Martin Luther King Jr. once sent a telegram to Cesar Chavez commending the labor and civil rights activist on his “commitment to righting grievous wrongs forced upon exploited people.”
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King wrote, “We are together with you in spirit and determination that our dreams for a better tomorrow will be realized.”
It is this same shared spirit that will lead the new generation of social justice activists on the path to change, said Chavez’ granddaughter, human rights and environmental activist Julie Chavez Rodriguez, as she delivered the opening lecture for the 23rd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium.
“I challenge all of you to be a true disciple of Dr. King,” Chavez Rodriguez told a standing-room only crowd during her Jan. 17 address, “¡Si se puede! (Yes we can!).” “We must carry on work for justice. Find the cause you have compassion for, not only in words but in action.”
Throughout her life, Chavez Rodriguez has played an active role in the fight for social justice, human rights and the rights of working people. Her activism took root as a child when her grandfather held a bullhorn before her during a United Farm Workers rally.
Chavez Rodriguez is programs director for the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation and heads the National Youth Leadership Initiative, which addresses academic and civic engagement among youth. In California Chavez Rodriguez also helped found the Cesar Chavez Day of Service and Learning, and a Web-based K-12 curriculum on the life and work of Cesar Chavez.
Linking legacies of social justice activists to the current movement will forward the torch of fairness and equality, she said.
“(King’s) legacy deserves honor and respect through action and how we live our lives,” she said. “Both Dr. King and my grandfather were radical in their beliefs about justice and about organizing. They had faith in the community to do what’s right, even when no one was looking. And they knew violence couldn’t be part of the solution.”
A lesson learned from this experience, she said, is “not to be afraid. Stand up and fight for what you believe in.”
The use of pesticides on farm workers is one example of how the environmental and human rights movements are interrelated, Chavez Rodriguez said.
“Cesar Chavez saw farm workers were used as canaries in coal mines, as human guinea pigs who determined the effects of pesticides,” she said. “The broader environmental movement needs to include the effects on human beings, on our own lives.”
The lecture was sponsored by The Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, School of Natural Resources and Environment, and MLK Planning Committee.
A list of MLK Symposium events is posted at www.mlksymposium.umich.edu.
