Saturday March 31, 2012, 1:35 pm
Photo credit: (Photo: Wikimedia)

I hope we can all pause and reflect on the extraordinary life of a true American hero today (March 31). It's Cesar Chavez Day, proclaimed by President Obama and observed throughout the country on the 85th birth date of the late founder of the United Farm Workers union. It's an official state holiday in California, Texas and Colorado.

As President Obama noted, Chavez was a leader in launching "one of our nation's most inspiring movements." He taught us, Obama added, "that social justice takes action, selflessness and commitment. As we face the challenges of the day, let us do so with the hope and determination of Cesar Chavez."

Like another American hero, Martin Luther King Jr., Chavez inspired and energized millions of people worldwide to seek and win basic human rights that had long been denied them, and inspired millions of others to join the struggle.
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By Dick Meister, Dick Meister's Blog | Op-Ed | Truthout

Saturday March 31, 2012, 1:39 pm
what a guy...

Saturday March 31, 2012, 1:42 pm
agreed!

Saturday March 31, 2012, 1:43 pm

There are many I can think of that would be saddened by the state of affairs in the United States today. MLK, JFK and Bobby all believed and worked for human rights and fair treatment of all people. Today, we have those who HAVE - and those who never will have, nor do they expect to be treated with even a modicum of human respect. One of the long standing abused groups that put the food on your table while they go without, the migrant workers.

Once, fairness in this country was an important issue, no matter where you placed yourself in the political dialogue. Sadly, that is no longer true.

One day we even may have a Ralph Nader day, because virtually every safety system in place in our home, work place and car could easily have his name stamped on it.

Saturday March 31, 2012, 1:53 pm
The man absolutely deserves national recognition. His biography is a staple I would think in every school library in America.

Saturday March 31, 2012, 2:02 pm
he did a great service for his fellow workers by helping them to get better pay and making life better for such a large group of poor hard working people

Saturday March 31, 2012, 2:52 pm
Happy Birthday Cesar!!! Thank you K!

Saturday March 31, 2012, 3:04 pm
Some Occupy protesters meeting in Cesar Chavez park in Phoenix did not know who he is or what he did. I cried.

Saturday March 31, 2012, 4:54 pm

Bee Hive, that is truly a depressing thought. This man worked so hard for people that no one cared about. Give me an MLK, Cesar Chavez, JFK, RFK, Che Guevara and I'd be happy. The world would be a better place. I know there are others that could be on that list, but that's my top chart.

Saturday March 31, 2012, 5:25 pm
Kit
They would never have succeeded in this environment. We need sterner heroes now!

Saturday March 31, 2012, 5:43 pm

What? These guys had guts and vision. Terry, all I have to hang onto is the hope of the return of social justice, and the memories of a time long gone bye.

Saturday March 31, 2012, 6:08 pm
Having lived in NM and now in CO - this guy was wonderful - should be more like him.

Saturday March 31, 2012, 7:05 pm
Thanks very much. Cesar Chavez is a hero and celebrating in his honour seems very appropriate.

Saturday March 31, 2012, 7:36 pm
Thanks Kit, without you I wouldn't have known.

I remember the fights about grapes in my home. Was Chavez a commie? (Why did that matter?) Did it really matter? And both of my parents were union members!

Living with saints is very hard. People are only comfortable with them when they're dead. I guess we're so comfortable with Mr. Chavez we forgot he existed. I wonder why

Saturday March 31, 2012, 9:52 pm
Kit, I would carry your list myself and feel that its was quite complete if I could add Phil Ochs and Cicero (Yes, I am an old fashioned girl).

Saturday March 31, 2012, 11:44 pm
Calling all heros, calling all heros, calling all heros

Remember the sign, "Lower Worlds endangered.
COME HELP"

Sunday April 1, 2012, 2:41 am
A Wonderful man

Sunday April 1, 2012, 5:47 am
Wow, never thought I'd see the day,... Right On!!

Sunday April 1, 2012, 10:21 am
I remember seeing him during the marches, meetings and pickets my parents took me to...he was brave and soft spoken but passionate and determined. I was afraid that the hunger strikes or an assassin's bullet would kill him but he was not afraid....He is and always will be one of my heroes...and I feel blessed to have known him.
Viva Cesar Chavez! The farm worker's struggles still go on in the fields.

Sunday April 1, 2012, 10:59 am
THE LAST MARCH WITH CESAR CHAVEZ..
"On April 29, 1993, Cesar Estrada Chavez was honored in death by those he led in life. More than 50,000 mourners came to honor the charismatic labor leader at the site of his first public fast in 1968 and his last in 1988, the United Farm Workers Delano Field Office at "Forty Acres."

It was the largest funeral of any labor leader in the history of the U.S. They came in caravans from Florida to California to pay respect to a man whose strength was in his simplicity."

“We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.”

Cesar Chavez~

Thanks Kit..
Noted..and remembered..

Sunday April 1, 2012, 11:38 am
I agree! Thanks for the post Kit.

Sunday April 1, 2012, 11:42 am
He was truly an inspiring, awesome and incredible man! The world needs more people like him. Thanks Kit.

Sunday April 1, 2012, 11:51 am

My deepest thanks and appreciation for those of you who remember and acknowledge this brave and devoted man. I have but one question: Where have all the heroes gone? I could recognize them when they were alive, but see none around, save for Bernie Sanders, yet even he is limited in reach.

Sunday April 1, 2012, 10:37 pm
As many know, I am Canadian. Cesar Chavez was well known beyond the US borders. I remember being asked to boycott US grapes, not because Chavez was trying to bring better working conditions to field workers, but because agri business etc were trying to stop him.

I agree that he and his contribution to the US, and I dare say influence past the US border, should be celebrated.

Sunday April 1, 2012, 11:39 pm
I grew up in both southern CA and the Bay Area, and saw the hell these workers went through with my own two eyes and have never, ever forgotten them.
Kit, you're comment after Terry's is exactly how i feel! 1love

Monday April 2, 2012, 3:28 am
Thanks.

Monday April 2, 2012, 5:44 am
Kit B., Cesar Chavez was from here and they even named a street after him that use to be Durango where the Federal Court House and Social Security Office is. They had a Parade yesterday in Honor of Cesar Chavez which turned out to be a big event here.

Monday April 2, 2012, 5:45 am
They changed the street name almost two years ago.

Monday April 2, 2012, 1:48 pm
Kit, thank you for posting this story. Cesar Chavez is a True Hero for Every Worker & Social Activists in this nation. I even attended a local Cesar Chavez Parade on Saturday. Last year I tried to contact a major movie producer or director to make a motion picture about Cesar for his 75th Birthday. I could never find a link.
It makes me sick to see and hear of these characters on FOX etc. acting as if they are showing courage in backing the millionaires and billionaires. Acting as if they have some kind of integrity in attacking leaders such as Senor Chavez. This man had more courage and more integrity than any of them. If they had been called to lead that movement they would have sold out as soon as the first threat had been made against them. Some try to find common ground with these "conservatives", but that would be capitulating! They have no core values except to demonize those who are trying to make things better for "The Least of These."

Monday April 2, 2012, 4:09 pm

I completely agree with you, Bob. Some of us are old enough to remember all of this and more. Some times I find it difficult to believe that here we are at ground zero again. And...as Bee Hive mentioned above, young people don't know who he is/was or what he did. Dare we ask if they remember Jack, Bobby, MLK, the many marches on DC - the year of flames in '67 or even the signing of the Civil Rights Act? I suppose it would be way out of line to ask if they knew of Che. All very disappointing. Reagan was very successful in beginning the great decline of the US, and now we need a new hero. Maybe Terry is right and we need someone made of tougher armour, but still has deep compassion.

Thursday February 21, 2013, 7:11 am
I have happened upon this post by accident -in fact looking for someone who likes Phil Ochs!- & am sorry I missed it back in March & April. But, as they say, better late than never.

Thanks to you, I've found out that there's now a Cesar Chavez Day! (AND that Ralph Nadar had a far greater role in protecting us from faulty & dangerous devices than I'd imagined.)

I have always admired Cesar Chavez. When I had my original profile page with pics of people I admired & loved (before Photobucket banned me), he was among them. I am always moved by struggles for social justice & the inspirational people who lead them.

Some of the comments here have moved me quite a bit, like Dee C's LAST MARCH WITH CESAR CHAVEZ, & the beautiful quote from him. He touched so many people! -"They came in caravans from Florida to California..": what a homage! It is just magnificent & very moving.

Or Mary L's and Tammy B's...

or Betsy Bee's tears for people not knowing who he is! --Well, they will now!

Robert T says he hasn't been able to interest anyone in making a film about Chavez, & since I found that bizarre, I googled & discovered that there are TWO films about him.

One I discovered on the PBS site, & this is part of what they say about it:
"The two-hour documentary premiered at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival in January, aired across the nation on PBS from 1997 through 2000, and on the Sundance Channel in 2001 and 2002.

More than two years in the making, "The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers' Struggle" is the first film to cover the full arc of Cesar Chávez' life.

Using archival footage, newsreel, and present-day interviews with Ethel Kennedy, former California Governor Jerry Brown, Dolores Huerta, and Chávez' brother, sister, son and daughter, among others, the documentary traces the remarkable contributions of Chávez and others involved in this epic struggle.

The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers' Struggle is not a traditional biography. It is social history with Chávez as the central figure, and the stories of many ordinary people who were part of the movement."

I guess this wouldn't count for Robert because it wasn't distributed & shown in movie theatres everywhere.

And he IS right about the disinterest of American filmmakers, since the other film -which is in post-production & will be released later this year- is a Mexican production! I read this in the LA Times from July, 2012: "Although Chavez, who died in 1993, was an American and did most of his work in the U.S., it has taken a Mexican company, Luna's Canana Films, to make the picture, most of which is also being shot in Mexico."

It's directed by Diego Luna, who's an emerging young director.

01/29/2013: 'Diego Luna discusses his upcoming film "Chavez" on KPFK's Uprising 90.7FM,' news item from Cesar Chavez Foundation site, which, btw, has some beautiful photos of Chavez & certainly a lot more, but I haven't had time to explore it yet... except for a quick glance at 'Education of the Heart- Quotes by Cesar Chavez' (which is a wonderful title), where I found: "In this world it is possible to achieve great material wealth, to live an opulent life. But a life built upon those things alone leaves a shallow legacy. In the end, we will be judged by other standards."

And maybe that's why we don't have true heroes anymore -- when aspirations are limited to material wealth, when these are the only ones validated & encouraged in the world we live in, then the 'education of the heart' is totally neglected.

The last time I heard about a great person rejecting material wealth to pursue a higher calling it was Aaron Swartz.

Ah, & it turns out I DID find the person who loves Phil Ochs -- Betsy Bee! I used to have a few of his records & sang his songs at Vermont summer campfire evenings, when I was 15 & 16!
And what he wrote then is still valid today: "It's always the old who lead us to the war, always the young to fall, Now look at all you've done with your saber and your gun, Tell me if it's worth it all?"