* NY Times…
Ana Murguia remembers the day the man she had regarded as a hero called her house and summoned her to see him. She walked along a dirt trail, entered the rundown building, passed his secretary and stepped into his office.
He locked the door, as he always did when he called her, and told her how lonely he had been. He brought her onto the yoga mat that he often used in his office for meditation, kissed her and pulled her pants down. “Don’t tell anyone,” he told her afterward. “They’d get jealous.”
The man, Cesar Chavez, one of the most revered figures in the Latino civil rights movement, was 45. She was 13. Ms. Murguia said she was summoned for sexual encounters with him dozens of times over the next four years.
Go read the rest.
* AP…
Labor rights activist Dolores Huerta revealed she was among women and girls who say they were sexually abused by César Chavez, the widely admired Latino icon who brought to light the struggles of farmhands while leading the United Farm Workers union.
The stunning allegations against Chavez, who died more than three decades ago, drew immediate calls to alter memorials honoring the man who in the 1960s helped secure better wages and working conditions for farmworkers and has been long revered by many Democratic leaders in the U.S.
In a statement released Wednesday, Huerta said she stayed silent for 60 years out of concern that her words would hurt the farmworker movement.
Huerta described two sexual encounters with Chavez, one where she was “manipulated and pressured” and another where she was “forced against my will.”
* Sun-Times…
In Chicago alone, there is a public elementary school, a plaque at the Haymarket Memorial in the West Loop, and murals of him stretching from Southport to Little Village, among other examples. […]
“I unequivocally stand with all the survivors of César Chavez’s abuse and am committed to building a world where sexual violence, sexual harassment, and sexual exploitation are eradicated, and those who perpetrate these injustices are held accountable,” U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez said. […]
40th Ward Ald. Andre Vazquez said there is no legacy worth preserving if it depends on sacrificing the humanity of someone else.
“César Chavez is one man. Any effort to boil down the farmworkers’ movements — much less the Latino workers’ rights movement as a whole — to one man does a disservice to all of the people who have fought to protect the rights and dignity of their fellow workers: people like Dolores Huerta, Ana Murguia and Debra Rojas, among many others, ” Vazquez said.
* Chuy García…
Congressman Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04) issued the following statement on accusations against Cesar Chavez:
“I am deeply troubled by the facts uncovered by the New York Times about Cesar Chavez. I believe the survivors who have come forward to talk about Chavez’s abusing girls, teenagers and women showed a tremendous amount of courage by telling their stories and I stand with them.
“It’s difficult and painful to see someone you respected and trusted as a leader revealed in this way. It feels like a betrayal, and abusers, at any level, should be held accountable. At the same time, no single person defines the movement for justice for farmworkers. This movement is bigger and more powerful than any one individual. Right now, our priority must be supporting the survivors and making sure they are heard.”
* Comptroller Mendoza…
* State Sen. David Koehler (D-Peoria)…
Waking up on Wednesday morning after the Illinois Primary election, I was prepared to spend the morning poring over all the results from the day before. What I didn’t anticipate is that my world would be rocked by a story from the New York Times entitled “Cesar Chavez, a Civil Rights Icon, Is Accused of Abusing Girls for Years.”
I am writing this today, March 18, 2026, to explain to my colleagues and friends my regret and utter disgust in what I now know to be the real Cesar Chavez.
Anyone, having visited my Springfield office, will have noticed the picture on my wall (not anymore however) of myself with Cesar Chavez at a press conference, probably around 1972 to 1973. I would have been 23 or 24 years old. I was a staff member of the National Farm Worker Ministry, having joined while in seminary in Dayton, Ohio, and working with the UFW.
I was proud to tell people that I had worked for the farmworker’s movement and Cesar Chavez for six years. In fact, I meet my wife Nora in Cleveland in 1973, where I was the director of the United Farm Worker Boycott office. (The boycott of lettuce and grapes, was the economic tool used by Cesar to bring growers to the table to negotiate union contracts for farmworkers). After our marriage in 1976, we moved to New York City, where I took over as director of the boycott there. While in New York, I was able to work with Fred Ross, the person who found Cesar in California in the early 1960’s and taught him and everyone else in the union about organizing. Fred was a protégé of Saul Alinsky. It was also in New York that our first daughter was born.
In 1977, we moved to La Paz, headquarters of the UFW, where I served as the National Farm Worker Ministry director of the California Division. Nora and I lived in a mobile home at La Paz, because we had a family at that point. We had many friends at La Paz. Nora became involved with community building activities for the community and staff members.
We ended up leaving the farm workers in the summer of 1978, after realizing that living on $10 a week, plus room and board was probably not something we wanted to do for our whole life. And so, we moved to Peoria, to work at Peoria Friendship House of Christian Service. They wanted an ordained minister/community organizer to work on Peoria’s Near Northside neighborhood.
The article by the New York Times listed many of the people with whom we lived and worked. We were all devoted to Cesar and the cause of bringing justice and dignity to America’s farmworkers. He was bigger than life to most of us. He would break his nationally publicized fasts, which he did to bring attention to the plight of farmworkers, with notables like Bobby Kenndy, and Coretta Scott King.
The UFW became a powerful political force, helping Jerry Brown become Governor of California and other politicos in the 1970’s. Hollywood was also no stranger to Cesar and the UFW. I remember, during a California ballot proposition regarding farmworkers, going to rallies and seeing Kris Kristofferson and Sissy Spacek lending their support.
And so, to hear that the current leadership of the UFW was suspending all celebration activities for Cesar’s birthday on March 31st, I knew there was something to the story. When women say they were raped and abused, we need to believe them. When I read about Dolores Huerta and the abuses that occurred to her and to the girls who were his victims, I believe it.
This has been one of the saddest days in my memory. My hero and idol just came crashing down off his pedestal. I don’t regret spending six years of my life working for the cause of farmworkers, because it is still important. But I do regret having put so much faith, trust and admiration in a man who will now go down in history as a pedophile and a rapist.
…Adding… I don’t believe I received US Rep. Delia Ramirez’s statement yesterday, but here it is in full…
Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03) released the following statement:
“Over and over again, we are confronted with how patriarchy, misogyny, and abuses of power impact women and girls. Our movements for justice and equity are not immune from impact of these systems, nor are individual leaders within them. I unequivocally stand with all the survivors of César Chávez’s abuse and am committed to building a world where sexual violence, sexual harassment, and sexual exploitation are eradicated, and those who perpetrate these injustices are held accountable. We will continue to fight for the rights of all workers and a day when our movements and workplaces are free of domination, violence, and abuse.”
