Sunday, February 12, 2012

Friday, Mar. 12, 2010

Cesar Chavez event set for March 27

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Henry Dominguez and his son Naiche are heading a five-member committee planning the fourth annual Cesar Chavez Day march and rally.

The event will take place March 27 at noon at City Hall, 520 J St.

A march will be held from City Hall to Pacheco Park at the corner of Pacheco Boulevard and Seventh Street. Speeches, poetry, dance and musical performances in honor of Cesar Chavez will take place at the park. Local groups and organizations from throughout the Central Valley are expected to participate.

Henry Dominguez said Chavez's movement was a threat to growers who treated farm laborers unfairly. He said it is important to remember Chavez because farmworkers continue to face injustices.

"He was a danger point," Henry Dominguez said. "They figure he's dead now, but these people celebrating his life keep the movement alive."

Cesar Chavez, whose 83rd birthday would have been this month, is the late founder of the United Farm Workers Association. Chavez's grape boycotts and farm workers' rallies attracted worldwide attention and led to improved work conditions for farm laborers.

Henry Dominguez said farmworkers are still fighting for fair wages and healthier working conditions.

"People take advantage of immigrants. You're being exposed to very harsh conditions in those fields. When they spray that stuff on cotton they don't give you a warning," Henry Dominguez said.

Naiche Dominguez is hoping for a large crowd for the event.

"We're asking people to come out and (show)support," he said. "If there are farmworkers out there we want them to bring their banners, we want them to bring their pictures of Cesar."

Naiche Dominguez said passing down the history and the lessons of the movement to children is, for him, the most important part of the event.

"If we involve our children more the easier it will be for the next generation," Naiche Dominguez said. "Right now there's a lot of children who don't know who Cesar Chavez was. He was basically giving up his life for people he didn't know."

In the early 1970s Henry Dominguez was impressed by Chavez's non-violent approach. Today he is hoping Chavez's memory, through a petition he wants to send to the prisons, can inspire young Chicanos who are involved in gangs to stop fighting one another.

"Si se puede, that's why that's a big thing. We can do it," Henry Dominguez said.

Enterprise staff writer Corey Pride can be reached at 388-6563 or cpride@losbanosenterprise.com