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Dr. Jill Biden spoke at the commemorative event at 40 Acres.

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Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, I did not know much of the struggles the farm workers endured. It wasn't until I attended college in 1991 that I became aware of it, thanks to MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán), a student movement for Chicanos like me.  My friends and I participated in marches, and would go out into the community to inform people that pesticides were being used while farm workers were working in the fields.  I also boycotted grapes and share with all who would listen the reasons why.
Another interesting fact is that my mom lived only a block or so away from the house that Cesar Chavez would stay at when he was in town in San Luis, Arizona.

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Los Tigres del Norte, a popular Mexican band, recorded a corrido about Cesar Chavez in the early 90's.

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I grew up all over, moving frequently.  Fresno, Mexico, all over California, New Jersey, Delaware, and a few places in between.  Maybe that's why I love to travel so much now.

I come from very hard working parents who both worked in the fields of California when I was a young child.

My mother worked in different states from a very young age picking cotton, lettuce, strawberries, and grapes among other things as a way to help support her parents and family, and eventually her own family.  She fought to attend school and eventually was able to graduate from high school.

One of the gifts I got from my parents was a strong work ethic and the value of education.

For one of our events a few years ago, when she was 84 years old (she's 87 now), I interviewed her about her experience  working in the fields as a younger person.  She said that it is the hardest work she has ever done for the least amount of pay.  One of the hardest things for her was the mistreatment at times, lack of pay, lack of bathrooms, lack of breaks, and lack of water in some of the hottest weather (Imperial Valley, Brawley, El Centro) ever.  When I became a principal, my father gave me this picture of my mother (she is a teen in the photo, picking grapes at .05 cents a tray).  He gave me this photo so that I would not forget where I come from.

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March 31, 2021

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I grew up in the Salinas Valley, a rich agricultural area. My dad had been a farmworker for decades and when we immigrated to California my mom also became a farmworker. Growing up in the Salinas Valley I always saw and heard about Cesar Chavez and the UFW. I saw the bumper stickers and flags showing the UFW flag or "Boycott Grapes." When Cesar Chavez passed away I was about 10 and my dad sat me down and read the newspaper to me or with me and he told me about Cesar Chavez. He told me he participated in marches and strikes. Later on in college I learned more about Cesar Chavez and having attended Fresno State I learned so much about him and his social justice work here in the San Joaquin Valley. When I was little and more during high school I worked alongside my parents in fields and I experienced how hard the labor of a field worker is. I know things have improved greatly for farm workers because my dad told me what it was like to work in the fields in the 70's, 80s, 90s.

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To appreciate the power to unite the vulnerable and often overlooked is to appreciate institutional change.
Mrs. Colin