First CSUB Chavez Huerta Leadership Conference ‘monumental’

It's a puzzle that Dr. Ivy Cargile can't get her mind around.

Generations ago, here in the fields of Kern County, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta launched a labor movement that achieved basic rights, protections and - most of all - dignity for thousands of farmworkers in the Central Valley. Soon, their victories transcended the labor movement, becoming a civil rights crusade that inspired people the world over. Chavez and Huerta were spoken of with the same reverence as King, Gandhi and Mandela.

Dozens of U.S. cities have named streets, buildings, parks and other public spaces in their honor. Fresno just renamed a major thoroughfare for Chavez, and the University of California, Santa Cruz, is establishing public archives documenting the legacy of Huerta. Meanwhile, here in their adopted home, two of the only public tributes are a school in Delano and a bench at CSUB.

Cargile has her theories about why Kern County seems to have such a hard time with their legacies, including the conservative politics of the region and the amnesia that comes with the passage of time.

But she's done wondering. Instead, she and a group of colleagues are focusing their energy on addressing this critical gap in the knowledge of our history by the people of Kern County. And they're starting at CSUB.

On Oct. 3 and 4, the university, in partnership with the National Chavez Center and the Dolores Huerta Foundation, will host the inaugural Chavez Huerta Leadership Conference at CSUB and La Paz. For the first year, organizers are limiting the audience to CSUB students, faculty and staff, though they hope to expand the scope in years to come. The conference is already at capacity and registration has closed. A full itinerary of the two-day conference is available here.

"I don't mean to be hyperbolic, but I think it's monumental," Dr. Cargile said. "So many of our youth are not familiar with who these people are, even though so many of our students come from families of farmworkers. This conference is going to be an entry way for our CSUB community on who these people are, what this movement is and was and what it can look like in the future. It's time for our community to give Chavez and Huerta their flowers."

The two-day conference - whose 2024 theme is "Latinos in Politics: Our Vote, Our Voice, Our Impact" - will feature a slate of nationally recognized speakers, including Dolores Huerta herself, as well as California State University Chancellor Mildred Garcia; several panel discussions and scholarly explorations on topics ranging from Latinas in public life to the effects of Proposition 187, to the landmark court case that mandated Kern County to redraw its supervisorial districts in accordance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The keynote speaker will be Linda Yvette Chávez, who wrote the feel-good 2023 comedy-drama biopic "Flamin' Hot," based on the memoir by Richard Montañez, credited with inventing Flamin' Hot Cheetos. Also set to speak are award-winning Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano and groundbreaking artist and cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz.

Political Science Professor Dr. Mark Martinez, who serves as special assistant to the president and co-chair of the Center for Social Justice at CSUB, has long advocated the launch of a social justice conference that champions and studies the contributions of Chavez and Huerta. To make his dream a reality, Dr. Martinez enlisted a working group comprised of Dr. Cargile, Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. James L. Rodriguez, Chief Diversity Officer and Special Assistant to the President Claudia Catota, Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities Dr. Alicia Rodriquez, Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies Dr. Jose Villagran; Assistant Professor of English Dr. David Barrera, Student Assistant Ludy Ortega Magana and Executive Director of the National Chavez Center Andres Chavez.

"We are ambitious in our vision," Dr. Martinez said. "We intend for this to become the most important social justice conference in the nation."

Day one of the conference will take place at CSUB, starting with check-in and breakfast at the Solario de Fortaleza at 8 a.m. Day two will take place in Keene at La Paz with a tour of the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument and more programming. CSUB students will be shuttled to the site, about 35 miles southeast of Bakersfield. CSUB employees are welcome to drive themselves.

Dr. Cargile said the time has never been better to launch a conference devoted to the legacies of Chavez and Huerta.

"I think that in general, Kern County is starting to change a little bit," she said. "There are so many newcomers and new perspectives in local politics. And maybe people who have lived here for a long time who admire them are showing themselves more because they don't feel as scared to be supportive of Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. There is a softening of people's perspectives."

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