César Chávez Resources

“Our language is the reflection of ourselves. A language is an exact reflection of the character and growth of its speakers.”

Anything in red is a link!

Books

Check out great books about Cesar Chavez HERE. (This includes one book I placed in Slides that I read to my students)

Videos

Biography

The following information was compiled by the Sixth Grade Class of 2021 from the Advent School as part of a Research Project. I organized it into this document. The information has links so you can check it or expand it.

Personal Life

He was born in Yuma, Arizona in 1927. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesar_Chavez
His family moved to California because of the great depression Biography: Cesar Chavez for Kids
His family lost their farm when he was 11 and had to work as migrant farmworkers. https://chavezfoundation.org/about-cesar-chavez/#1517518227969-596aaa83-bbbe
The Chávez family was kicked off its land for failing to pay its taxes during the Great Depression of the 1930s (when nearly half the industrial workers in the United States lost their jobs, leading to lower demand for goods and services). The family then joined the many migrant (traveling) laborers streaming into California. His family lost their home and farm due to the Great Depression.
His teacher made him hold a sign that said “I am a clown. I speak spanish,” after finding out that he didn’t speak english. Biography: Cesar Chavez for Kids
He went to school until 8th grade then dropped out and became a full time farm worker to help his family. https://castle.eiu.edu/wow/classes/fa06/cctimeline.html
He served in the U.S. Navy for 2 years, 1946-48) https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cesar-Chavez
He got married to Helena Fabela (Chavez) in 1948 after coming back from the Navy. https://castle.eiu.edu/wow/classes/fa06/cctimeline.html
He had 8 children.
He died in 1993. (Aged 66) https://www.history.com/topics/mexico/cesar-chavez

Social Justice Activism

In 1944, Chavez challenged segregation, and refused to sit in the Mexican part of the theater. https://castle.eiu.edu/wow/classes/fa06/cctimeline.html
1952. Fred Ross recruits Cesar Chavez into the Community Services Organization (CSO). Chavez becomes a community organizer, first coordinating voter registration drives and eventually rising to head the organization.
He helped laborers register to vote through CSO.
He spent 10 years in the Community Service Organization https://chavezfoundation.org/about-cesar-chavez/#1517518185005-3ec4ef88-3a5f
In 1962 he founded the National Farm Workers Association and became its first president.
In 1965, he led a strike of grape-pickers that lasted 5 years (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cesar-Chavez)
In 1968, Chavez led a national boycott of California grape growers because of their mistreatment of Mexican farm workers. becomes known as “La Causa”, The Cause. https://www.infoplease.com/history/hispanic-heritage/timeline-cesar-chavez
In 1966, Chavez led a 250-mile march from Delano to Sacramento, California, to let everyone, especially people in power, know about the mistreatment of farmworkers. https://castle.eiu.edu/wow/classes/fa06/cctimeline.html
He was committed to nonviolence.
In 1968, Chavez led a national boycott of California grape growers because of their mistreatment of Mexican farm workers. becomes known as “La Causa”, The Cause. https://www.infoplease.com/history/hispanic-heritage/timeline-cesar-chavez
He tried to improve the pay for farmworkers https://www.biography.com/activist/cesar-chavez
https://www.history.com/topics/mexico/cesar-chavez-video – he did not just farmers rights but gay peoples rights

Recognition

He got the presidential medal of freedom from Bill Clinton in 1993. -Clinton stated that Chavez had been a “remarkable man” and that “he was for his own people a Moses figure” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesar_Chavez#Orders,_decorations,_monuments,_and_honors
2000 California establishes a state holiday in honor of Cesar Chavez. http://www.nationalchavezcenter.org/main.html
In 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that Chavez’s birthday, March 31, would be recognized as a federal commemorative holiday.
He is in the California Hall of Fame. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesar_Chavez#Orders,_decorations,_monuments,_and_honors
Google celebrated his 86th birthday with a Google Doodle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesar_Chavez#Orders,_decorations,_monuments,_and_honors

Quotes

“The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people.”
“You are never strong enough that you don’t need
“To make a great dream come true, the first requirement is the great capacity to dream; the second is persistence.”
“True wealth is not measured in money or status or power. It is measured in the legacy we leave behind for those we love and those we inspire.” https://www.azquotes.com/author/2761-Cesar_Chavez
If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him… the people who give you their food give you their heart.
Thank you. And boycott grapes. https://chavezfoundation.org/speeches-writings/#1549063419713-afbc7b0e-e4f1
“All my life, I have been driven by one dream, one goal, one vision: To overthrow a farm labor system in this nation which treats farm workers as if they were not important human beings.” https://chavezfoundation.org/speeches-writings/#1549063419713-afbc7b0e-e4f1
“We are a union and we are strong and we are striking to force the growers to respect our strength!” https://chavezfoundation.org/speeches-writings/#1549063419713-afbc7b0e-e4f1
“To be a man is to suffer for others. God helps us to be men!”
Preservation of one’s own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures.
You are never strong enough that you don’t need help.
The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people.
“We need to help students and parents cherish and preserve the ethnic and cultural diversity that nourishes and strengthens this community – and this nation.
There is no such thing as defeat in non-violence.
Real education should consist of drawing the goodness and the best out of our own students. What better books can there be than the book of humanity?
“We draw our strength from the very despair in which we have been forced to live. We shall endure.”
Our language is the reflection of ourselves. A language is an exact reflection of the character and growth of its speakers.
“History will judge societies and governments and their institutions, not by how big they are or how well they serve the rich and the powerful, but by how effectively they respond to the needs of the poor and the helpless.” – Cesar Chavez https://www.awakenthegreatnesswithin.com/35-inspirational-cesar-chavez-quotes-on-success/
Link to speeches and writings (I didn’t read them all): https://chavezfoundation.org/speeches-writings/
“You are never strong enough that you don’t need help.”
“Non-violence is not inaction. It is not discussion. It is not for the timid or weak. Non-violence is hard work. It is the willingness to sacrifice. It is the patience to win.” Cesar Chavez 35 Inspirational Cesar Chavez Quotes On Success