The presence of Cesar Chavez continues
to be with us. Hundreds of our people unite to celebrate his life, because he is
very much alive. In fact, he is more alive today than he was when he took that
journey with Jesus Christ, Gandhi, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Cesar Chavez died on April
23, 1993, and he has been in a very profound resurrection ever since then, only
miles away from his birth place in San Luis, Arizona. It is said that over
50,000 people attended his funeral mass in the small town of Delano, California.
Many, such as Cardinal Roger M. Mahoney, have declared him as the "21st
Century Prophet of the Poor.”
History also has it recorded that
on August 8, 1994, his widow, Helen Chavez, accepted and received the Medal of
Freedom conferred posthumously by President Bill Clinton.
On December 6, 2006, Cesar
Chavez was inducted into the California Hall of Fame. We commemorate his life
of dedication, spirituality, and his love for the freedom of humanity.
Chavez marched and led
strikes against rich farm workers that refused to pay fair wages. He advocated
human rights in providing a voice against discrimination and oppression.
He had the love and the power
of Jesus Christ in his heart. He shared this one time as we spoke,
because he knew in his heart that I also sought freedom, justice, and love for
all humanity. We could see in each other’s eyes the respect and the love that
we had in each other's hearts, because Jesus Christ was with us.
I know that Cesar Chavez is
with me tonight and every night, giving me strength, faith, courage, dignity,
pride and most importantly, sharing the love of Jesus Christ, whose resurrection is
celebrated today.
Cesar knows that I have
survived and will continue to survive, because he states that both he and our
most beloved brother, Jesus Christ, are with me and all of our brothers and
sisters who suffer in this hard, oppressive world. They will struggle with us
until we are all free!
Amor,
Ramsey
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