Weeks before the 22nd annual Cesar E. Chavez March for Justice, Ernest J. Martinez prepared for the march by making phone calls to get as many people involved as possible.
The March for Justice will take place at 10 a.m., March 24 at the corner of S. Brazos and Guadalupe St. A blessing, worship service and community program will be held before the march at 8 a.m. and the San Antonio Food Bank will be on site accepting canned foods for their “Yes, We Can Campaign Food Drive.”
This year’s march is aimed toward “Building Bridges for Education, Non-Violence and Social Justice.” Martinez, chairman of the Cesar E. Chavez Legacy and Educational Foundation (CECLEF), is focused on helping people understand what the theme means and why it’s so important.
“The march is a day of unity. It’s a day to bring people together to celebrate Cesar but also to address some of those issues,” Martinez said. “It can’t just happen in one day though. [The march] is supposed to be a springboard into engagement.”
Cesar E. Chavez led a civil rights movement envisioning better working conditions and higher wages for farm workers. San Antonio continues to celebrate his courage and fight for equality with past exhibits featuring his life and future events such as the Cesar E. Chavez March for Justice.
The annual march, hosted by CECLEF and led by Andres P. Chavez, Cesar Chavez’s grandson and this years grand marshal, is an official event of the San Antonio Tricentennial Celebration. This annual march has been one of the city’s biggest marches and previous photos of the march have been featured at the Plaza De Armas Gallery in an exhibit called “United We are One.”
CECLEF is an organization that celebrates Cesar Chavez’s life and legacy by serving the community, fundraising and raising money for college scholarships.
Martinez came up with this theme, honoring the beliefs of Cesar Chavez and considering its relevance to current issues.
“This theme has to encompass the issues that are central to our country, our state and city but also resonate with the people and align with the vision and the message that Cesar Chavez left for all of us,” Martinez said.
He said education was in the heart of Cesar Chavez and “it is important that we come together to help bridge people to an education consisting of a college degree but also educating ourselves in our history, civic engagement and why we march,” Martinez said.
He explained that social justice includes a long list of issues going on, one of them being the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
“Right now it’s about DACA. So many Dreamers are in limbo, not knowing what their future holds. They went to school like they were told to and they got degrees and they’re teaching in our classrooms, they’re engineers, they’re architectects, they’re going on to medical school and you’re telling them that 800,000 of them have to go?” Martinez said. “Go where? That’s injustice and that’s why this march is so important.”
“We can’t solve the world but we can definitely voice that and engage these conversations.”
