Presidential Proclamation -- Cesar Chavez Day
CESAR CHAVEZ DAY, 2013
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BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Every year, Americans all across our country pause on March 31 to remember
a man who made justice his life's calling. Growing up the son of migrant farm
workers who lost everything in the Great Depression, Cesar Chavez knew hard work
and hardship from an early age. He labored long hours for little pay, taking odd
jobs to help his family get by and forgoing a formal education to follow the
crop cycles. But where others might have given up or given in, Cesar Chavez
never lost hope in the power of opportunity. He lived each day by a belief as
old as America itself -- the idea that with courage and determination, any of us
can reach beyond our circumstances and leave our children something
better.
More than anything, we remember Cesar Chavez for lending voice to the
voiceless. When no one seemed to care about the invisible farm workers who
picked our Nation's food, beset by poverty and cheated by growers, a courageous
man dedicated to dignity stood up and spoke out. Alongside Dolores Huerta and
fellow organizers, he rallied a generation of workers around "La Causa,"
marching and fasting and boycotting for fair pay and protections on the job.
They fought through decades of setbacks and fierce resistance. But through every
trial, Cesar Chavez refused to curb his ambitions or scale back his hope. Step
by step, march by march, he helped lead a community of farm workers to make the
change they sought.
Cesar Chavez's legacy lives on at Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz, his home
and workplace, which I was proud to designate a National Monument last October.
It also lives on in those who remember his central teaching: that when workers
are treated fairly and humanely, our country grows more just, opportunity
becomes more equal, and all of us do better. Because even with the strides we
have made, we know there is more left to do when working men and women toil in
poverty without adequate protections or simple respect. We know there is more to
do when our broken immigration system forces workers into a shadow economy where
companies can ignore labor laws and undermine businesses following the rules.
Fixing those problems means securing what Cesar Chavez fought for at La Paz. It
means taking on injustice, making sure hard work is rewarded, and bringing more
Americans into a rising middle class.
In 1966, when Cesar Chavez was struggling to bring attention to his cause,
he received a telegram from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "As brothers in the
fight for equality, I extend the hand of fellowship and goodwill," he wrote. "We
are with you in spirit and in determination that our dreams for a better
tomorrow will be realized." It is a story that reminds us how here in America,
we are bound together not by the colors of our skin or the languages we speak,
but by the values we share and the brighter future we seek for our children. So
today, as we honor a man who risked everything to stand up for what he believed
in, let us reflect on our common cause and recommit to moving forward together
-- as one Nation and one people.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America,
by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2013, as Cesar Chavez Day. I call
upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate service, community, and
education programs to honor Cesar Chavez's enduring legacy.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand thirteen,
and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and
thirty-seventh.
BARACK OBAMA
