The Fontana Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of Commerce
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| Joining the Fontana Hispanic Chamber is a Smart Business Investment |
| Cesar Chavez Second Annual Luncheon |
César Estrada Chávez (March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was a Mexican
American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who with Dolores
Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later
became the United Farm Workers. He is hailed as one of the greatest
American civil rights leaders. His birthday has become a holiday in four U.S.
states. Many parks, cultural centers, libraries, schools, and streets have
been named in his honor in cities across the United States.
Cesar Estrada Chavez founded and led the first successful farm workers'
union in U.S. history. When he passed away on 23 April 1993, he was
president of the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO.
Cesar was born March 31, 1927, on the small farm near Yuma, Arizona that
his grandfather homesteaded during the 1880's. At age 10, life began as a
migrant farm worker when his father lost the land during the Depression.
These were bitterly poor years for Cesar, his parents, brothers and sisters.
Together with thousands of other displaced families, the Chavez family
migrated throughout the Southwest, laboring in fields and vineyards. Cesar
left school after the eighth grade to help support his family.
He joined the U.S. Navy in 1945, and served in the western Pacific during
the end of World War II. In 1948, he married Helen Fabela, who he met while
working in Delano vineyards. The Chavez family settled in the East San Jose
barrio of Sal Si Puedes (get out if you can).
In 1952, Cesar was laboring in apricot orchards outside San Jose when he
met Fred Ross, an organizer for the Community Service Organization, a
barrio-based self-help group sponsored by Chicago-based Saul Alinsky's
Industrial Areas Foundation. Within several months Cesar was a full-time
organizer with CSO, coordinating voter registration drives, battling racial and
economic discrimination against Chicano residents and organizing new CSO
chapters across California and Arizona.
Cesar served as CSO national director in the late 1950's and early 1960's.
But his dream was to create an organization to help farm workers whose
suffering he had shared. In 1962, after failing to convince the CSO to commit
itself to farm worker organizing, he resigned his paid CSO job, the first
regular paying job he had. He moved his wife and eight young children to
Delano, California where he founded the National Farm Workers
Association (NFWA).
These were difficult years for Cesar and Helen Chavez. Helen worked in the
fields during the week and on weekends with her husband to support the
family. He often babysat his youngest children as he traveled to dozens of
California farm communities, slowly building a nucleus of dedicated farm
worker members. "If you're outraged at conditions, then you can't possibly be
free or happy until you devote all your time to changing them and do nothing
but that," he said. "But you can't change anything if you want to hold onto a
good job, a good way of life and avoid sacrifice."
American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who with Dolores
Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later
became the United Farm Workers. He is hailed as one of the greatest
American civil rights leaders. His birthday has become a holiday in four U.S.
states. Many parks, cultural centers, libraries, schools, and streets have
been named in his honor in cities across the United States.
Cesar Estrada Chavez founded and led the first successful farm workers'
union in U.S. history. When he passed away on 23 April 1993, he was
president of the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO.
Cesar was born March 31, 1927, on the small farm near Yuma, Arizona that
his grandfather homesteaded during the 1880's. At age 10, life began as a
migrant farm worker when his father lost the land during the Depression.
These were bitterly poor years for Cesar, his parents, brothers and sisters.
Together with thousands of other displaced families, the Chavez family
migrated throughout the Southwest, laboring in fields and vineyards. Cesar
left school after the eighth grade to help support his family.
He joined the U.S. Navy in 1945, and served in the western Pacific during
the end of World War II. In 1948, he married Helen Fabela, who he met while
working in Delano vineyards. The Chavez family settled in the East San Jose
barrio of Sal Si Puedes (get out if you can).
In 1952, Cesar was laboring in apricot orchards outside San Jose when he
met Fred Ross, an organizer for the Community Service Organization, a
barrio-based self-help group sponsored by Chicago-based Saul Alinsky's
Industrial Areas Foundation. Within several months Cesar was a full-time
organizer with CSO, coordinating voter registration drives, battling racial and
economic discrimination against Chicano residents and organizing new CSO
chapters across California and Arizona.
Cesar served as CSO national director in the late 1950's and early 1960's.
But his dream was to create an organization to help farm workers whose
suffering he had shared. In 1962, after failing to convince the CSO to commit
itself to farm worker organizing, he resigned his paid CSO job, the first
regular paying job he had. He moved his wife and eight young children to
Delano, California where he founded the National Farm Workers
Association (NFWA).
These were difficult years for Cesar and Helen Chavez. Helen worked in the
fields during the week and on weekends with her husband to support the
family. He often babysat his youngest children as he traveled to dozens of
California farm communities, slowly building a nucleus of dedicated farm
worker members. "If you're outraged at conditions, then you can't possibly be
free or happy until you devote all your time to changing them and do nothing
but that," he said. "But you can't change anything if you want to hold onto a
good job, a good way of life and avoid sacrifice."
| JOIN THE CHAMBER TODAY (909) 331-0091 |
| WEBSITE LAUNCH DATE January 19, 2008 |
| On February 21, 2008 during a telephone conversation between Joe Baca, Jr., Councilman for the City of Rialto and Armando Yepes, Chairman and CEO of the Fontana Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Councilman Baca suggested we should honor Cesar Chavez with a luncheon in recognition of his life's work. Armando Yepes, having met Cesar Chavez at many peaceful marches and rallies dealing migrant workers, boycotts, human rights, and education, quickly jumped at the opportunity to host the inaugural luncheon in Fontana. After meeting with Nosotros Unidos of the IE and Minorities United of the IE, it was agreed to jointly sponsor the luncheon honoring this great American. It is the 25 year anniversary since he passed away and it's time all of us recognized his contributions to our country. |
Meet & Greet 11:00 to 12:00 - Lunch from 12:00 to 1:30 PM Seating will be limited - Call to reserve your seat (909) 331-0091 |
| CESAR E. CHAVEZ 1927 - 1993 Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom & the Aguila Azteca "One of the heroic figures of our time." Senator Robert F. Kennedy |
CORPORATE SPONSORS ARE ENCOURAGED TO PURCHASE A TABLE OF 6
AND A TABLE OF 8 FOR STUDENTS AND THEIR PARENTS. OR THE ENTIRE
VIP TABLE OF 6 MAY BE DONATED TO ACCOMMODATE THE STUDENTS AND
THEIR PARENTS. All attendees are encouraged to sponsor at least 1
student at $20.00 each.
AND A TABLE OF 8 FOR STUDENTS AND THEIR PARENTS. OR THE ENTIRE
VIP TABLE OF 6 MAY BE DONATED TO ACCOMMODATE THE STUDENTS AND
THEIR PARENTS. All attendees are encouraged to sponsor at least 1
student at $20.00 each.
| VIP TICKETS INCLUDE BUFFET LUNCH VIP TICKETS $35.00 General Admission Tickets and Student Tickets will be served a Healthy Box Lunch General Admission Tickets $25.00 Student Tickets $20.00 |
| FOR TICKET SALES, STUDENT SPONSORSHIP OR EVENT PROGRAM ADVERTISEMENT CALL: Hispanic Chamber (909) 331-0091 |
In September 1965, Cesar's NFWA, with 1200 member families, joined an AFL-CIO sponsored union in a strike against major Delano area table and
wine grape growers. Against great odds, Cesar led a successful five year strike-boycott that rallied millions of supporters to the
United Farm Workers. He forged a national support coalition of unions, church groups, students, minorities and consumers.
The two unions merged in 1966 to form the UFW, and it became affiliated with the AFL-CIO.
From the beginning, the UFW adhered to the principals of non-violence practiced by M.K. Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. The 1965 strikers took a pledge of non-violence and Cesar conducted a 25 day fast in 1968 to reaffirm the UFW's
commitment to non-violence. The late Senator Robert F. Kennedy called Cesar "one of the heroic figures of our time," and flew
to Delano to be with him when he ended the fast.
By 1970, the boycott convinced most table grape growers to sign contracts with the UFW. That year, to limit the UFW's success to
the vineyards, growers in the vegetable industry signed "sweetheart" pacts with the Teamsters Union. When the UFW's table grape
agreements came up for renegotiation in 1973, growers signed with the Teamsters, prompting 10,000 farm workers in California's
coastal valleys to walk out of the fields in protest.
Cesar called for a new worldwide grape boycott. By 1975, a Louis Harris poll showed 17 million American adults were
honoring the grape boycott. It forced growers to support then California Governor Jerry Brown's collective bargaining law for farm
workers, the 1975 Agricultural Labor Relations Act.
Since 1975, the UFW won most of the union elections in which it participated. Despite the farm labor board's bureaucratic delays,
farm workers made progress. By the early 1980's farm workers numbered in the tens of thousands were working under UFW
contracts enjoyed higher pay, family health coverage, pension benefits and other contract protections.
Then, in 1982, with more than $1 million in grower campaign donations, Republican George Deukmejian was elected Governor of
California. Most objective observers agree that under Deukmejian, the farm labor board ceased to enforce the law. In 1984, Cesar
called for another grape boycott. In July and August 1988, he conducted a 36 day "Fast for Life" to protest the pesticide
poisoning of grape workers and their children.
Cesar lived with his family since 1970 at La Paz, in Keene, California, the union's headquarters in Kern County's Tehachapi
Mountains, east of Bakersfield,. Like other UFW officers and staff, he received subsistence pay that didn't top $5,000 a year.
Cesar Chavez passed away on April 23, 1993, at the age of 66. More than 40,000 people participated in Cesar's funeral at
Delano. He was laid to rest at La Paz in a rose garden at the foot of the hill he often climbed to watch the sun rise.
In 1991, Cesar received the Aguila Azteca (The Aztec Eagle), Mexico's highest award presented to people of Mexican heritage
who have made major contributions outside of Mexico. On August 8, 1994, Cesar became the second Mexican American to
receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. This award was presented
posthumously by President Bill Clinton. Helen F. Chavez and six of her eight children traveled to the White House to receive
the honor.
Many skeptics declared the union dead after Cesar passed away, but such reports were proven to be premature. On Cesar's
birthday, March 31st, 1994, under the leadership of his son-in-law and successor Arturo S. Rodriguez, the UFW marched 343 miles
from Delano to Sacramento, echoing Cesar's historic 1966 peregrinación and demonstrating the strength of the UFW and the fact
that Cesar's dream of a national union for farm workers remains a possibility. The UFW continues to win elections and negotiate
contracts for farm workers.
In 1994, Cesar's family and the officers of the UFW created the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation to inspire current and future
generations by promoting the ideals of Cesar's life, work and vision. The Foundation's headquarters is at La Paz, the future location
of the Cesar E. Chavez Library and the Cesar E. Chavez Training and Education Center.
wine grape growers. Against great odds, Cesar led a successful five year strike-boycott that rallied millions of supporters to the
United Farm Workers. He forged a national support coalition of unions, church groups, students, minorities and consumers.
The two unions merged in 1966 to form the UFW, and it became affiliated with the AFL-CIO.
From the beginning, the UFW adhered to the principals of non-violence practiced by M.K. Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. The 1965 strikers took a pledge of non-violence and Cesar conducted a 25 day fast in 1968 to reaffirm the UFW's
commitment to non-violence. The late Senator Robert F. Kennedy called Cesar "one of the heroic figures of our time," and flew
to Delano to be with him when he ended the fast.
By 1970, the boycott convinced most table grape growers to sign contracts with the UFW. That year, to limit the UFW's success to
the vineyards, growers in the vegetable industry signed "sweetheart" pacts with the Teamsters Union. When the UFW's table grape
agreements came up for renegotiation in 1973, growers signed with the Teamsters, prompting 10,000 farm workers in California's
coastal valleys to walk out of the fields in protest.
Cesar called for a new worldwide grape boycott. By 1975, a Louis Harris poll showed 17 million American adults were
honoring the grape boycott. It forced growers to support then California Governor Jerry Brown's collective bargaining law for farm
workers, the 1975 Agricultural Labor Relations Act.
Since 1975, the UFW won most of the union elections in which it participated. Despite the farm labor board's bureaucratic delays,
farm workers made progress. By the early 1980's farm workers numbered in the tens of thousands were working under UFW
contracts enjoyed higher pay, family health coverage, pension benefits and other contract protections.
Then, in 1982, with more than $1 million in grower campaign donations, Republican George Deukmejian was elected Governor of
California. Most objective observers agree that under Deukmejian, the farm labor board ceased to enforce the law. In 1984, Cesar
called for another grape boycott. In July and August 1988, he conducted a 36 day "Fast for Life" to protest the pesticide
poisoning of grape workers and their children.
Cesar lived with his family since 1970 at La Paz, in Keene, California, the union's headquarters in Kern County's Tehachapi
Mountains, east of Bakersfield,. Like other UFW officers and staff, he received subsistence pay that didn't top $5,000 a year.
Cesar Chavez passed away on April 23, 1993, at the age of 66. More than 40,000 people participated in Cesar's funeral at
Delano. He was laid to rest at La Paz in a rose garden at the foot of the hill he often climbed to watch the sun rise.
In 1991, Cesar received the Aguila Azteca (The Aztec Eagle), Mexico's highest award presented to people of Mexican heritage
who have made major contributions outside of Mexico. On August 8, 1994, Cesar became the second Mexican American to
receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. This award was presented
posthumously by President Bill Clinton. Helen F. Chavez and six of her eight children traveled to the White House to receive
the honor.
Many skeptics declared the union dead after Cesar passed away, but such reports were proven to be premature. On Cesar's
birthday, March 31st, 1994, under the leadership of his son-in-law and successor Arturo S. Rodriguez, the UFW marched 343 miles
from Delano to Sacramento, echoing Cesar's historic 1966 peregrinación and demonstrating the strength of the UFW and the fact
that Cesar's dream of a national union for farm workers remains a possibility. The UFW continues to win elections and negotiate
contracts for farm workers.
In 1994, Cesar's family and the officers of the UFW created the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation to inspire current and future
generations by promoting the ideals of Cesar's life, work and vision. The Foundation's headquarters is at La Paz, the future location
of the Cesar E. Chavez Library and the Cesar E. Chavez Training and Education Center.
| "Where are the streets, buildings, schools, parks or libraries named after Cesar Chavez within your city?" "If not us....... then who.... if not now... then when" |
| Location HISTORIC FOX THEATER at American Sports University Tuesday, March 31, 2009 399 N. "D" Street, San Bernardino, Ca. 92401 |
| NO MEAL TICKETS WILL BE SOLD AT THE DOOR To reserve your seat and meal, please purchase your ticket in advance NO ADVANCE TICKET - NO TACOS FOR YOU! |
| $$$ WANTED Part-time Bilingual (Spanish & English) Professional Sales Executives Wanted Earn 30% Commissions 15K to 30K A Year with the Fontana Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Call Today (909) 331-0091 or email Armando Yepes at ajyepes@aol.com |