The second grade social studies standards ask students to explore people who made a difference, and I can think of no better example of a historical person to spend time learning more about than César Chávez. In the classroom, we watched an excerpt from a short film documenting a descendent of Chávez’s, Genesis Butler, herself an activist, interviewing important people who worked with him in the farmworkers movement and visiting important places from his life. We spent a long time discussing his 36-day-long fast in 1988, as the second graders had many questions about his motivations, intentions, and ability to survive.
In the kitchen, we made a vegan tortilla soup - vegan in honor of Chávez’s lifelong activism around animal welfare and a dish with Mexican origins like Chávez’s family. We learned that César Chávez was, in addition to being the face of the farm labor movement, a champion of gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights. And, his dog was named Boycott!
