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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, A passionate advocate for social justice and civil |
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rights for the poor and disenfranchised, Cesar Chavez was a true |
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American hero, and the anniversary of his birth provides a fitting |
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opportunity to remember and honor his many contributions; and |
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WHEREAS, Born on March 31, 1927, near Yuma, Arizona, Cesar |
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Chavez was 10 years old when his family lost their farm in the Great |
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Depression and became migrant farmworkers; throughout his youth and |
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into his adulthood, Mr. Chavez traveled across the Southwest, |
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laboring in the fields and vineyards and attending more than 30 |
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different schools by the time he was in the eighth grade; and |
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WHEREAS, After serving in the U.S. Navy for two years, he |
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returned home to marry Helen Fabela, whom he had met while working |
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in the vineyards of central California; settling with his wife in |
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the East San Jose barrio of Sal Si Puedes, he returned to farming to |
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support his young family; and |
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WHEREAS, Witnessing firsthand the hardships and injustices |
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of farmworker life, Mr. Chavez joined the Community Service |
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Organization, a prominent Latino civil rights group, in 1952; while |
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with the CSO, he coordinated voter registration drives and |
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conducted campaigns against racial and economic discrimination; in |
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the late 1950s and early 1960s, he served as the CSO's national |
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director; and |
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WHEREAS, Determined to create an organization that would |
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protect and serve farmworkers, he resigned from the CSO in 1962, |
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leaving the security of a regular paycheck, and moved with his wife |
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and eight children to Delano, where he founded the first successful |
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farmworkers union in American history; originally called the |
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National Farm Workers Association, the organization later became |
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known as the United Farm Workers of America; and |
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WHEREAS, For more than three decades, Mr. Chavez led this |
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groundbreaking organization by effecting change through peaceful |
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tactics such as fasts, boycotts, strikes, and pilgrimages; his |
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union's efforts influenced and inspired millions of Americans, |
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forging a diverse national coalition of students, middle-class |
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consumers, religious groups, and minorities in a hard-won struggle |
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to achieve fair wages, medical coverage, pension benefits, humane |
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living conditions, and perhaps most important, dignity and respect |
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for the hundreds of thousands of farmworkers across the country; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, In 1994, a year after his death on April 23, 1993, |
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his widow accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's |
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highest civilian honor, on behalf of her late husband; since his |
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death, communities across the nation have chosen to pay homage to |
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Mr. Chavez by naming schools, parks, streets, and libraries, as |
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well as scholarships and awards, in his honor; and |
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WHEREAS, His motto in life, "si se puede," or "it can be |
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done," embodies the legacy that Cesar Chavez has left for the |
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world's benefit, and his principles of equality, justice, and |
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dignity for all Americans remain as essential and as relevant today |
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as they were when he began his important life's work; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas |
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Legislature hereby recognize the month beginning March 31, 2016, as |
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Cesar Chavez Farmworker Appreciation Month and encourage all Texans |
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to reflect on and celebrate the extraordinary achievements of this |
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inspiring humanitarian. |