Cesar Chavez

Cesario Estrada Chavez (March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was a prominent American labor leader and civil rights activist, best known for co-founding the United Farm Workers (UFW) alongside Dolores Huerta. Born in Yuma, Arizona, to a Mexican-American family, Chavez started his career as a manual laborer and served two years in the U.S. Navy before relocating to California.

In California, he became involved with the Community Service Organization (CSO), where he worked to help laborers register to vote. Chavez rose to the position of national director of the CSO in 1959. In 1962, he left the CSO to establish the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) in Delano, California. Through the NFWA, he initiated various programs, including an insurance scheme, a credit union, and the farmworker newspaper El Malcriado.

Chavez was instrumental in organizing significant strikes, most notably the Delano grape strike from 1965 to 1970. This strike highlighted the struggles of farmworkers and garnered national attention. In 1967, the NFWA merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), forming the UFW, which became a powerful advocate for the rights of farmworkers in the United States. Chavez's legacy is marked by his commitment to social justice and the labor movement, influenced by both left-wing politics and Catholic social teachings.