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Announcing the 2024 Speakers Bureau

The National Chavez Center Speakers Bureau is a year-round program dedicated to sharing the life and legacy of Cesar Chavez. Official Speakers and representatives from the National Chavez Center present at nationwide conferences, community-based events, marches, universities and more, lending contemporary meaning to Cesar’s core beliefs and values.  To learn more or to request a speaker, please submit a Speakers Request Form.

2024 Speakers Bureau

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La Campesina’s “Punto de Vista” broadcasts live from the White House

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La Campesina’s “Punto de Vista” broadcasted live from the White House this past Cesar Chavez Day. Program Director Maria Barquin and La Campesina radio personality Tony “El Tigre” sat down with White House staffers Luisana Perez Fernández, director of Hispanic media, and Jennifer Molina, deputy communications director, to discuss their current positions and reflect on their personal journeys to the White House. In conjunction with Cesar Chavez Day celebrations, La Campesina highlighted the farm worker delegation, which included UFW Foundation Chief Executive Officer Diana Tellefson Torres and United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero, accompanied by representatives of the nation’s largest agricultural states to discuss issues affecting farm workers. Listen to the entire episode by visiting: Podcast – Campesina Network

From left, La Campesina radio personality Tony “El Tigre, “Luisana Perez Fernández, White House director of Hispanic media, Jennifer Molina, White House deputy communications director, and Maria Barquin, communications fund program director.

From left, La Campesina radio personality Tony “El Tigre, “Luisana Perez Fernández, White House director of Hispanic media, Jennifer Molina, White House deputy communications director, and Maria Barquin, communications fund program director.

 

From left, Maria Barquin, communications fund program director, stands with Julie Rodriguez, senior advisor to President Biden at the White House and Cesar’s granddaughter, and La Campesina radio personality Tony “El Tigre” near a bust of Martin Luther King Jr.

From left, Maria Barquin, communications fund program director, stands with Julie Rodriguez, senior advisor to President Biden at the White House and Cesar’s granddaughter, and La Campesina radio personality Tony “El Tigre” near a bust of Martin Luther King Jr.

 

Chavez Foundation’s Maria Barquin and Tony “El Tigre” prepare for a live broadcast of “Punto de Vista” from the White House.

Chavez Foundation’s Maria Barquin and Tony “El Tigre” prepare for a live broadcast of “Punto de Vista” from the White House.

The Communications Fund’s flagship program, Radio Campesina (La Campesina), was founded by Cesar Chavez in 1983 to produce community-building programs while also providing great entertainment as a means of encouraging listeners to interact, engage and share resources. The Communications Fund reaches millions of people each month through multiple platforms, engaging a multi-generational, multi-cultural audience with current high-quality programming that entertains, informs, and inspires.

 

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Cesar Chavez Day Lessons

Learn about Cesar Chavez’s enduring legacy with free lessons from the Chavez Foundation’s Education Fund. Inspired by Cesar’s core values of “Sí Se Puede” and non-violence, the Cesar Chavez Day lessons invite students to learn about transforming their lives and communities. For more information about our full-unit curriculum products, contact edu.partnerships@chavezfoundation.org.

The Education Fund is dedicated to building a just society by educating the hearts and minds of children through culturally responsive, diverse products and services in under-resourced communities.

 

Lesson Plans

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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First Lady Dr. Jill Biden to visit the National Chavez Center

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First Lady Dr. Jill Biden honors Cesar Chavez at a naturalization ceremony where Chavez lived & labored his last quarter century UFW’s Teresa Romero receiving Outstanding Americans by Choice award

Keene, Calif.—First Lady Dr. Jill Biden honors Cesar Chavez three days before what would have been the civil rights and farm labor leader’s 95th birthday by helping swear in 31 immigrants from nine countries as new U.S. citizens during a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ceremony where Chavez lived and labored his last quarter century. One of the new citizens is a UFW Foundation member from Bakersfield whose husband is a farm worker, Claudia Marcela Campos.

USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou will administer the Oath of Allegiance and present a national award to United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero, herself an immigrant and naturalized citizen, as an Outstanding American by Choice. Cesar Chavez Foundation President Paul F. Chavez will also deliver remarks.

It is the second year in a row the first lady is visiting a farm worker movement historical property on or around Chavez’s birthday. On March 31, 2021, she marked the occasion by participating in a mass farm worker vaccination clinic at the “Forty Acres” near Delano, the movement’s headquarters before Chavez moved it to Keene in 1971.

Also historically significant is the 187-acre Keene property in the Tehachapi Mountains east of Bakersfield in Kern County. Comprising three acres of it is the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument, the 398th unit of the National Park Service administered in a partnership by the park service and the National Chavez Center, part of the Chavez foundation.

Thousands of farm workers and supporters flowed through what Chavez named La Paz over the decades to plan and do their daily work—from organizing and boycotting to contract bargaining, administration, and financial management. La Paz was where many of the most important UFW campaigns—from the early 1970s onward—were devised, planned, and often coordinated. It was also where Chavez built a community of fellow union members and volunteers who worked with him full time for social justice. It was where Chavez and his colleagues lived out the principles they cherished, including nonviolence, simplicity of lifestyle and service to others.

Monday’s naturalization ceremony is set in the 17,000 square foot Mission style structure now called Villa La Paz. It was where generations of farm worker leaders learned to run their own union by organizing, negotiating and administering union contracts, and resolving differences with growers.

UFW President Teresa Romero said, “I first came to this country in my 20s, seeking a better life for myself—like millions of immigrants before me, like many of you. My respect for the UFW and the farm workers—and my understanding of their struggles—hails from the fact that when I came to America, I did not speak or understand English. I appreciate what it is like to come to a new country, to be exposed to a new language, a new culture, a new people. I have come to be equally proud of my Mexican and Zapotecan heritage as wellas my U.S. citizenship.”

Chavez foundation President Paul Chavez observed, “My dad was the son and grandson of immigrants who in the late 1800s fled the servitude of the hacienda system in Mexico. They sought opportunities they knew they could never have in their native country, sharing the dream of all immigrants—then and now—to partake in the opportunities, benefits, and prosperity this nation offers. But my father was convinced American citizenship is about more than taking an oath and waving the American flag. Citizenship is about empowering yourself and your community through participation, becoming fully informed, registering to vote, voting, and becoming fully engaged in your community’s civic, political, and cultural affairs.”

UFW Foundation Executive Director Diana Tellefson Torres said, “On this day, in this country of immigrants, we continue the proud tradition of welcoming new American citizens and congratulate everyone, including our own member, Claudia, on this achievement. Today we also thank First Lady Jill Biden for joining us in this fundamental practice to our democracy. We are emboldened by her dedication and commitment to the immigrant community and hope to work with her and the Biden administration to expand immigrant rights in the upcoming months and years.”