Channeling the spirit of César E. Chávez, community leaders provide passionate response to our times at annual community breakfast

By AmigosNAZ.com

FLAGSTAFF — With a mixture of fiery speeches, presentations featuring the importance of telling everyone’s stories and a commitment to refusing to be erased from the history books (video clip*), the 7th annual Coconino Hispanic Advisory Council’s (CHAC) César E. Chávez Community Breakfast took on a more feisty tone this year.

The event, held at the American Legion Post 3, included an opening presentation of the importance of remember the community’s history presented by Dr. Pedro A. Cuevas, assistant teaching professor at the Dept. of Ethnic Studies at Northern Arizona University.

Cuevas, who is a nationally recognized, award-winning educator with more than 25 years of experience working with incarcerated felons, gang members, drug addicted teenagers and migrant families, used his own family’s history in Flagstaff to tell of the importance of the Hispanic community to the fabric of the region’s society. He drew upon the oral history tales of the NAU Los Recuerdos del Barrio en Flagstaff Collection featuring interviews by Flagstaff Nuestras Raíces member Delia Muñuz, who happened to be attending the breakfast program.

Cuevas also showed the audience historic memorabilia from the time of the  Cesar Chavez marches and fight for better workers’ rights. He also provided a preview of his upcoming student exhibit: “Wings of Change: Our Narratives Reclaimed,” an NAU Ethnic Studies Program art exhibit that includes artist reception from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, 2025 at SBS West Suite 100. The exhibit will be on view through April 28. The event features artwork by Ethnic Studies 160 and 100 classes, Ponderosa High School, Leupp Public Schools and T-schools.

Providing an update on the NAU Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and other DEI programs was Dr. Justin R. Mallett, vice president of Inclusive Excellence at Northern Arizona University. Mallett, who working to foster and enhance an inclusive environment at Northern Arizona’s main campus and its statewide campuses, provided details of his background growing up as an African American in an open racist environment in Mississippi, and his efforts to overcome those challenges to oversee a variety of inclusive programs at NAU.

He emphasized that DEI is not just about race, it includes everything and everybody related to gender, economics, class, social and other factors.

Also addressing the audience were Flagstaff Mayor Becky Daggett, Coconino County District 1 Supervisor Patrice Horstman (Vice-Chair) and District 2 Supervisor Jeronimo Vasquez

A special remembrance presentation was also held to honor CHAC founding member Miguel Vasquez, who passed away in 2024. Presenting the program was CHAC member Ruth Eaton.

CHAC Chair Patricia Garcia thanked the guest speakers, elected officials, members of the county’s diversity committees and others for attending the annual event including United Way of Northern Arizona President & CEO Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Archuleta, Coconino County District 3 Supervisor Tammy Ontiveros, City of Flagstaff Councilmember Anthony Garcia, City of Flagstaff Councilmember David Spence, Coconino County Diversity Councils members Deborah Harris of the African Diaspora Advisory Council and Rose Toehe of the Indigenous Peoples Council.

The celebration featured the return of NAU’s Banda Latino Caribeña de Flagstaff, which provided the opening performance, with food provided by representatives from the American Legion Post 3.