Cesar Chavez

Cesar Chavez was a Mexican-American labour leader and civil rights activist. He was a farm worker who co-founded the biggest farm workers’ union in the USA and improved the working conditions of thousands of farm labourers. Many see him as one of America’s greatest civil rights leaders. More and more US states are honoring him by making his birthday a holiday.

Chavez was born in Arizona in 1927 to farm worker parents. His childhood was very tough because of the poverty caused by the Great Depression. Chavez was a natural leader and in 1952 he became an administrator in the Latino civil rights group the Community Service Organization. He travelled throughout California urging Mexican Americans to vote and speaking about workers’ rights.