In a proclamation from the White House, President Joe Biden declared March 31 as César Chávez Day.
Thursday marks the birthday of the Arizona-born civil rights and labor activist, who would have turned 95 this year.
The date is also a federal commemorative holiday proclaimed in 2014 by then-President Barack Obama.
In the proclamation, the Biden administration remembered Chavez as "a champion for social justice and advocate for hardworking people who build and sustain our Nation."
Alongside Delores Huerta, Chávez founded the United Farm Workers of America in 1962 to advocate for farmers' rights.
"Through strikes, marches, and boycotts, he inspired millions of people across the country to fight for safe and healthy workplaces, better wages, improved workplace protections from sickness and disability, and other core rights and protections," the statement reads.
Biden said when he became president, he placed a bust of Chávez in the Oval Office as "a constant reminder of the enduring values he embodied, the vision of freedom he fought for, and his commitment to social justice and equal dignity that we must uphold each and every day."
When I became President, I proudly placed a bust of César Chávez in the Oval Office — a constant reminder of the enduring values he embodied, the vision of freedom he fought for, and his commitment to social justice and equal dignity that we must uphold each and every day. pic.twitter.com/jI1KffGdGB
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 31, 2022
Chavez passed away in 1993, but his legacy lives on.
