PHOENIX — The parallels between Martin Samaniego’s life and that of Cesar Chavez are not lost on him.
“My steps, you know, it just seemed like it just happened to me. I happened to be there,” he recalled thinking about the ways Chavez’ life reflected his own.
Samaniego sat down with 12News at the Arizona Latino Arts and Cultural Center in downtown Phoenix. He was born in New Mexico while Chavez was born near Yuma, Arizona, before both found themselves in central California.
"I met Cesar Chavez and shook hands when he was beginning his organizing," Samaniego said.
Chavez was in Fresno, California while Samaniego was in college. Years later, while working for one of Arizona’s utility companies, Samaniego was living near Yuma and learned more about Chavez’ early life in southwestern Arizona.
Later, when Samaniego moved to the Valley, he saw Chavez during his famous hunger strike at Santa Rita Hall in south Phoenix.
"Yes, I was there when he was doing the fasting here in Arizona,” he said about finding himself in the crowd.
Chavez and his life's work, unionizing and improving working conditions for farm workers, touched Samaniego’s life as well as Jesus Hernandez's too.
Hernandez, a former Arizona journalist said Chavez was a source of inspiration.
"It inspired me because of the fact that what he, his heart was at," he said. "It was helping people."
Hernandez and Samaniego came together through the West Valley Foundation, a nonprofit group dedicated to education. They named their premiere event the Cesar Chavez Celebration of Education, Diversity, and Scholarship Awards Dinner, held every year.
They named it for Chavez to help keep teaching new generations about his life and legacy, which they found is still needed when they stopped by a local school that will be honored at the dinner.
"We wanted to find out how the youngsters, what the youngsters knew about Cesar Chavez. They didn't,” Hernandez stated.
The students learned how they see Chavez’ work in every meal.
"One little girl said, 'well now when I eat my food, I think about it different because of Cesar Chavez,'" Hernandez mentioned.
Samaniego said they focus on education highlighting scholars and education leaders because a good education is still out of reach for so many Latinos.
“There's such a big need, and we’ll never fulfill it, to educate our people," he stated.
This is about giving people a chance, or even a second chance like Samaniego got in college when he was going to drop out because of the cost. That’s when a professor stepped in to help, inviting him to dinner where the professor’s father pushed him to keep going.
Samaniego said, the father “wrote me a check for $5,000. It kept me in school. And it's people like that who've done things for me...That I have to give back and do more."
Chavez is still making an impact years after he's gone, showing people can achieve great things, you may just need a helping hand.
The Cesar Chavez Celebration of Education, Diversity, and Scholarship Awards Dinner will be held Friday, March 29 at the Glendale Civic Center near 59th and Glendale avenues.
Registration opens at 6 p.m. followed by the event program at 7 p.m. For more information visit AZWestValleyFoundation.org.
Cesar Chavez day will be observed by the City of Phoenix Monday, April 1.
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