“La gente unida jamás será vencida.” “United people will never be defeated.” These were some of the chants that rang through East Palo Alto last Monday afternoon. About 100 members from EPA and surrounding communities came together to march in honor of civil rights leader Cesar Chavez and in support of the immigrant community. During a critical time when immigrants in the U.S. are facing hardship, people from all backgrounds came together to shed light on the resilience and strength that thrives in EPA.
Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School has honored the legacy of the civil rights leader since 1994.
“When we named the school back in the 90s, the family of Cesar Chavez came here as well as representatives of the United Farm Workers Union. Since then, they’ve come back a few times,” City Council member Ruben Abrica said.
“This year, we did the march in honor of Cesar Chavez and the farm workers, but also in support of the immigrant communities,” Abrica said.
Many local organizations took a role in bringing this march to life. Youth Community Service was a prominent leader, helping spread the word and directing community members as they marched from Bell Street Park down to St. Francis of Assisi church.
“Just to see how far EPA has come, and how we can pull ourselves together to support each other in the community, shows that we can do bigger things,” Persia Fakhr, Service Outreach Coordinator for YCS, said.
Students from various schools participated in the march and expressed the same sentiment of the importance of unity.
“It’s important for EPA to come together because it’s not an issue that can be solved by one person, we all need to come together. We all come from similar backgrounds here in EPA, and we need to support each other to achieve greater success,” Menlo School junior Oliver Santiago Mendez, an avid participant in YCS, said.
Mendez mentioned how his first march was with M-A students during the recent walkout. “I really enjoyed it, so I wanted to do it again. I saw that this one was for my own city, EPA, and I wanted to try and make the community come together,” Mendez said.
“It’s a really beautiful thing because it shows that even during rough times, everyone can come together and support a local cause,” M-A junior Yessenia Olivo said. “It’s important to support our local immigrants, especially because they make the majority—if not almost all—of the community.”
The crowd that gathered served as a reminder of the diverse roots of the community in EPA. Leaders from cultural groups and faith-based organizations joined eager to demonstrate their support.
“This is a time we need to come together as communities across borders and stand up for opportunity and rights for everyone,” Presbyterian minister of Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice Diana Gibson said. “I wanted to be a part of it in little ways and big ways.”
“I feel very united, since we’re not all the same ethnicities but we all come from one city,” Anamatangi Polynesian Voices youth leader Gen Hautau said.
After walking down from Bell Street Park, the march concluded at St. Francis of Assisi church, where participants gathered to connect with one another, singing folk songs like “De Colores” and enjoying free tacos dorados.
Barbara Medina-Aranda, niece of Cesar Chavez, also joined this event through a Zoom call, where she acknowledged and praised the community of EPA for keeping the legacy of Cesar Chavez and his values of unity and social justice alive.
