Arch of Dignity, Equality, and Justice

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Arch of Dignity, Equality, and Justice
Cesar-chavez-arch.jpg
Arch of Dignity, Equality, and Justice
Artist Judy Baca
Year2008
Medium Mosaic
Movement Chicana art
Subject Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Mahatma Gandhi, Robert Kennedy, two unnamed farmworkers
Dimensions7.6 m(25 ft)
Location San Jose, California, U.S.
Coordinates 37°20′09″N121°52′53″W / 37.335822°N 121.881358°W / 37.335822; -121.881358
Owner San Jose State University

The Arch of Dignity, Equality, and Justice, commonly referred to as the Cesar Chavez Arch, is an art installation and monument consisting of a pearlescent plaster arch in the style of a Mayan corbelled arch and includes five Venetian tile mosaics. [1] [2] It was created by American artist Judy Baca, and is installed along the Paseo de César Chávez on the San Jose State University campus, in San Jose, California, United States. [3] The four front-facing mosaics feature portraits of Dolores Huerta, Mahatma Gandhi, and two unnamed farmworkers, while the mosaic on the underside of the arch features Cesar Chavez encountering Robert Kennedy. [4]

The top of the arch is adorned with a stacked glass eagle in the style of the United Farm Workers well-known logo. [5] Richard Chavez, César Chávez's brother, originally designed the black Aztec eagle insignia that became the symbol of the National Farm Workers Association and the UFW. [6]

In 2022, San Jose State students and faculty embedded the Arch of Dignity, Equality, and Justice into their Public Art as Resistance project. [1] [7] [8]

See also

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Cesario Estrada Chavez was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) to become the United Farm Workers (UFW) labor union. Ideologically, his worldview combined leftist politics with Catholic social teachings.

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The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) led by César Chávez and Dolores Huerta and the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) led by organizer Larry Itliong. They allied and transformed from workers' rights organizations into a union as a result of a series of strikes in 1965, when the Filipino American and Mexican American farmworkers of the AWOC in Delano, California, initiated a grape strike, and the NFWA went on strike in support. As a result of the commonality in goals and methods, the NFWA and the AWOC formed the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee on August 22, 1966. This organization was accepted into the AFL–CIO in 1972 and changed its name to the United Farm Workers Union.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Arch of Dignity | Public Art as Resistance in San Jose". www.sjsu.edu. Archived from the original on 2024-01-10. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  2. "Visit San Jose - Cesar Chavez Memorial Walkway". Archived from the original on 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
  3. "SJ Today - A tour of Cesar Chavez's legacy throughout San Jose". Archived from the original on 2023-05-28. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
  4. admin (2010-03-25). "The Cesar Chavez Monument". Judy Baca. Archived from the original on 2024-01-10. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  5. "Arch of Dignity, Equality and Justice (2005-2008)". Judy Baca. Archived from the original on 2024-01-10. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  6. Quinones, Sam (2011-07-28). "Richard Chavez dies at 81; brother of Cesar Chavez (He helped Cesar Chavez build the United Farm Workers into a political and agricultural force. He organized the California grape boycott in the late 1960s.)". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
  7. "Public Art as Resistance in San José: A Walking Tour". humanitiesforall.org. Retrieved 2024-05-17.
  8. "Public Art as Resistance Walking Tours | San José Museum of Art". sjmusart.org. 2022-06-05. Retrieved 2024-05-28.