While many may be able point out the name César Chávez that adorn our nation’s many parks, schools, and even street signs, do folks really know who this man was and what his contribution is to our society?
To our Hispanic members of society, he is on par with other groups’ civil rights leaders, as Chávez led, over three decades, numerous hunger strikes, organized marches, boycotts, and other direct actions to support the farmworkers’ rights movement.
And while Chávez passed away in 1993, his legacy lives on in so many -- but none had the perspective of his grandson, Andrés Chávez, who will be at Grand Valley State University to speak at its annual César Chávez Celebration at the Kirkof Center in Allendale.
Having grown up with such access to a truly luminous leader, Andrés Chávez will share first-hand accounts of the solidarity, boycotts, and picket lines that led to the significant changes in how the farming industry treated its workers.
Andrés Chávez has stated in the past that while he understands that many of the battles his grandfather fought and won are now a part of a civil rights past, he does believe Latinx millennials still have the power to initiate changes to have their voices heard in their communities on the issues facing them in contemporary America.
Andrés Chávez, 24, is currently is majoring in public policy and administration at California State University, Bakersfield. Immediately after the lecture will be an informal meet and greet for attendees.
This is a rare and wonderful opportunity for anyone who would like to hear a first-person perspective and learn more about one of America’s leading civil rights leaders.
For more information on all the César Chávez Celebration activities that the college is hosting in conjunction with this year, please visit
www.gvsu.edu/oma.