When Anthony Chavez was a young boy, he had no idea that the grandfather he loved to spend time with was a legend.
"He was mainly just a friendly, fun-loving grandfather," the 26-year-old Sacramento resident said. "He always had time for us grandchildren."
Chavez was in third grade when his grandfather, civil rights leader and United Farm Workers founder Cesar Chavez, died in 1993. A tree was dedicated to the champion of farm laborers at the boy's school, amid an outpouring of adoration that included then-President Bill Clinton's posthumously awarding the elder Chavez the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Today Latinos, farmworkers and others are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the start of Chavez' movement, which is set for Saturday, his birthday. And Anthony Chavez is working to carry on the legacy, traveling around California to speak to schoolchildren and community groups about his grandfather's cause.
"I think the message is not to forget that farmworkers are out there with human hands picking our fruits and vegetables," he said, adding that work still must be done to improve conditions. "Even though the laws may appear to be the best in Sacramento, unfortunately the rules in the field are much harsher."
A self-proclaimed "student activist," Chavez led tonight's 50th annual march in Anderson, followed by a dinner and celebration sponsored by the Northern Hispanic Latino Coalition, at which 15 first-generation college-bound students were presented scholarships. "The end of all education should be service to others," Chavez quoted his grandfather as saying.
For my complete story, check CapitalPress.com tomorrow.
More than 100 people attended tonight's gathering in the community hall at City Hall. I was impressed by Anthony Chavez; he seems humble and sincere, believes the movement he has more or less inherited is important, believes agriculture is important, and has the charisma and sense of history to lead a movement. You don't get the impression that he's simply capitalizing on his family's name, not that I expected to. In fact, you get exactly the opposite impression.
And he's not just here to be a history teacher, either. He's very much in tune with current events, supporting efforts to prevent heat exhaustion among workers, cheering a company's decision to pull methyl iodide, advocating for the AgJobs immigration reform proposal, etc. I'll get into that a bit in my story.
Oh, and in case you don't speak Spanish, "Si se puede!" means "Yes, it can be done!"
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