“By designating La Paz as a national monument, President Obama is ensuring that future generations will have a place to learn about this extraordinary man and the farm labor movement that improved the lives of millions of workers,” said Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar.

By RUBí MARTíNEZ
EL NUEVO SOL

Keene, Calif. – It was a historical moment for many activists and supporters of the labor movement as President Barack Obama officially dedicated the César E. Chávez National Monument.

The president addressed a crowd of about 7,000 on Monday morning at Nuestra Señora de La Paz, also known as La Paz, same place where the labor leader, César E. Chávez, organized the labor movement and also, where he was buried in 1993.

“No one seemed to care about the invisible farm workers who picked the nation’s food, bent down in the beating sun, living in poverty, cheated by growers, abandoned in old age; unable to demand even the most basic rights,” Obama said.

The Mexican-American labor leader fought for farm worker’s labor rights that included better wages and better living conditions. He was known for using non-violent methods as  form of activism.

In the early 1960s, Chávez along with Dolores Huerta and Gilbert Padilla, started a union, the National Farm Workers Association which later became United Farm Workers. This group organized marches, protests and national boycotts including the boycott of table grapes that led to “some of the first farm worker contracts in history,” Obama said. “Let us honor his memory, but most importantly, let us live up to his example.”

Huerta, who fought along side with Chávez, said, “This is a very blessed event to have the president come here where César is buried and where the union’s headquarters is at.”

With the dedication of the César E. Chávez National Monument, it became the 398th addition to the National Park system. The 120-acre monument site is in the Tehachapi Mountains in the San Joaquín Valley and is the first monument dedicated to a Latino.

“By designating La Paz as a national monument, President Obama is ensuring that future generations will have a place to learn about this extraordinary man and the farm labor movement that improved the lives of millions of workers,” said Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, who also addressed the crowd at the inauguration.

César E. Chávez National Monument is open to the public daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit the César E. Chávez National Monument website at www.nps.gov/cech.

Tags:  barack obama Cesar E. Chavez Latino history National Monument Rubí Martínez