St Paul, MN – On Sunday, March 30, about 100 people rallied on a snowy day to commemorate César Chávez Day. Speakers called for immigrant rights, an end to mass deportations, and for legalization for all.

The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) partnered with community organizations to honor César Chávez with a march on his namesake street on the West Side of Saint Paul. Organizers sought to cultivate solidarity that draws connections between immigrant and workers’ rights.

César Chávez was a prominent labor leader and activist in the Chicano movement who fought for the rights and dignity of Chicano and Latino farmworkers. He and Dolores Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) that later became the United Farm Workers (UFW). The rally also honored the legacy of Dolores Huerta, Larry Itilong, Philip Vera Cruz, among other influential leaders who stood up and fought back for Chicano, Latino and Filipino farmworkers.

While planning the event, MIRAC member Steve de Guzman stated, “It's quite uplifting that we are still able to harvest lessons from what Chavez and Huerta sowed in the 60s with their activism. Strikes, boycotts and marches – tactics regularly used during the Delano Grape Strike and other causes – still remain effective in this modern age.”

Speakers came from Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, the UMN Department of Chicano and Latino Studies, MiGente Latinx Student Cultural Center, Filipinx for Immigrant Rights and Racial Justice Minnesota (FIRM), and more.

Dieu Do, a member of MIRAC, inspired the crowd with the final speech of the day saying, “As we’re standing here, I’m thinking about not only Cesar Chavez. I’m thinking about Larry Itliong, of Philip Vera Cruz, of Dolores Huerta and all these four did for the labor movement.”

Do continued, “Because in the face of opposition, in the face of oppression, in the face of exploitation, they didn’t step down, they didn’t step back. They stepped forward and they stepped up without leaving anyone behind.” The rally was closed out with a final message of solidarity across all immigrant and worker communities, and a reminder for all that we must never leave anyone behind in our fight for liberation.

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