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Monthlong
César E. Chávez
Celebration In April
By Jan Jennings I March 14, 2005
The
life and accomplishments
of César E. Chávez,
labor leader and
champion of human
rights, will be
observed with a
monthlong series
of diverse activities
during April at
UCSD. Activities
will continue through
May 2. All events
are free and open
to the public.
The
principal figure
in the Chicano Civil
Rights Movement,
Chávez, and his
role as a leader
in the struggle
for working families
and an advocate
for non-violent
solutions, dignity,
and respect for
all, will be the
guiding thread in
presentations on
the history, present,
and future of Chicana/o
communities. There
will be presentations
by alumni on the
development of UCSD's
Third College, now
Thurgood Marshall
College, and a performance
by poet/musician
Gloria Velásquez.
Lecturers will include
experts on Chicana/o
culture and politics.
Claudia
Smith, director
of the Border Project,
California Rural
Legal Assistance
Fund, will speak
at noon, April 5,
at the International
House Great Hall,
Eleanor Roosevelt
College. Smith is
known for fighting
injustice and discrimination
on behalf of farm
workers and the
rural poor. The
Chavez Committee
will present her
with an award for
her humanitarian
efforts.
Attorney
Ken Ensimaje, president
and founder of the
United Domestic
Workers Union, will
speak at 11:30 a.m.,
April 15, at the
UCSD Cross-Cultural
Center. Ensimaje
will address the
connection between
the United Farm
Workers Union and
the formation of
the United Domestic
Workers Union, including
an historical overview
of the evolution
and impact of laws
and case precedence
on unionization
efforts in the United
States.
UCSD's Lumumba/Zapata College Retrospective, a panel and discussion with alumni, who, as student activists, struggled in the late 1960s and early 1970s for the creation of a democratic and inclusive college, will be presented April 22. Although they were only partially successful, their efforts produced Third, now Thurgood Marshall College, at UCSD. Festivities will begin at 6 p.m. at the International House Great Hall, Eleanor Roosevelt College. Faculty will attend, as well as acclaimed writer Gina Valdés and other Chicano/a poets from the Viet Nam War period.
Gloria
Velásquez, award-winning
writer and professor
of modern languages
and literature at
California State
University, San
Luis Obispo, will
perform at 7 p.m.,
April 28, at the
International House
Great Hall, Eleanor
Roosevelt College.
Velásquez's theme
is that the Chicano
movement for social
justice lives on
- and for her, in
activism, poetry,
and music.
Other activities in the month-long salute to César E. Chávez include:
-- The 7th Annual César E. Chávez Commemoration Breakfast, 7:30 a.m., March 28, San Diego Convention Center. The event will honor essay contest winners from San Diego, Imperial, and Orange Counties.
-- The 27th Annual Thurgood Marshall College Cultural Celebration will be featured at the college all day, April 9, including music, dance, food, and art from around the world.
--
A Community
Forum will
be held at 5 p.m.,
April 18, at the
UCSD Cross-Cultural
Center. Activists
from campus and
the wider community
will discuss issues
that face Latinos
in contemporary
society.
--
Senorita Extraviada,
a human rights film
by Lourdes Portillo
about the kidnapping,
rape, and murder
of more than 370
young women workers
in El Paso/Juarez,
will screen at 5
p.m., April 21,
in the UCSD Cross-Cultural
Center.
Jorge
Mariscal, director
of the UCSD Chicana/o-Latina/o
Arts and Humanities
Program, and Cecil
Lytle, provost of
Thurgood Marshall
College, are co-chairing
the César E. Chávez
Celebration Planning
Committee. Olivia
Puentes Reynolds
is the community
representative.
For more information,
visit the Web site
at http://blink.ucsd.edu/go/chavez
or call (858) 534-9689.
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