H.R. No. 83
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, A passionate advocate for social justice and civil
rights for the poor and disenfranchised, Cesar Chavez was a true
American hero, and the anniversary of his birth on March 31, 2012,
provides a fitting opportunity to remember and honor his many
contributions; and
WHEREAS, Born in 1927 near Yuma, Arizona, Cesar Chavez was 10
years old when his family lost their farm in the Great Depression
and became migrant farmworkers; throughout his youth and into his
adulthood, Mr. Chavez traveled across the Southwest, laboring in
the fields and vineyards and attending more than 30 different
schools by the time he was in the eighth grade; and
WHEREAS, After serving in the U.S. Navy for two years, he
returned home to marry Helen Fabela, whom he had met while working
in the vineyards of central California; settling with his wife in
the East San Jose barrio of Sal Si Puedes, he returned to farming to
support his young family; and
WHEREAS, Witnessing firsthand the hardships and injustices
of farmworker life, Mr. Chavez joined the Community Service
Organization, a prominent Latino civil rights group, in 1952; while
with the CSO, he coordinated voter registration drives and
conducted campaigns against racial and economic discrimination; in
the late 1950s and early 1960s, he served as the CSO's national
director; and
WHEREAS, Determined to create an organization that would
protect and serve farmworkers, he resigned from the CSO in 1962,
leaving the security of a regular paycheck, and moved with his wife
and eight children to Delano, where he founded the first successful
farmworkers union in American history; originally called the
National Farm Workers Association, the organization later became
known as the United Farm Workers of America; and
WHEREAS, For more than three decades, Mr. Chavez led this
groundbreaking organization by effecting change through peaceful
tactics such as fasts, boycotts, strikes, and pilgrimages; his
union's efforts influenced and inspired millions of Americans,
forging a diverse national coalition of students, middle-class
consumers, religious groups, and minorities in a hard-won struggle
to achieve fair wages, medical coverage, pension benefits, humane
living conditions, and perhaps most important, dignity and respect
for the hundreds of thousands of farmworkers across the country;
and
WHEREAS, In 1991, this second-generation American received
the Aguila Azteca award, the highest award Mexico can bestow on a
person of Mexican heritage, and in 1994, a year after his death on
April 23, 1993, his widow accepted the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, America's highest civilian honor, on behalf of her late
husband; since his death, communities across the nation have chosen
to pay homage to Mr. Chavez by naming schools, parks, streets, and
libraries, as well as scholarships and awards, in his honor; and
WHEREAS, His motto in life, "si se puede," or "it can be
done," embodies the legacy that Cesar Chavez has left for the
world's benefit, and his principles of equality, justice, and
dignity for all Americans remain as essential and as relevant today
as they were when he began his important life's work; now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Cesar Chavez by
recognizing the month beginning March 31, 2012, as Cesar Chavez
Farmworker Appreciation Month and encourage all Texans to reflect
on and celebrate the extraordinary achievements of this inspiring
humanitarian.
Alonzo
______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 83 was unanimously adopted by a rising
vote of the House on March 31, 2011.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House