Cesar Chavez: Mexican American Activist

A Documentary History of the Mexican Americans by Wayne Moquin. (Pgs 339-349).

This reading was about the civil rights leader for Mexican Americans named Cesar Chavez. Cesar Chavez was born on March 31 of 1927. He was born into a poor family and grew up as an american farm worker. Chavez formed the union of National Farm Workers Association which later came to be known as the United Farm Workers. Chavez was known for his charisma and excellent public speaking abilities to inspire Latino farm workers. His main goal was to unite and organize Latino farm workers in order to gain civil rights and justice towards Mexican Americans. Chavez used leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, and Zapata. As a result, he believed in aggressive, but nonviolent resistance. His dream was to achieve the riches of U.S land for Mexican Americans. Chavez is famous for his slogans and the inspiration he infused into Latinos. One of the most famous slogans he came up with was "Si se puede!" or "Yes we can!". He was a huge influential leader for the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement because of this today Cesar Chavez Day is celebrated in some states.

In my opinion Cesar Chavez was a very important and influential leader of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement. He was the one to unite Mexican American farm workers and tried to make a difference. He also organized a successful union like the United Farm Workers. In addition, he even resisted injustice in a manner like Martin Luther King Jr.'s, nonviolently. I think he was personally a great leader of the movement because of his gift of inspiring people through his speeches and slogans. For example, the "Si se puede!" slogan is still used today by Mexican American. Therefore, Cesar Chavez was a great leader.