A committee tasked with renaming Cesar Chavez Street has narrowed the options to “Sí Se Puede” and “Las Campesinas,” with legislation headed to the SF Board of Supervisors next month.
The two names emerged after a 27-member working group spent months considering alternatives to Cesar Chavez Street, which spans roughly three miles through three districts, as Mission Local reports. The renaming follows the news this spring that workers’ rights icon sexually assaulted multiple women and girls, including his United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta.
The group was assembled by Mayor Daniel Lurie’s office, Assessor-Recorder Joaquin Torres, and Susan Leal, a longtime resident who pushed for the renaming.
According to Mission Local, Leal was present for the renaming of the street in 1995, when it was changed from Army to Cesar Chavez Street, honoring farmworkers and elevating Latino voices amid the political climate surrounding Proposition 187, which sought to bar undocumented immigrants from accessing healthcare, schools, and social services.
While many have pushed for Huerta’s name as a replacement, Huerta has said that streets and schools should not be renamed after her. They should instead honor “the [United Farm Workers] martyrs, organizers, farmworkers, and families who sacrificed everything to build something bigger than any one person.”
That principle became one of the working group’s criteria, according to Torres. Per Mission Local, neither of the two finalists is named for an individual, and both are intended to recognize women in the farmworker movement, farmworkers generally, and the Latino community.
“Sí Se Puede,” which translates to “Yes We Can,” was reportedly coined by Huerta in 1972 while she, Chavez, and other activists were fighting for better conditions for California farmworkers. The phrase later became widely known after Barack Obama used its English translation during his 2008 presidential campaign.
“Las Campesinas,” meanwhile, means female farmworkers. Leal said the name would recognize both women and the farmworker movement, while also adding a female namesake to San Francisco’s streets.
“There are not a lot of streets in San Francisco named for women, so it would be appropriate as well,” Leal said, speaking to Mission Local.
The working group included representatives from Districts 8, 9, and 10, which run along the street, as well as Mario Paz of Good Samaritan Family Resource Center, Treasurer Jose Cisneros, muralist Susan Cervantes, labor leader Mike Casey, Board of Appeals President John Trasviña, and Galería de la Raza Executive Director Ani Rivera.
The city is currently accepting public feedback on the two proposals. Per Mission Local, Supervisor Jackie Fielder will be introducing the proposal to the Board of Supervisors on October 6, and new signs could be installed by the end of the year.
Unlike the current signs, some of which still contain Army Street in parentheses, the new signs reportedly will not retain Chavez’s name.
Mission Local notes there's been no word from the San Francisco Unified School District about whether Cesar Chavez Elementary School in the Mission District will also be renamed.
Previously: Will Cesar Chavez Street Be Renamed For Dolores Huerta? Chuck Norris??
Join the conversation
Comments
Comments load automatically as this section approaches.