Moreno Valley College will hold its César E. Chávez Scholarship Breakfast on Friday, March 23, at 7:30 am in the Student Academic Services Building. Activist Mily Trevino-Sauceda will be honored with the College’s Legacy Award and will address the attendees.
The annual event raises funds for scholarships for high school and Moreno Valley College students. As part of the festivities, there is a César E. Chávez Visual Arts Competition for students. The competition is open to current MVC students and local high school students from Moreno Valley and Val Verde Unified school districts. Students can submit work in art, photography, audio, or sculpture as it relates to Chávez who, with Dolores Huerta, founded the National Farm Workers Association (later the United Farm Workers union (UFW) in 1962.
Winners of the art competition will be announced at the breakfast, and the works of art will be on display, beginning at 7 am on the Library Patio. There will also be live mariachis, Danza Azteca, ballet Folklorico, and QUITAPENAS band performing. QUITAPENAS is an Afro-Latin band from the Inland Empire.
This year’s theme is Nuestro Quinto Sol — you cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. – Cesar E. Chavez. Tickets are $30 each and parking is free.
Trevino-Sauceda arrived in the Coachella Valley with her family in 1974 to work in the fields. By taking chances and following her intellectual curiosity she eventually became one of the most important and effective organizers in the United States. She and her partners developed the organization Lideres Campesinas in order to address problems in the farm worker community.
Lideres Campesinas’ mission is to educate farm workers about wage theft and fair pay, pesticide poisoning and workplace safety, inequality in housing and education and they bridge the gap of cultural and language differences between the community and social service agencies.
After co-founding Lideres Campesinas and being at its helm for several years Trevino-Sauceda sought to obtain a college education, eventually obtaining a degree in Chicano and Women’s Studies. In 2001, Trevino-Sauceda, who still works for Lideres Campesinas, also co-founded the organization Alianza Nacional de Campesinas (National Alliance of Women Farmworkers). With members in several states, Alianza is an important national voice in the service of farm worker women.