The life and legacy of cesar chavez

American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist (1927–1993)

For other uses, see Cesar Chavez (disambiguation).

Cesario Estrada Chavez (; Spanish:[ˈtʃaβes]; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist.

The life and legacy of cesar chavez

Along with Dolores Huerta and lesser known Gilbert Padilla, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) to become the United Farm Workers (UFW) labor union.

Ideologically, his worldview combined left-wing politics with Catholic social teachings.

Born in Yuma, Arizona, to a Mexican-American family, Chavez began his working life as a manual laborer before spending two years in the U.S.

Navy. Relocating to California, where he married, he got involved in the Community Service Organization (CSO), through which he helped laborers register to vote. In 1959, he became the CSO's national director, a position based i