Previous Library Exhibition
Cesar E. Chavez
March 31 - April 2011
In the library and vitrine
Andy Zermeño, No Tomen Gallo, 1969. CSRC Digital Archive.
March 31 is Cesar Chavez Day – the state holiday honoring labor leader Cesar E. Chavez (1927–1993). Chavez 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, Chavez 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, Chavez 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. The CSRC honored Cesar Chavez’s life and work in this library exhibition.