SAN ANTONIO – The 25th anniversary of the Cesar E. Chavez March for Justice honoring the legacy of the iconic labor organizer has gone virtual this year.
To see the event, click here. The program will begin 7 p.m. Saturday.
Ernest Martinez, the son of the late Jaime Martinez, a local activist, said the pandemic led him to find another way to honor Chavez’s legacy, and continue what his father had started as a tribute to his longtime friend.
Martinez said he was able to do it thanks to David Chavez, who has no relation to Cesar Chavez.
“He was the right person for this production,” Martinez said.
He said David Chavez has worked with the Cesar Chavez family and the United Farmworkers that the labor leader co-founded.
“He came highly recommended,” Martinez said.
Among his company’s most recent high profile projects was President Joe Biden’s Latino virtual inaugural event.
Chavez said taking a live event into a virtual sphere is a challenge.
He said, “How do we engage people, make it authentic, make it real and make it meaningful?”
Chavez said he did it using a large archive of photos and video collected by Martinez’s father, and testimonials from those who knew and worked with the labor leader, as well as original music reminiscent of the 1970′s and the Chicano movement.
“You can almost feel like you’re in the march,” Chavez said.
Martinez said, “My favorite part was capturing the spirit of unity.”
The event will be on Facebook live, Spectrum channel 21, Grande channel 20, AT&T channel 99, and it will air on the City of San Antonio’s website.
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