
Official White House photo by Pete Souza
By Leslie Fields, Sierra Club Environmental Justice and Community Partnerships Director
On October 8, on a gorgeous early autumn day in the oak-dappled foothills of California's Tehachapi Mountains, President Obama formally designated the César E. Chávez National Monument. The designation is the fourth of Obama's presidency, but the first-ever national monument dedicated to a Latino.
Below, the president with Helen Chávez at her late husband's gravesite at Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz (Our Lady Queen of Peace), or La Paz, in the town of Keene, California, site of the new national monument.

Official White House photo by Pete Souza
"César Chávez was a true labor and environmental champion whose work helped result in the passage of landmark laws that protect our air, water, land, and—most important—people," said Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune. "His work helped link people's health and the environment, and his fight for environmental justice is one that the Sierra Club remains committed to today."

César Chávez was one of the forefathers of the environmental justice movement, which includes where people live, work, play, go to school, and worship. The farmworker movement led the way for better working conditions, chemical/pesticide policies, housing, improved health and education outcomes, immigration status, and access to justice.
President Obama greeted the crowd, estimated at 7,000, with an exhortation of "Si, se puede"—the motto of the United Farm Workers: "Yes, it can be done"—and they roared back with a chant of, "Four more years! Four more years!"

Screen shot from official White House video
The ceremony took place at La Paz, Chávez's former home and later the headquarters of the United Farmworkers, which Chávez and fellow labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta co-founded in 1962 as the National Farm Workers Association. Huerta was among those on hand for the President's speech, in which he acknowledged Huerta by name.
"Today, La Paz joins a long line of national monuments stretching from the Statue of Liberty to the Grand Canyon—monuments that tell the story of who we are as Americans," President Obama said. "It's a story of natural wonders and modern marvels; of fierce battles and quiet progress. But it's also the story of people-of determined, fearless, hopeful people who have always been willing to devote their lives to making this country a little more just and a little more free.
"One of those people lies here, beneath a rose garden at the foot of a hill he used to climb to watch the sun rise. And so today we celebrate César Chávez."