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Obama Dedicates Cesar Chavez Home as National Monument

President Obama speaks at Cesar Chavez National Monument Oct. 8, 2012President Obama speaks at Cesar Chavez National Monument Oct. 8, 2012
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President Obama speaks at Cesar Chavez National Monument Oct. 8, 2012
President Obama speaks at Cesar Chavez National Monument Oct. 8, 2012
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VOA News
President Barack Obama has dedicated the home of the late U.S. labor leader Cesar Chavez as a national monument, saying the world became a better place when Chavez decided to change it.

Chavez's widow still lives in that home in Keene, California, north of Los Angeles. Chavez is buried at the site.

Chavez co-founded the United Farm Workers union in 1962. He organized a nationwide boycott of grapes in the 1960s that lasted five years and forced growers to sign contracts with grape pickers.

Obama said Monday that Chavez brought hope to farm workers who the president says were "invisible" to most Americans - picking fruit and vegetables in the burning sun, living in poverty, and cheated by growers. He said Chavez's gift was not just bringing higher wages and better working conditions, but a reminder that every life has value.

Chavez died in 1993.

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