Cesar Chavez Ave.

Recently on August 13, 2010 a 15 year struggle came to an end in Lansing, MI. At a press conference held between the Old Town Commercial Association (OTCA) and the Committee for Cesar Chavez Avenue reached an accord. 

Their agreement was simple and to the point. Double signage would appear on the street signs running the length of the East Grand River. In addition to the double signage a City Lot #56 would be renamed Cesar Chavez Plaza. The important thing about City Lot #56 is that OTCA spends $40k a year publicizing events that happen there. Now they will publicize them as Cesar Chavez Plaza.


Overall, I think the collaboration between OTCA and the Chavez Committee is a perfect example of how groups of people can work across class and 'ethnic' interests to make positive contributions to their overall community.

The compelling issue in this story is that is is a multigenerational struggle. The original Cesar Chavez Avenue was removed a special city election in 1995 after a year of being in existence. This happened as the result of a serious and public race baiting attack on the Xicano/Latino community by a prominent local radio DJ named Tim Barron (who is still on the airwaves in Lansing) and a now retired attorney named Fred Stackable. 


A Quick History


In March of 1994, after 10 months of campaigning by Lansing resident Paulo Gordillo the 
Lansing City Council voted to change the name of Grand Avenue to Cesar Chavez Avenue. The scheduled renaming was slated for September 16, of that same year. 


On May 5, 1994 local radio personality Tim Barron played the following on air skit. This skit ignited a firestorm in the Lansing Hispanic community.

“Some are giving away trips to Mexico City but, we are bringing Mexico to you, that’s right, we’re giving away Mexican’s, real live Mexicans. Ay Caramba. We’ll be smuggling illegal aliens across the border in the wheel well of a station wagon then we’ll give them to you. Imagine, your own personal Mexican, they’ll wash your car, clean your house, pick your crops, anything you want because if they don’t, you’ll have them deported. Adios Amigos. Be the fifth caller when you hear this sound (mooing cow) and win a Mexican. Members of this station and their families are not eligible to own Mexicans, bathing and delousing of Mexicans is the winner’s responsibility. Station (Q106) assumes no liability for infectious diseases carried by Mexicans. Celebrate Cinco de Mayo in your own home everyday, with your own Mexican.”

On July 20, 1994 the State News ran an article about Fred Stackable a local lawyer who was starting a petition “to undo what the city council has done,” and change Cesar Chavez Avenue back to Grand Avenue. Stackable’s petition drive for a ballot question was floundering at the time.

On July 22, 1994 Tim Barron, then the host of the Q106's morning show, brought Stackable on the air for the first time to talk about the petition and supply them to people to stop the renaming of Grand Avenue to Cesar Chavez Avenue. Stackable continued to be regular guest on Barron's morning show over the course of the next year.

On September 16, 1994 Lansing city workers took down Grand Avenue signs and replaced them with Cesar Chavez Avenue signs. Those signs would remain up for the next year.

Because of the daily barrage, during 1994 and 1995, of anti Chavez Avenue sentiment Xicano community members working on the Q106 issue also began working to prove Q106 was taking a position on a political campaign without fair representation for the other side.

Through daily monitoring and taping of the Breakfast Club these community members were able to prove their allegations to the FCC after which Q106 received a hefty fine from the FCC and were eventually forced to sell their license.

One piece of evidence that convinced the FCC to rule against Q106 was the fact they were handing out giveaways at the window of the station as incentive to get people to come in and sign the petition. The FCC ruled they were in effect launching a hate campaign against a very specific ethnic group.

On Monday June 12, 1995 approximately 17.24 percent of the registered voters in the city turned out to vote ‘yes’ on Proposal A and change Cesar Chavez Avenue back to Grand Avenue.

The street signs were taken down shortly afterward. For many years Lansing bore the dubious distinction of being the only city in the country where something like this had happened.There were several attempts over the years the start up community campaigns to redress this issue.  


Congratulations to the 2010 organizers of this successful effort. A heavy burden has been lifted from the Xicano community in Lansing, MI.

Getting Organized

In Portland, OR., there is a controversy brewing around the renaming a portion of a highway and some street in the city after Cesar Chavez. While, public monuments are good and certainly a part of who we are as a civilization, maybe even the human race, they are almost always an attempt to capture the sentiment of a time that has pasted. 

In Lansing, MI., in 1993, we too had a community wide controversy over the renaming of a street as a way to honor Cesar. By decree of the City Council Grand Avenue, a street running through the downtown of Lansing was renamed Cesar Chavez Avenue after a very aggressive one man petitioning drive by life long Lansing resident Paulo Gordillo. To make a long story short, a local attorney, Fred Stackable and a local shock jock wannabe named Tim Barron teamed up for a petition drive to put the renaming of the street up to a vote among the citizens of Lansing. As a result the bid to keep the name Cesar Chavez Avenue was overwhelmingly defeated and the street was returned to its former name. We bear the distinction of being one of two cities in the country to have this happen. The other is Fresno, CA,. 

It was my first real look at politics, organizing and why sometimes it is important to vote.

Over the years I've seen first hand that if we really want to honor Cesar or any of the others who sacrificed so much (in the case of some their very lives) we would take the time to learn the skills needed to carry on their very important work. Never before has the ability to run community campaigns through grassroots engagement or organizing, whatever you want to call it been so important and badly needed. 

I understand how important something like this street can be but I truly believe it is about us getting it right, not them. As we work to build broad based coalitions across the country that will move RAZA toward a greater realization of what social justice can mean what greater tribute to Cesar could there be than for us to get organized?

Of course, the reality of that effort is much easier said than done. The first steps toward building mass mobilization efforts in our communities across the country must begin with attainable and realistic but challenging goals on the local level. 

Grassroots broad coalition mobilization in the Xicano/Mexicano community is the only political process that is capable of bringing the community together to work on common issues facing our RAZA. This type of work is accomplished through (1) organized direct contact and (2) collective activities designed to advance a common vision and challenge prevailing beliefs.

An important step in strategic planning is to (3) set goals for building mass mobilization capacity because define goals produce results. These (4) goals should be agreed upon by the members of your group or organization.

The recent immigration march in Dallas at least in reading about it on the web is a good example of how something like this might look. This article does a good job in showing a large cross section of the Dallas community that turned out for this immigration rally.

Their does not always have to be 500,000 people present for an event to be a success. Grassroots mobilization or Low Intensity Organizing works within communities to build resistance over a period of time. This allows groups of people to become educated about the political process not just issues. It is powerful because it (5) demonstrates the strength of your position by mobilizing community support, (6) is a proven method to defeat the rich and powerful, (7) builds real community power, (8) is effective on small budgets and (9) is a foundation of authentic democracy. 

Learning how to organize is important. Understanding and believing in what we can do with organization is even more important.