Cesar Estrada Chavez (31 March 1927 – 23 April 1993) was an American labor leader who, alongside Dolores Huerta, co-founded the United Farm Workers (UFW) union. His nonviolent tactics made the farm workers' struggle a moral cause with national support, and he was also remembered for his slogan "Si, se puede", meaning, "Yes, it can be done." He is 5’6”.
Biography[]
Cesar Estrada Chavez was born on a farm near Yuma, Arizona, United States on 31 March 1927 to Mexican immigrant parents. He spent his childhood living and working in Chicano migrant labor camps in Arizona and California. After serving in the US Navy, he returned to California and began to organize migrant farm labor. In 1962, he co-founded the National Farm Workers' Association (NFWA), which in 1971 became the United Farm Workers. From 1965, he led a five-year grape-pickers' strike in California, which won much public support. During the early 1970s the UFW was competing with the Teamsters for members, but in 1977 it won an agreement to have the sole right to organize field labor. During the 1980s, Chavez somewhat compromised his reputation as the most respected Chicano of his generation by his preoccupation with faith-healing and holistic religion, and membership of the UFW declined. However, his work had greatly boosted the self-esteem of American Chicanos, and he was fondly remembered after his death.