March 31 is Cesar Chavez Day. Chavez was born on March 31, 1927. While Caesar Chavez Day has not yet become a federal holiday, it is observed as a holiday in the states of California, Colorado, and Texas. This is a day to remember one who was a great champion of the labor movement.
Dolores Huerta and Chavez founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962; an organization dedicated to advocating for the rights and dignity of farm workers. But it is also a movement committed to honoring the dignity and humanity of the growers and the farm owners as well. This devotion to the dignity of ALL people is conveyed in the NFWA commitment to non-violence. The NFWA does not want to replace one kind of oppression with another.
The birth family of Cesar Chavez owned a ranch and a grocery store in Arizona. This changed during the Great Depression when they lost their land through the dishonest dealings of local Anglos. They were merchants and farmers but were victims of injustice. When they lost their land, they moved to California and began to work as migrant farmworkers. So this was a significant change of circumstance for the Chavez family.
As migrant workers, the Chavez family moved again and again with the work. Cesar attended 37 different schools before completing the 8th grade, his last year of formal schooling. In school, Chavez experienced segregation and discrimination. There were “whites only” signs in some of the schools.
The challenges and oppression that Chavez experienced could have made him a bitter person. His family was swindled out of their land. He attended substandard schools and was treated in a demeaning manner in school. His family faced the abusive conditions imposed upon migrant farm workers. These kinds of experiences can be defeating. They can make people hostile and angry. But Chavez was a Christian. Surely he had learned of forgiveness and reconciliation. He knew that Jesus, too, was a victim of the hostility of others and yet he was committed to non violence. The Christian faith offers another way; a way of creative resistance to injustice and oppression.
In the face of the injustice and oppression that Chavez, his family, and the migrant workers experienced, he did not become hostile or embittered or vengeful. The injustice that he faced only made him more committed to working for justice for everyone. The awful conditions in the fields and the treatment of the workers motivated him to want to change things. The indignities that he experienced fueled his commitment to the dignity of each and every person. And despite his poor experience with formal education, he spent his life reading and learning.
At one point in his adult life, Chavez declared, “The end of all education should surely be service to others.” In his life, we see that his education through experience, through his schooling such as it was, and through his own initiative, did inspire his service to others. The challenges he faced motivated him to work for good.
We all face challenges and hardship in life, though maybe not to the degree of Cesar Chavez. These experiences can make us disillusioned, bitter, and defeated. They can make us hostile or vengeful. Or, as we see in Chavez, they can motivate us and inspire us to work for change and to help others. In the spirit of Chavez, may all that we learn in this life foster our commitment to service to others.
Prayer of the United Farm Workers
Show me the suffering of the most miserable, so I may know my people’s plight.
Free me to pray for others, for you are present in every person.
Help me to take responsibility for my own life, so that I can be free at last.
Grant me courage to serve others, for in service there is true life.
Give me honesty and patience, so that I can work with other workers.
Bring forth song and celebration, so that the Spirit will be alive among us.
Let the Spirit flourish and grow, so that we will never tire of the struggle.
Let us remember those who have died for justice, for they have given us life.
Help us love even those who hate us, so we can change the world.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 