Alejandra Cruz
Cesar Chavez Day is not just a day off of school, but a day to remember all the effort someone put into farmers’ rights and promoting a service to the community.
Uniendo Las Americas Club (ULA) is going to celebrate Cesar Chavez Day at Balboa Park around 11 a.m. today.
Fernando Oleas, founder of the ULA Club at Pierce College, said this is an important day to celebrate the effort and struggle Chavez went through to defend the right of farmers.
Many students at Pierce may not know exactly why March 31 is a holiday. But a few know it by heart.
Dr. Leland Shapiro, director of the pre-veterinary program, said Chavez demanded better treatment of farmer workers who were in the field more than 12 hours a day.
“We shouldn’t have the day off. We should use the day to talk about what he did and why he did it,” Shapiro said.
“The reason I honor the holiday is because my grandfather was a farm laborer,” he continued. “He came to this country as an orphan, he didn’t speak English very well, so the only job he could get was using his hands.”
The amount of money farmers earned was 10 cents per hour and they had to pay the landlord for a place to live and eat.
According to Rudy Dompe, department chair of counseling and a Spanish professor, the Chavez movement not only helped the farm worker economically but also emotionally because he made people feel important.
“He was full of energy and charisma and he is recognized all over the world,” Dompe said.
March 31 was established as a California holiday Aug. 18, 2000, Cesar Chavez’s birthday. President Barack Obama presented last year the possibility of a national Cesar Chavez Day, which is optional in states including Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and Rhode Island.
“Si se puede!,” or “Yes we can!,” were the words Chavez used to motivate people, and they have since been used for political campaigns and by people who still fight for labor rights.
The last words of “The Prayer of the Farm Workers’ Struggle,” written by Chavez, read, “Let us remember those who have died for justice; for they have given us life. Help us love even those who hate us; so we can change the world.”
