Obama Dedicates Cesar Chavez Monument

President Barack Obama veered off the campaign trail Monday to dedicate the new Cesar E. Chavez National Monument in Keene, a remote San Joaquin Valley town.

State Assemblyman Luis Alejo, who represents Watsonville and Gilroy, was on hand for the monumental event.

"Witnessed a most historic moment in U.S. history with President Barack Obama honoring farmworkers & Cesar Chavez at the farmworker movement headquarters in La Paz!" Alejo posted on his Facebook page. "Something no U.S. President has ever done!"

The monument is locatd on the 187-acre property that served as both home and operational headquarters for Chavez and his United Farm Workers movement, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Latino leaders, such as LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and actress Rosario Dawson, were on hand for the event. (Alejo has pictures of them holding "Obamanos" bumper stickers.)

The monument is in the Tehachapi Mountains. The property includes the UFW legal aid offices, the house Chavez and his wife shared, a memorial garden that contains his grave and a visitors center.

"Let us honor his memory, but most importantly let us live up to his example," CNN quoted Obama as saying.