PILSEN (WBBM Newsradio) -- The intersection of 18th Street, Blue Island Avenue and Loomis Avenue marks the unofficial hub of this Chicago neighborhood that's a magnet for many people of Hispanic descent. A brown sign posted just north of 18th denotes a stretch of Blue Island as "Honorary Cesar Chavez Avenue" in tribute to the late labor leader's activism on behalf of workers' rights and social justice.
But that sign and others like it may soon come down as the city begins to remove tributes to Chavez, in response to reports that reveal a history of grooming and sexual assault targeting girls and women tied to the labor movement, including his longtime associate Dolores Huerta.
Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez represents this neighborhood in Chicago City Council, and said neighbors who came to an annual infrastructure meeting March 19 made their feelings about the signs known.
"People support the removal of those signs," said Ald. Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward). "What people wanted is that we take immediate action, and also to start a process of how we rename our streets with people from our community who also have been fighting for justice."
He said that process is beginning, and he has also started working with the Chicago Park District to remove Chavez's likeness from a mural at Barrett Park, 2022 W. Cermak Rd. "The community is processing, you know, it's shaking more communities," he added.
A spokesperson for the Chicago Federation of Labor said a plaque honoring Chavez's contributions to organized labor has been removed from the Haymarket Memorial, 151 N. Desplaines St. "We will be discussing with all our partners on how to best honor both the survivors of Cesar Chavez's horrific abuse and the workers that were betrayed by Chavez," the spokesperson said in a statement.
Chicago Public School leaders say administrators at Chavez Academic Center in Back of the Yards are already talking to the community about a potential name change. A statement from CPS says any recommendations about a potential change in name for the school at 4747 S. Marshfield Avenue will go before the Local School Council.