Apr 1, 2006 4:58 pm US/Pacific
Chavez Supporters Hold March And Festival
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
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UFW founder Cesar E. Chavez
AP
About 500 union activists and supporters marched through downtown Los Angeles to mark the 79th birthday of United Farm Workers co-founder Cesar Chavez.
Granddaughter Christine Chavez welcomed the crowd and both Democratic gubernatorial candidates Steve Westly and Phil Angelides joined the activists.
The eighth annual Cesar E. Chavez Walk spotlighted the union leader's "legacy of non-violence and respect for working people, including farm workers."
UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, Chavez family members, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, City Councilman Jose Huizar, actors Esai Morales, Ed Begley, Jr., Sal Lopez, Evelina Fernandez, Jose Luis Valenzuela and Luis Avalos took part in the event.
"The greatest tribute to Cesar Chavez is the thousands of young people who walk to show their commitment to continuing his legacy," UFW President Rodriguez said.
A roundtable discussion was held to teach students about Chavez and his history of non-violent social action.
Chavez was born March 31, 1927 on a farm his grandfather built in Yuma Arizona. He became a migrant farm worker at age 10 when his family lost their land during the Great Depression.
In 1962 he founded what became the United Farm Workers, the first successful union for farm workers in the nation. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy lauded Chavez as "one of the heroic figures of our time," and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the nation's highest civilian award.
Chavez never made more than $6,000 per year and did not own a house or car when he died in April 1993 at age 66 in Arizona.
He settled near San Jose in 1939, served a two-year stint in the Navy and returned to farm work. After studying how other leaders mobilized large groups, he founded the UFW. The UFW got a significant boost when grape growers bowed to pressure from a growing number of Chavez supporters and accepted labor contracts in 1970.
One of Chavez's role models was Gandhi and, like him, Chavez fasted for weeks on end to draw attention to "La Causa."
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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