SENATE MEMORIAL 73

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

INTRODUCED BY

Richard C. Martinez

A MEMORIAL

HONORING AND REMEMBERING THE LIFE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF CESAR CHAVEZ.

     WHEREAS, Americans across the country will pause on March 31, 2017, Cesar Chavez day, to pay tribute to the inspiring life and achievements of the founder and long-time leader of the united farm workers of America on the anniversary of his birth; and

     WHEREAS, Cesar Estrada Chavez was born in 1927 near Yuma, Arizona, and was raised in California and spent much of his youth as a migrant laborer; and

     WHEREAS, as a Latino and a farm worker, Cesar learned firsthand about the indignities of second-class citizenship and the unhealthy working and living conditions endured by those who tended the fields; and

     WHEREAS, after serving in the United States navy from 1946 to 1948, Cesar return to California, and, in 1948, married Helen Fabela; and

     WHEREAS, four years later, Cesar became a community organizer for the community service organization, a Latino civil rights group that focused most of its work in urban areas, and by the 1950s, Cesar had become its national director; and

     WHEREAS, in 1962, when the community service organization declined to organize California farm workers, Cesar and his colleague, Dolores Huerta, left the organization to found the national farm workers association, a forerunner of the united farm workers; and

     WHEREAS, the fledgling union gained national prominence just three years later when it offered support to workers who were striking against California's grape growers; and

     WHEREAS, in addition to assuming leadership of the strike, Cesar launched a successful nationwide consumer's boycott of nonunion grapes; and

     WHEREAS, by the end of the five-year strike, the united farm workers had organized all of the California table-grape industry and negotiated the first collective bargaining agreement between American farm workers and corporations; and

     WHEREAS, in 1975, Cesar and the united farm workers succeeded in securing the passage of California's Agricultural Labor Relations Act, the first law in United States history to grant farm workers the right to unionize and bargain collectively; and

     WHEREAS, numerous other gains achieved under Cesar's leadership included the establishment of a farm workers' medical plan, pension plan and credit union, as well as the national farm workers service center, whose projects have included the development of affordable housing, health clinics, cooperatives and a retirement home; and

     WHEREAS, over the course of his life, Cesar sought to advance la causa, the movement, through nonviolent means such as strikes, pickets and boycotts; and

     WHEREAS, on several occasions, Cesar undertook lengthy fasts to draw public attention to the farm workers' struggle; and

     WHEREAS, Cesar continued to lead the united farm workers until his death on April 23, 1993; and

     WHEREAS, more than fifty thousand people came from throughout the nation to mourn him at his funeral, indicating the far-reaching impact he had made on American society; and

     WHEREAS, since the time of Cesar's death, numerous schools, streets, scholarships, monuments, buildings and parks have been named in his memory; and

     WHEREAS, a number of United States cities have initiated annual celebrations in tribute to his life, and several states have declared his birthday, March 31, a state holiday; and

     WHEREAS, in 1994, Cesar was posthumously awarded the nation's highest honor, the presidential medal of freedom; and

     WHEREAS, Cesar chose to devote his life to the pursuit of social and economic justice through nonviolent means, and his courage and steadfastness in his great work brought improved health, greater security and hope for a brighter future to countless people;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the life and significant accomplishments of Cesar Estrada Chavez be honored and remembered; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the New Mexico center on law and poverty.

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