BILL NUMBER: ACR 3	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  FEBRUARY 26, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Mendoza

                        DECEMBER 1, 2008

   Relative to Cesar Chavez Day.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 3, as amended, Mendoza. Cesar Chavez Day.
   This measure would recognize March 31,  2010 
 2009  , as the anniversary of the birth of Cesar Chavez,
and would call upon all Californians to participate in appropriate
observances to remember Cesar Chavez as a symbol of hope and justice
to all persons.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, On March 31, 1927, a true hero named Cesar Estrada Chavez
was born in Yuma, Arizona, to Librado and Juana Chavez. He was
second oldest in a family of five children. Cesar Chavez lived his
life dedicated to improving the plight of farmworkers through
struggle, sacrifice, and self-denial. He established and led the
first successful farmworkers' union in United States history. He
stood for dignity and justice for farmworkers. Today, he remains a
symbol of hope to all Californians who find hope and peace in
justice; and
   WHEREAS, In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, Cesar Chavez'
father lost his small farming business, and the family went broke.
The family became migrant workers and joined some 30,000 workers who
followed the crops from Arizona into Southern California, then up the
length of the Central Valley and back again, picking everything from
peas to cotton. They lived in tents and other makeshift housing that
often lacked a bathroom, electricity, or running water. Schooling
for Chavez was irregular and haphazard. He attended some 30 different
schools, often encountered discrimination, and was punished for
speaking Spanish; and
   WHEREAS, After graduation from the 8th grade, Cesar Chavez was
forced to quit school and take to the fields in order to help support
his family. In 1944, at the age of 17, Cesar Chavez joined the Navy
and served in World War II. After he completed his tour of duty,
Cesar Chavez returned to California and married Helen Fabela, a woman
who shared his dedication to the cause of the farmworker. They lived
in San Jose in a tough Mexican neighborhood called "Sal Si Puedes"
which translates to "get out if you can," and together raised eight
children; and
   WHEREAS, As a farmworker, Cesar Chavez experienced firsthand the
injustice of working long hours with little pay. Instilled with a
sense of justice passed down from his mother, Cesar Chavez made a
decision to speak up and fight for change. He took part in his first
strike in protest of low wages and poor working conditions for
farmworkers. Although initially unsuccessful, his participation in
that first strike was to mark the beginning of a long career in which
he fought for improved working and living conditions for
farmworkers; and
   WHEREAS, In 1962, Cesar Chavez resigned his position with the
Community Services Organization to embark on a bold new undertaking
to form a farmworkers' union. He was joined by the great Dolores
Huerta, and together they became the architects of the National Farm
Worker's Union, the forerunner to the present United Farm Workers
(UFW); and
   WHEREAS, In 1965, Cesar Chavez led a strike of California grape
pickers to demand higher wages and urged all Americans to boycott
table grapes as a show of support. The strike included a 340-mile
march from Delano to Sacramento in 1966 in which thousands of
farmworkers and supporters marched in solidarity. The farmworkers and
supporters carried banners with the black eagle with the words
"HUELGA" (strike) and "VIVA LA CAUSA" (long live our cause); and
   WHEREAS, Cesar Chavez preached nonviolence to the strikers even as
they were physically abused by many of those opposed to the grape
boycott. In 1968, he began a Ghandi-like fast to call attention to
the migrant workers' cause. Although his dramatic act did little to
solve the immediate problem, it increased public awareness of the
conditions under which farmworkers labored. In 1973, the UFW
organized a strike for higher wages from lettuce growers, and, after
many battles, an agreement was finally reached in 1977 that gave the
UFW the sole right to organize farmworkers; and
   WHEREAS, During the 1980s, Cesar Chavez led the effort to call
attention to the health problems of farmworkers caused by the use of
certain pesticides on crops; and
   WHEREAS, On April 23, 1993, Cesar Estrada Chavez died peacefully
in his sleep in San Luis, Arizona. During his funeral, Cardinal Roger
M. Mahony, who celebrated the funeral mass, called Cesar Chavez "a
special prophet for the world's farmworkers"; and
   WHEREAS, Many declared that the UFW would die without him, but on
Cesar Chavez' birthday, March 31, 1994, under the leadership of his
son-in-law, Arturo Rodriguez, the UFW marched 343 miles from Delano
to Sacramento, echoing Cesar Chavez' historic 1966 march, and
demonstrated that the UFW still worked for farmworkers; and
   WHEREAS, In 1990, Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari
awarded Cesar Chavez "El Aguila Azteca" (the Aztec Eagle), Mexico's
highest award presented to people of Mexican heritage who have made
major contributions outside Mexico. He also became the second Mexican
American to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest
civilian honor in the United States, which was presented posthumously
to his wife, Helen Chavez, and their children on August 8, 1994, by
President William Jefferson Clinton; and
   WHEREAS, In 1994, Cesar Chavez' family and the officers of the UFW
created the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation to inspire current and future
generations by promoting the ideals of Cesar Chavez' life, work, and
vision. Communities throughout California and the United States have
honored the memory of Cesar Chavez by naming schools, parks,
children's centers, streets, and other public works after the great
labor leader; and
   WHEREAS, Cesar Chavez led by example, giving of himself so that he
might help others. His relentless pursuit of the belief that the
American dream should be available to all Americans, regardless of
race or national origin, stands as a monument to our free society.
His life and work is not only an inspiration to Latinos, but to
working Americans of all nationalities. His legacy lives on in the
improved working and living conditions of hundreds of thousands of
Californians and their families; and
   WHEREAS, In the year 2000, the Legislature enacted Senate Bill 984
(Chapter 213 of the Statutes of 2000) to create an annual state
holiday on Cesar Chavez' birthday, March 31. This holiday provides
all Californians the opportunity to learn from Cesar Chavez' life and
provides schoolchildren the opportunity to learn through community
service; and
   WHEREAS, The State Board of Education on Wednesday, February 6,
2002, adopted a model curriculum on the life and work of Cesar
Chavez, fulfilling a key provision of Chapter 213 of the Statutes of
2000, that also includes topics on pesticides, immigration, and
agriculture's role in the economy; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature recognizes March 31,
 2010   2009  , as the anniversary of the
birth of Cesar Chavez, and calls upon all Californians to participate
in appropriate observances to remember Cesar Chavez as a symbol of
hope and justice to all persons; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
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