Cesar Chavez is a Mexican American remembered best for organizing agricultural workers in California to protest for better wages than they were receiving. He was raised during the Great Depression and worked alongside his family as an agricultural laborer when not in school. Following different crops, his family had to move many times, and in spite of his skill in mathematics, Cesar experienced contempt for being both poor and Latino. After graduation, he served in the Navy for two years until he received an honorable discharge and joined his family where they had settled in Delano, California. While there, he was inspired by concepts of nonviolent protest in books he read about Catholic Saint Francis of Assisi and Indian independence activist Mahatma Gandhi. He used these principles to effectively organize labor unions for farm workers encouraging better wages and treatment in California for Mexican and Filipino workers.