Cesar Chavez Honored In Google Doodle On Easter

Google Doodle honored Cesar Chavez on Easter, having the late American labor leader’s portrait replace the second “o” in Google’s logo.

March 31, Chavez’s birthday, was proclaimed Cesar Chavez Day by President Barack Obama this year, as he has likewise done in years past. Today, Chavez would have been 86.

“[W]e remember Cesar Chavez for lending voice to the voiceless,” Obama said. “When no one seemed to care about the invisible farm workers who picked our Nation’s food, beset by poverty and cheated by growers, a courageous man dedicated to dignity stood up and spoke out.”

It came as a surprise to some that Google opted in favor of honoring Chavez as opposed to the Christian holiday of Easter – which was celebrated on search engine Bing’s homepage. However, Google often bypasses recognizing religious holidays, and has only recognized Easter once – back in 2000. Secular holidays, such as Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving and Earth Day, however, are routinely honored in Google Doodles.

As a labor leader and civil rights activist, Chavez co-founded the National Farm Workers Association – later called the United Farm Workers union – with Dolores Huerta. Throughout his impassioned career working for organized labor his slogan and peaceful rallying cry was “Si, se puede” (“Yes, one can”).