March 29, 2006

LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm and First Gentleman Daniel G. Mulhern will celebrate Cesar E. Chavez Day on Friday, March 31, by attending events commemorating the birthday of the late civil rights and labor leader.  Granholm signed legislation in 2003 that established March 31 as Cesar E. Chavez Day in Michigan.
 
“Cesar Chavez was a man who believed in and practiced being of service to others.  His life was a testament to his belief that, ‘we can choose to use our lives for others to bring about a better and more just world for our children,’” Granholm said.  “As we celebrate this day of recognition, let us honor the extraordinary legacy of Cesar Chavez; let us acknowledge the strides he made to improve the lives of farm workers in this country; and let us reflect on the collective work that still lies ahead of us.”
 
On Friday, March 31, Governor Granholm will provide remarks at the 11th Annual Cesar Chavez Commemorative Dinner.  The event, entitled “Planting the Seeds of Change/Plantando Semillas para Cambio,” will be held at 5:30 p.m. in the Ballroom of the Lansing Center, 333 E. Michigan Ave., in downtown Lansing.
 
On Thursday, March 30, Mulhern will speak at the Chavez Hispanic Scholarship Reception in Grand Rapids at 6:30 p.m.  The event will take place on the 2nd floor of the Student Center at Grand Rapids Community College.
 
“Chavez’s fasts and pilgrimages were symbolic of the poverty and plight of American farm workers, but they were also critical lessons on the power of individuals and communities to demand social change and improve the quality of their lives,” Granholm said.  “As we reflect on his contributions, we should also remember his words, ‘We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community…our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.’”
 
This year’s celebration marks the 40th anniversary of Chavez’s historic 350 mile pilgrimage from Delano to the California capitol steps in Sacramento.
 
Chavez founded the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) in 1962 as a way to protect and serve farm workers whose poverty and disenfranchisement he shared.  For more than three decades, Chavez led the UFW, working for dignity, respect, fair wages, medical coverage, pension benefits, and humane living conditions as well as countless other rights and protections for hundreds of thousands of farm workers.
 
Cesar Chavez died on April 23, 1993, at the age of 66.