The sky of our youth is to be charted with stars, with some heroes.

You see that one up there?

It is Cesar Chavez. A beautiful star.

He is there because he loved us. Day in and day out he gave his life for us.

Every day he made this choice: to give his life to life.

He did it in one of the most difficult ways possible. He did it in many acts of kindness and courage. Not one single gesture, one defining moment of truth, one single battle.

He did it in many battles, big ones, small ones. Some he won others he lost. It was hard to tell from the expression in his face. He usually was happy. Sometimes, after a lost battle, Cesar would organize a fiesta. One day, a reporter who saw Cesar invite his companions to a fiesta after a suffering a blow. “What is going on here?” asked the reporter, “Didn’t you loose today?” Cesar nodded. “Yeap” he said “but if we can celebrate like this in a loss imagine how we are going to celebrate in our victory!”

Imagine the strength of that heart. Confident, loving, courageous.

People would rather be by his side and loose, than to be in the opposite side and win. This was so because Cesar stood for something. He was willing to endure everything for that stand, because he was standing for us. He was standing for you, for me, for everyone. And he, a Mexican Man, did it without violence. He fought violence with non-violence, force with heart, wrong with goodness. Elders could join him. Women could join him. Little guys could join him. Farmworkers could join him. Students could join him. People of all backgrounds could join him, all anyone required to join him was a consciousness. To stand for fairness, for dignity, for humanity, for respect, for peace, for justice.

In order to have his hands ready to grab social challenges, he made a decision early in his life that he would learn to live within an annual budget of $5,000 dollars.

Until the end of his life, he kept this commitment.

He was financial poor, and rich in humanity. There was a spiritual cleanliness around him, a purity of heart, a strong love radiating from him. He was a living-sun in life: you could feel his warmth. That is why we find him today up there, in the sky, one of our stars. From up there he tells us:

“Si se puede!” (“Yes, it can be done!”)

He encourages us to rise to the challenges that lay before us. The higher the mountain, the stronger the Spirit.

Be strong in Spirit. Take a stand for goodness. Let your light shine, become like Cesar a living-sun. You too love life and you will find out what Cesar knows:

That love outlives the body.