CALIFORNIA, USA — California is observing Cesar Chavez Day with most government offices closed Monday. His birthday, March 31, marks the official holiday.
Chavez is one of the most respected civil rights leaders who stood for equality, justice and dignity for all. Parts of that history hangs on the walls of Marc Grossman's home.
"It's still very meaningful, being part of something that's bigger than you are," said Grossman, Chavez's speech writer and spokesperson for more than 20 years.
The photos document Grossman's time working side-by-side with Chavez. He worked with Chavez as his speechwriter, spokesperson and personal aide for 24 years.
"In the late 60s, if you were on or near a campus, you were boycotting grapes or something else. I got very involved and I got to know Cesar through his eldest son, Fernando. He's been a good friend of mine since we were 20-year-olds in college," Grossman said.
Grossman quickly joined the Chicano movement. He worked with Chavez on speeches as early as 1972 and he began working fulltime by 1975. He recalls some of the most challenging and dangerous times.
"I was with him twice in the 70s when federal agents notified him and the union of assassination plots. Once they even gave us photos of the hitman," Grossman said. "The most challenging duty that I had was as his personal aide. He took me with him almost everywhere in California and often out of state and it was very intense."
Chavez led a historic march across California to educate farmworkers about the passage of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act. It gave farmworkers the right to join a union.
"Cesar spent 59 days, walked 1,000 miles, bringing news of farmworkers recently won rights to them where they worked," Grossman said. "He had this passion within him to help empower people, people who looked like him."
Grossman serves as the spokesperson for both the Cesar Chavez Foundation and the United Farm Workers of America.
"I think that Cesar's lessons about having faith in people, most people who don't think (they) are important, and his lessons about perseverance, not giving up — those are every bit of as timely today as they were in his day," said Grossman.
