Cesar Chevez was born in Arizona in 1927. At the age of 10, he became a migrant farm worker. He faced racial discrimination early in life. In 1946, he married a lady who shared his concerns about social justice.

Driven to fight for fairness and human dignity of farm workers, Chavez founded a union called the United Farm Workers.

His rally cry, "Si se puede," or "It can be done," helped mobilize non-violent boycotts, strikes, marches and fasts. In 1973, seventeen million Americans joined in the table grape boycott, forcing law that provided better working conditions.

Chavez championed equal rights for all, including gays. At the 1987 March on Washington, he said, "Our movement has been supporting lesbian and gay rights for over twenty years. We supported lesbian and gay rights when it was just 10 people."

(This Rainbow Minute was read by Bill Lupoletti.)

“The Rainbow Minute” is produced by Judd Proctor and Brian Burns and can be heard every weekday at 7:59am, 12:29pm and 2:59pm on WRIR – 97.3fm in Richmond, Virginia, and webcast at wrir.org. It’s also heard internationally on over 200 stations.