with that.”

Other students see Cesar Chavez Day just as a day off from classes.

“All I know is I get a day off from school. That’s enough for me,” said Brad Norris, a junior criminology major.

Chavez was a part of many organizations through the years, the most notable being the United Farm Workers, which advocates for better working conditions and higher wages.

Monica Gonzalez, a member of “Trabajadores de La Raza” (Workers for the People), which organized the Cesar Chavez celebrations, said she has personal appreciation for Chavez. Her parents worked in the fields in California, before and after Chavez made progress for workers’ rights.

“They’d eat like animals in the ground, they couldn’t even wash their hands,” Gonzalez, a senior liberal studies major, said. “(They’d) go to the bathrooms in the fields.”

Due to Chavez and other advocates, farm workers have access to bathrooms and water, and get regular breaks. Also, farmers used to spray toxic pesticides on the crops while workers were in the fields, a practice Chavez help end.

Comment on this story in the News forum >>