RESCHEDULED: Cesar Chavez Day Celebration in Central Park April 7

Special to Davis Patch

The 12th annual Davis César Chávez Celebration will be held on Saturday, April 7 at 11:30 a.m. in Central Park, weather permitting, during the Davis Farmers Market. The free event, to take place on the Rotary Stage at the north end of Central Park, is sponsored by the City of Davis Human Relations Commission. Community members, especially children and families, are invited to attend.

The City of Davis is pleased to present as Keynote Speaker Miroslava Chavez-Garcia, Chair and associate professor in the Chicana/o Studies Department at UC Davis. Dr. Chavez-Garcia is the daughter of Mexican working class parents and was raised in Holtville and San Jose before receiving her PhD from UCLA. Her parents hoped to carve out a better existence for themselves and loved ones left behind in Aguacalientes, Mexico. Her family’s experience and that of other Mexicanos and Mexicanas in the United States has inspired her to research, write, and interpret their histories. Dr. Chavez-Garcia is the author of Negotiating Conquest: Gender and Power in California, 1770s to 1880s, as well as States of Delinquency: Race and Science in the making of California’s Juvenile Justice System. She will speak about Cesar Chavez’s legacy and his relevance to Latinos in the United States today.

The Chavez event will also feature live music, singing and dancing. TRIO, an acoustic guitar group, will join the celebration once again this year with a selection of folk music. Attendees will be treated for the third year by Davis’ own Cesar Chavez Elementary Choir, which will perform several songs in both English and Spanish. The choir is under the direction of Ximena Jackson and has delighted the audience in years past. Finally, UC Davis’ Danzantes del Alma will present their colorful and expressive folklorico dancing.

Saturday, March 31 is the anniversary of César Chávez’s birthday. Chavez spoke at rallies in Davis’ Central Park during the tomato growers’ strikes in the 1970’s. One Chavez rally in Davis on August 11, 1974 was reported to have drawn over 2,000 attendees.

The Chavez Celebration will be the focal point of the festivities held in Central Park which features one of California’s oldest continuous farmers markets. The Davis Farmers Market attracts thousands of visitors every Wednesday and Saturday and has been in operation since 1974. It was the first market in California to offer organic produce.

For more information, call 530-757-5602 or comment below.