César Chávez and Dolores Huerta
WHEREAS, César Chávez and Dolores Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers Association; and
WHEREAS, they understood the importance of coalition -building and worked in conjunction with other far m labor movements to make the United Farm Workers Association a reality. They worked to call for better conditions for farm workers and their families. They took on table grape growers who had been exploiting farmworkers and began a nationwide grape boycott that led to the first farmworker union contracts; and
WHEREAS, their mission was to reclaim dignity, fair wages, medical coverage, benefits, and humane living conditions for hundreds of thousands of people; and
WHEREAS, the popular phrase “Sí, se puede” is attributed to their activism and civil rights work. It was Dolores Huerta who first said the words which translate in English to “Yes I can, or yes, we can,” as she rallied support for worker and immigrant rights; and
WHEREAS, through fierce advocacy, Dolores Huerta was instrumental in securing the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, a first-in-the- nation law that extended collective bargaining rights to farmworkers; and
WHEREAS, César Chávez drew attention to environmental issues such as the use of chemical pesticides that endangered the lives of not only farmworkers, but also consumers; and
WHEREAS, their catalyst to act came from their early introductions to inequities with César Chávez born on March 31, 1927 in Yuma, Arizona and later moved to California after his parents lost their farm during the Great Depression and became migrant workers. Dolores Huerta was born on April 10, 1930 in Dawson, New Mexico. At a young age she was exposed to the hardships that her community faced, but she was greatly inspired by her mother’s work as a community activist; and
WHEREAS, in March 2014, President Barack Obama proclaimed March 31st as César Chávez Day and in 2019, California named April 10th as Dolores Huerta Day and in March 2022, the Palo Alto City Council voted to annually celebrate these two iconic leaders; and
WHEREAS, both César Chávez and Dolores Huerta have received the Presidential Medal of Freedom because through self -sacrifice, a commitment to nonviolence, and their spirituality, César Chávez and Dolores Huer ta championed a social justice movement that changed our nation; and
NOW, THEREFORE, the City of Palo Alto hereby honors and recognizes César Chávez and Dolores Huerta on this 14th day of April 2025 and encourages celebration through education and community service.
Presented: April 14, 2025
______________________________
Ed Lauing
Mayor
Proclamation