US Holidays - Cesar Chavez Day

Every year on March 31, residents of most American states celebrate Caesar Chavez Day, and in some states this holiday even has state status On this day back in 1927, Cesar Estrada Chavez, a future famous human rights activist, fighter for the rights of agricultural workers and migrants, a national hero of the United States, and a supporter of the vegan food system, was born First of all, Caesar's forces were focused on improving the working conditions of agricultural workers Chavez was born near Yuma, Arizona The boy's parents were immigrants from Mexico, whose ancestors lived in Arizona long before joining America At the age of ten, he and his relatives got a job on someone else's farm His family lost their private household during the years of the so-called Great Depression Caesar studied in more than 30 educational institutions, and decided to complete his studies after finishing the eighth grade Social and financial problems were to blame When the young man turned 18, he was drafted into the army Chavez served in the Navy in the Western Pacific After demobilization, he went to California, where he met and soon married the young beauty Helen Fabela Caesar first began to defend workers' rights in 1952 At that time he was 25 years old and was a member of a public organization in the detachment for the protection of social rights of Latin Americans At the same time, Chavez did not just work for money, he sincerely wanted to help everyone in need, devoting all his free time to his business And the young man’s amazing ability to work and dedication began to bring the first positive results They became interested in him and were soon offered to lead this project In 1962, Caesar decided to take a break from his day job to participate in the creation of the National Organization of Agricultural Workers This union is currently known as the United Farm Workers In 1965, members of the association organized a strike of American grape plantation workers After a 5-year boycott, the vineyard owners made concessions, significantly increasing wages and improving working conditions for their subordinates Chavez did not stop at the achieved results and continued the confrontation During this time, he organized several hunger strikes, forcing the largest manufacturing companies to change their attitude towards workers Caesar always felt that his own experience and knowledge were not enough for successful work That is why he returned to his studies, combining it with the main work of his life The human rights activist took philosophy lessons, attended lectures on economic topics, mastered jurisprudence and other sciences so necessary for his work Chavez died in the spring of 1993 during another strike, demanding a ban on the use of toxic substances in growing vineyards After the death of the national hero, streets, universities and parks in many cities were renamed in honor of Caesar In 2004, America's Post Office issued a special stamp with Chavez's image in his memory March 31 is a holiday in California Several years ago, the country's authorities supported a project to establish a separate holiday, and the date itself was included in the list of state holidays Today, American residents consider Chavez a unique symbol of the struggle for the rights of agricultural workers Cesar Chavez Day was the first in the history of the Great Power to be established in honor of Mexican Americans who led a labor union during their lifetime