Grand Valley to celebrate Cesar Chavez Day

Grand Valley State University will host an event to celebrate Cesar E. Chavez Day on Tuesday, March 31. 

The event will honor the United Farmworkers, the Young Lords, Chavez and other activists who have fought to defend Latinos from being displaced. It will take place from 2:30-5:30 p.m. at the Cook-DeWitt Center on the Allendale Campus.  

The event will begin with a live performance of “Elvira,” a 90-minute professional play about a Mexican woman and her son who sought refuge at a Chicago church. It focuses on immigration rights and the separation of families. An awards ceremony recognizing local community activists will follow at 4:40 p.m. 

A 30-minute screening of the film, “Millie and the Lords,” will follow the awards ceremony. The film features Puerto Rican students in New York in the 1960s who joined the Young Lords, a historical movement in the U.S. where youth questioned and challenged many decisions of government and experimented with alternatives to deal with issues of civil rights, racism and social justice. The film tackles issues such as gangs, LGBT bias and domestic violence. The Young Lords were part of the Latino Civil Rights Movement, led by Cesar Chavez and others.

The event is hosted by Grand Valley’s Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Young Lords Student Organization, a new service and advocacy group at Grand Valley. It is free and open to the public. 

For more information, contact Allison Montaie in the Office of Multicultural Affairs at (616) 331-2177 or [email protected], or Jose (Cha-Cha) Jimenez of the Young Lords Student Organization at [email protected].