The time has come to celebrate the life and triumphs of legendary Mexican American civil rights leader Cesar Chavez. Currently in post production, Chavez, directed by Diego Luna, is set to release this year with a stellar cast of Latino actors.
Last fall, when Obama designated Chavez’s former home a national monument, a bunch of people freaked out on Twitter because they thought he was talking about Hugo Chavez. Which made us shake our heads in both the literal and SMH sense. To avoid any confusion, a history lesson quickie:
Cesar Chavez was born in Arizona to a Mexican-American family and dropped out of schooling in 7th grade in order to help keep his family large family afloat. Working as a migrant farm worker for close to a decade, Chavez started his civil rights career as an organizer for the Community Service Organization. By 1962, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (later becoming United Farm Workers), diligently spreading the word and wisdom about workers rights, more specifically, the Mexican labor worker. Chavez led historic strikes, boycotts, and nonviolent protests for better conditions and higher wages, garnering attention and support of U.S. politicians and making him an international force! ‘¡Si Se Puede!’, said Chavez. And we’re still trying.
Playing the title role of Chavez is Michael Peña, with America Ferrera as Helen Chavez and Rosario Dawson as Chavez’s fellow activist and UFW co-founder, Dolores Huerta. The films international distribution rights have already been bought by IM Global, gearing up for an epic worldwide release. Hopefully this will spark a Hollywood trend, sharing the stories of the people who built our country yet some try so desperately to call Non-Americans.