I never knew Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi, but I knew Cesar and he was a hero of that stature.

Let me tell you of my first encounter with this great man.

I was sitting in a restaurant in Los Angeles called Pann's, when I noticed two men getting out of a very modest car in the parking lot. I was instantly struck by how much one of them resembled Cesar Chavez, but knew it couldn't have been he. He had been an internationally known labor leader for several decades at this point. Where was the Lincoln Town Car? The entourage?

The two men entered the coffee shop and walked to their table. As they passed by me, it became fairly obvious that this was no look alike.

I approached his table, and explained to Cesar that I had supported him in the grape boycotts and the lettuce boycotts since the late sixties. He thanked me and made me feel like we had been old friends. We worked together for years on a number of enviromental and labor issues.

In April of 1993, I had the combined sadness and honor of carrying his coffin through the streets of Delano. Thirty-five thousand people turned out for this man that we all loved.

His core values of community activism and non-violence are more important now than ever.

Can we keep his legacy alive?

¡Si, se puede!

Yes, we can!

Ed Begley, Jr.