Today is Cesar Chavez Day. I think about Cesar Chavez daily because my studio is on the part of Sunset that turns into Cesar Chavez Boulevard in Echo Park. I believe in what he stood for as an activist and civil rights leader. He fought for the rights of people doing some of the most difficult work for some of the lowest wages, to unionize and advocate for themselves in order to earn a dignified wage. The efforts Chavez made inform the concept of a minimum wage, and as I think many of us know, the minimum wage has stagnated in relation to the cost of living. So I think it’s important to remember everything Chavez was fighting for.
This image was created for a project I have coming up in collaboration with photographer Jim Marshall’s estate called “American Civics.” Workers’ rights is one of themes in this series.
– Shepard