The Breakdown - Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta Day

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - The Houston Independent School District will have a new holiday beginning in the 2019-2020 school year. 

Here's a breakdown of Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta Day.

In 2014, President Barack Obama ceremonially announced March 31 as Cesar Chavez Day.

While it's not a formal federal holiday, cities like Phoenix and Los Angeles treat it as such. As of next year, Fort Worth ISD will be the first Texas district to give students off on Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta Day.

Houston ISD is the largest district in Texas, and 61 percent Hispanic. So the question tonight was whether they would become the next to make May 31 an official day off for their 241,000 students.

Chavez is a major figure in Mexican American culture. Chavez was a farm worker who grew to be a prominent Hispanic face in the labor movement, bringing the struggles of farm life to America’s attention. He led non-violent protests, strikes, and boycotts. He eventually helped earn field workers the right to unionize, and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

He was co-founder of the United Farm Workers, along with Dolores Huerta, the daughter of a farm worker who went on to also become an activist and is still active today.

Their slogan throughout the process became , “Si se puede” or “Yes we can”.