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Chicano Studies Research Center

César E. Chávez

UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Library
144 Haines Hall
Black and white cartoon drawing showing an overweight man wearing a sombrero and gun belts while holding rifles in both hands.
Andy Zermeño, “No Tomen Gallo,” 1969. CSRC Digital Archive.

March 31 is César Chávez Day – the state holiday honoring labor leader César E. Chávez (1927–1993). Chávez led the historic non-violent movement for farm workers’ rights beginning in the mid-1960s, and received great attention for his 1968 hunger strike, a non-violent approach to prompting social change. Likewise, Chávez mobilized the community politically by organizing get-out-the-vote drives, which lead to an increased number of Latina and Latino elected officials. Most notably, Chávez built a union for farm workers, the UFW, and in the process trained a generation of activists who would apply their skills in other communities and struggles.

In the library and vitrine.