Union activist gives tribute for Chavez

A commemoration of the life and work of Cesar Chavez, a leader among farm-workers and a proponent of civil rights for ill-treated immigrants, took place Thursday, Oct. 17 in the Glass Pavilion as part of Organizacion Latina Estudiantil's (OLE) celebration of Latino Heritage Month.

The second President of the United Farm Workers of America, Arturo Rodriguez, spoke about the achievements of his predecessor, Chavez. Rodriguez became president of the association in May of 1993, following Chavez's death.

Rodriguez began by discussing Chavez's background. Despite achieving only an eighth grade education, Chavez recognized the need to organize farm workers in order for them to have a significant effect on their own destinies, said Rodriguez. The workers felt, however, that they could not improve their socioeconomic status, and any attempt to do so would be futile, because if they went on strike, they would easily be replaced and would lose what meager wages they made.

Rodriguez spoke about how Chavez's belief that all human beings deserve certain inalienable rights allowed him to motivate even the most skeptical farm workers. He believed that the three core principles -- integrity, innovation and volunteerism -- were necessary for a successful organization. The first step in organization was to gain the trust of the farm workers. Innovation was necessary due to lack of resources: instead of going on strike, Chavez convinced farm workers to boycott goods made under deplorable conditions. Finally, Rodriguez said that volunteerism was necessary to motivate people to help each other and to strengthen their enthusiasm for the cause.

In 1962, Chavez founded the National Farm Workers Association, which provided affordable housing and furnished healthcare, and also gave the farm workers a collective voice. The movement was a collection of several different organizations working together, and it later expanded to include industrial workers who were also disenfranchised and under-represented.

Rodriguez explained that the Hispanic population has been steadily growing since Chavez's time, and modern politics has reflected this change in the demographic. He spoke about politicians trying to embrace Latinos in order to garner their votes. In states such as California, Texas, Georgia and Florida, the Hispanics comprise a large percentage of the population. But he emphasized that Hispanics have the highest high school drop-out rate, at 50 percent, and therefore they will be unprepared to fulfill the jobs of the future.

He encouraged Hispanic youths to pursue their goals, attend college and break out of this cycle of poverty. Rodriguez left the audience with optimistic words from Cesar Chavez: "No matter how poor, how many obstacles you have in life, if you want to make a difference, you will."

OLE President Angela Boyd was inspired by Chavez's words.

"You hear about people who have made a difference, and that makes you want to work harder to make a difference here," said Boyd.

OLE hopes to increase awareness of Hispanic culture by bringing other noted Hispanic speakers to Hopkins in the future.

When asked her opinion about the success of the event, Rita Guevara, co-chair for OLE's Community Outreach, said, "I'm very pleased with the overall turnout. I think the event went very well."

Boyd expressed pleasure regarding the recognition of Latino Heritage Month.

"One reason that we're very excited [is that] Hopkins has been commemorating Martin Luther King annually every year for about 11 years, and this is the first time that a Latino been able to be recognized in this way," said Boyd. "We began planning for Latino Heritage Month last year, in May, so we worked throughout the summer."

The theme for this year's event, "Many Cultures, One Voice," was selected to celebrate the diversity and harmony found in Hispanic culture.

"The Latino population is very diverse, and that is something to be appreciated, but we have to unite if we want to create change," said Boyd. "That is why we selected the theme for this year.