Paz-Cedillos: We are reclaiming our name and who we are in San Jose

On May 1, the Mexican Heritage Plaza held more than one kind of gathering.

That morning, we welcomed community leaders, partners and stakeholders for a breakfast — an opportunity to reflect and share where we are headed.

Outside, the streets grew louder. More than 400 students marched toward us. By the time they arrived, La Plaza was no longer just a place. It was a convergence. Students filled the space with chants, energy, and purpose. Cultural performances followed. On stage, Maria Noel Fernandez, executive director of Working Partnerships USA, reminded us why May Day matters—because the rights many of us enjoy today were fought for and won through collective struggle.

The eight-hour workday. Workplace protections. The right to organize.

None of it was given.
All of it was demanded.

Across the Bay Area, May Day rallies called attention to workers’ rights, immigrant justice, and economic inequality. What happened in East San José was part of that larger movement, but it was also deeply local.

Because here, this history is not abstract. It lives in our neighborhoods. In our families. On the ground where the Mexican Heritage Plaza stands. And this year, that history felt especially complicated.

In recent months, our community has been forced to confront painful truths about César Chávez, a figure whose legacy is embedded in this neighborhood. As we said during our recent press conference, we can honor what the Farm Workers Movement made possible while also being honest about harm. Accountability and legacy are not mutually exclusive.

That tension was present on May Day. But so was something else: focus. The students who marched to La Plaza knew exactly why they were there. They were there for their families. For the dignity that has always had to be fought for in communities like this one. They marched not just for the past, but for what comes next.

That same focus guided another moment that day.

At the Mexican Heritage Plaza, we shared something that has been building for a long time.

We are reclaiming our name.

For years, we operated as the School of Arts and Culture at MHP. It reflected part of what we do, but not who we are. We are not just a program. We are the Mexican Heritage Plaza.

At a time when identity is being challenged and stripped away across this country, reclaiming that name matters. It is about who we are—and who this space belongs to. We are not stepping away from our history. We are stepping into it—fully.

That means holding the Farm Workers Movement as a living legacy—one that includes both impact and truth. As I shared in recent remarks, movements for justice are not immune from harm. That doesn’t erase their significance. It raises the standard for what we build next.

The Mexican Heritage Plaza is not just a cultural venue. It is civic infrastructure. It is where culture, community and organizing meet. From La Placita across the street to the broader vision for La Avenida Cultural District, this is about creating the conditions for communities to stay, to thrive and to lead.

May Day made one thing clear:

The next generation is already leading.
They are marching.
They are organizing.
They are demanding something better.

Our responsibility is not to celebrate them for a day.

It is to meet them with the same level of seriousness. To invest in their futures. To protect the communities they are fighting for. And to ensure the spaces they marched into remain theirs.

We are the Mexican Heritage Plaza.

And we are not stepping back.

San José Spotlight columnist Jessica Paz-Cedillos is the chief executive officer at the Mexican Heritage Plaza. Her columns appear every first Monday of the month. Contact Jessica at [email protected] or follow her on LinkedIn.