Tucson wants community voice on renaming Chavez holiday | Local News

TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) – The City of Tucson is waiting to decide on a new name for the holiday formerly known as Cesar Chavez Day.

The city called the holiday “Dolores Huerta Day” when the day arrived late last month. The temporary name change honored Huerta, a fellow labor leader, and one of several women who have come forward with sexual abuse allegations against Chavez in a New York Times report.

The expectation was that Tucson City Council would finalize renaming the holiday Tuesday, but that didn’t happen, as Mayor Regina Romero and Tucson City Council want more community input on the new name.

Romero and Tucson City Council will be asking the Arizona Cesar Chavez + Dolores Huerta Holiday Coalition and “youth voices” for recommendations on the name and date.

“To be able to find a way to not erase the movement, the farm working and the Chicano movement from the name,” Romero said.

The city’s approach to renaming the holiday once named after Chavez has the support of former student activist Arianna Luna.

“Naming it towards one person in general I think is an outdated kind of way to celebrate things,” Luna told New 4 Tucson. “Naming it for a group of people or movement is better.”

The city is forging ahead with a deaccession process, which involves removing public art related to Chavez. The city has already removed a statue of Chavez after it was vandalized last month. The late labor leader’s name has also been removed from the Five Points intersection.

Luna said the community being persistent in holding Chavez accountable is “a beautiful thing,” but adds that the allegations sadden her.

“I feel like this is a great example of what our communities can do together and holding people accountable but also in creating a movement that’s just more than one person,” Luna said.

News 4 Tucson will continue following the city’s effort to permanently rename Cesar Chavez Day and set a date for the holiday each year.