Ten states recognize this as Cesar Chavez Day. In California, Colorado and Texas it's an official holiday. Arguably the most important Latino leader in US history, in the 1960's Chavez organized poor Mexican farm workers against rich California farmers using boycotts, marches and other forms of nonviolent action. In the process, he inspired a generation of activists for other causes as well as his own. This weekend, an admiring new biopic was released, but a new biography tells a more complex story. Miriam Pawel is author of The Crusades of Cesar Chavez.
