The city of Denver will celebrate Si Se Puede Day on March 31, replacing the name of disgraced labor organizer César Chávez with the rallying cry that translates to “yes we can,” adopted by the movement he once led. The change comes in response to allegations that the late Chávez sexually abused girls and women who worked alongside him in the labor movement.
The city will also rename César Chávez Park in west Denver after a process of community input, and has removed the memorial bust and plaque in the park. As of Thursday morning, the park name, which is etched in concrete, had been vandalised with black spray paint.
“We will not let the sins of one man set back the commitment of a community who has fought for decades to deliver on the fundamental belief that everyone is entitled to justice,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said Thursday morning. “We think it is actually more important than ever to celebrate that movement. And last night folks said over and over, this movement was never about one man. It was always about one big idea. And that idea is si se puede.”
On Wednesday, The New York Times published the results of a five-year investigation into the late Chávez, who cofounded the United Farm Workers Labor Union, or UFW, in 1966. Three women who worked with Chávez — including UFW cofounder Dolores Huerta — told the Times that Chávez had sexually abused or raped them, but that they hadn’t told anyone out of fear of repercussions for the movement and the union. Huerta, who had two secret children by Chávez as a result, told the Times that she did not report being raped because the police were hostile to the union.
Debra Rojas and Ana Murguia, both of whom are now 66, told the Times that Chávez molested them when they were 12 and 13 years old, respectively.
Governments and labor organizations are now grappling with the immensity of Chávez’s legacy. His name adorns civic buildings, public parks, libraries, streets and monuments across the country.
Following the revelations, Johnston and Denver City Council President Amanda Sandoval met with community organizers at Su Teatro in the Santa Fe Arts District to discuss what to do with Denver’s homages to Chávez, which include the city holiday, the park and the federally owned César E. Chávez Memorial Building on Speer Boulevard.
The César Chávez Peace and Justice Committee of Denver called off its annual celebration, planned for April 11, immediately after the allegations were made public. The group committed to planning “a future event to continue honoring and celebrating the local unions and immigrant rights organizations,” the organization wrote on its Facebook on Wednesday.
At a press conference Thursday morning, former Colorado Poet Laureate Bobby LeFebre read a poem called “Si Se Puede, Still” that he wrote Wednesday night after learning about the allegations:
“The phrase is yours, is mine, is theirs.
It does not belong in a single mouth.
It belongs to the campesinos who whispered it between rows of grapes and lettuce,
to the organizers, who still carry it door to door like a sacred murmur,
to the next generation, who wear it like a future, they refuse to forfeit.”
At one point during the performance, LeFebre had the crowd gathered behind him chant “si se puede” three times.
The refrain was spoken over and over Thursday morning by Johnston, Sandoval and LeFebre, as well as Ramon Del Castillo, a poet and longtime Latino leader in Denver, and Ramona Martinez, the former Denver city council member who introduced the bill that led to César Chávez Day becoming an observed city holiday in 2001.
Emma Piller, who helped organize a César Chávez march as a junior in high school in 2014, said that she cried Wednesday night with her mother as they read Dolores Huerta’s testimony.
“I met Dolores Huerta when she visited my high school in Lafayette in 2013, and I’ve revered her ever since,” Piller said. “I’m not surprised or shocked by this news, but we’re deeply hurt all the same.”
Piller said moving forward she will hold Huerta close to her heart, and “carry her story in the fight for justice forward,” she said. “Justice for women of color, for mothers, for migrant women, for disabled women, and women and people of all intersections and experience.”