1927–1993 · American labor leader & co-founder of the United Farm Workers
Cesar Chavez was an American farm worker, labor organizer, and civil rights leader who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association — later the United Farm Workers — with Dolores Huerta in 1962. Through grape boycotts, marches, and long public fasts, he built the first enduring farm workers' union in the United States and made “Si Se Puede” a rallying cry far beyond the fields. His rhetoric consistently subordinated individual success to collective advancement, which is precisely why this quote sits so plausibly in his mouth — and why so few people have thought to check it.