Cesar Chavez

By: Janet Gomez

Early Life and Education
Cesar Chavez was born on March 21,
1927. He had two brothers and two
sisters. His family owned a grocery
store and a ranch, but their land was
lost during the Great Depression. The
Chavez family faced many hardships in
California. They picked fruits and
vegetables in spring, winter, and fall.
Chavez quit school in the seventh grade
to become a full-time migrant farm
worker. He joined the Navy in 1946 and
served for 2 years.He hoped that his
skills he learned would help him when
he returned to civilian life. He later
described the time he spent in the Navy
as the two worst years of life.
Activism
Chavez worked in the fields until 1952. He
became an organizer for the Community
Service Organization (CSO). He traveled
throughout California urging
Mexican-Americans to register and vote. He
also made speeches about worker rights. In
1958, he became CSOs national director, 4
years later he became the co-founder of the
National Farm Workers Association (NFWA).
It was later called the United Farm Workers
(UFW). In 1966, He and the NFWA led a strike
of California grape pickers. The strike lasted
five years and gained national attention.
Setbacks
Proposition 14 failed because it wanted
to bring discrimination back to
California. Synanon had pioneered what
they referred to as "the Game", in which
each member would be singled out in
turn to receive harsh, profanity-laced
criticism from the rest of the
community.Chavez instituted "the Game"
at UFW, having volunteers, including
senior members of the organization,
receive verbal abuse from their peers.
He fired many members, whom he
accused of disloyalty. He also accused
volunteers of being spies for the
Republic and communists.
DEATH oh no ;-;
He died on April 23, 1993 of
unspecified natural causes. Shortly after
his death, his widow, Helen Chavez
donated his union jacket to the National
Museum of American History. He is
buried at the National Chavez center on
the headquarters of the UFW. He
received full military honors from the
US Navy at his graveside on April 23,
2015.
Why he broke down the doors
I chose Cesar Chavez because he fought
for Mexican-Americans. He talked
about workers right and why we should
vote. He chose to fight for what he
believed was right.