Historic groundbreaking of Cesar Chavez Foundation low-income housing project (90 units of future affordable housing in Eastside Pomona) – with Paul Chavez, dignitaries, and community. The housing project is named after Rev. Chris Hartmire who recently passed away at Pilgrim Place in Claremont- after a life of organizing – with the freedom riders in the early years of the civil rights movement – and later led the CA migrant ministry in supporting the UFW in strikes, boycotts, marches, and numerous farmworker campaigns. While at Pilgrim Place, Chris did not stop but came out various times over the years to support the unionization of workers at both Pomona and Pitzer colleges – and to share his life’s story in my classes. We had various lunches together reminiscing on the many years that he gave of his life to the California Migrant Ministry and the UFW – and the connections he made in his life between organizing, spirituality, and becoming one with the farmworker cause.
Removing vines, cutting weeds, developing a garden, and restoring murals at Cesar Chavez park in Pomona with artists Paul Botello, Gary Lett, Jose Antonio Aguirre, students, and community. One of many more gatherings to come to sustain and preserve the meaning and future of the park.
Supporting Cesar Chavez Legacy Awards – “Revolution of Heart and Mind”
The planting of a tree has great meaning in our efforts to sustain the delicate balance of our environment, to advance resources for our quality of life – and, as practiced here at the end of the Cesar Chavez pilgrimage – to express the unity of our past, present, and future generations – to use our lives to create sacred spaces – spaces and places of sanctuary for all – enveloped with a spirit and practice of working and organizing for a more just and equal world.