Cesar Chavez
by Darrien Bell
family life and background
- Chavez was born on March 31, 1927, in Yuma, Arizona, in a Mexican-American family of six children. He was the son of Juana Estrada and Librado Chávez. He had two brothers, Richard (1929–2011) and Librado, and two sisters, Rita and Vicki. He was named after his grandfather, Cesario. Chavez grew up in a small adobe home, the same home in which he was born. His family owned a grocery store and a ranch, but their land was lost during the Great Depression. The family's home was taken away after his father had agreed to clear eighty acres of land in exchange for the deed to the house, an agreement which was subsequently broken. Later, when Chavez's father attempted to purchase the house, he could not pay the interest on the loan and the house was sold back to its original owner. His family then moved to California to become migrant farm workers.Chavez died on April 23, 1993, of unspecified natural causes in a rental apartment in San Luis,Arizona.
Activism, 1952-1976 He was 49 years old
Chavez worked in the fields until 1952, when he became an organizer for the Community Service Organization (CSO), a Latino civil rights group. Father Donald McDonnell who served in Santa Clara County introduced Fred Ross, a community organizer, to Cesar Chavez. Chavez urged Mexican Americans to register and vote, and he traveled throughout California and made speeches in support of workers' rights. He later became CSO's national director in 1958.
How he became a leader
Mexican-American Cesar Chavez was a prominent union leader and labor organizer.
Quotes
You are never strong enough that you don't need help