Dolores Huerta is an actor, activist, and labor leader, and co-founder of the United Farm Workers Association. She is part of the first victorious collective bargaining agreement, the National Farm Workers Association with leader Cesar Chavez, which guaranteed basic rights to agriculture, helping to form the first worker’s unions. Growing up Dolores Huerta noticed how unfortunate life was for farmworkers in California earning only 50 cents an hour. Dolores Huerta was born on April 10, 1930 in Dawson, New Mexico. When Huerta found out about this she knew her mission would be to help fight to improve the lives of farmworkers by joining a community service organization and fulfilling her role, as her mother said a women’s role is, as a leader. 

She helped organize the Delano grape strike in 1965, California, and became the lead negotiator in the workers’ contract. She is very well known for her phrase “Si, Se Puede” which could be seen through her way of living since Huerta did not give up when it came to fighting for others, she continuously advocated for farm workers whilst knowing that it would take time for change to occur, nevertheless, she kept up the fight. Dolores Huerta is the first Latina to be admitted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, in 1993. In 2012 President Obama granted Dolores Huerta the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award, the highest civilian award in the United States.  

“The freedom of association means that people can come together in an organization to fight for solutions to the problems they confront in their communities. The great social justice changes in our country have happened when people came together, organized, and took direct action. It is this right that sustains and nurtures our democracy today. The civil rights movement, the labor movement, the women’s movement, and the equality movement for our LGBT brothers and sisters are all manifestations of these rights. I thank President Obama for raising the importance of organizing to the highest level of merit and honor.”

Dolores Huerta Foundation

As an activist, she encountered numerous challenges including arrests throughout many protests, in one particular case, she experienced violence from police brutality that resulted in broken ribs and other injuries during a protest for agriculture policies. This resulted in Huerta taking a break and spending time with her eleven children, however, she did not stop working and stayed with the union for nine years after Cesar Chavez passed away. This endurance proves how strong Dolores Huerta is since she not only dealt with challenges in advocating but deals with the challenge of being a woman in a male-dominated society, which is why she went on to start the Dolores Huerta Foundation. 

After her parent’s divorce, she and her brother moved in with her mother whose independence was one of the major reasons Dolores Huerta became a feminist. In most of her interviews, Dolores Huerta spoke out about feminism, from what it means to be a feminist to the hardships not only all women face in society but specifically women farmworkers. Dolores Huerta knows that any woman who stands up for something will get attacked and therefore women must be prepared to not just fight back but to keep moving forward as much as possible. Through her Dolores Huerta Foundation, she continued to work with agricultural communities.

“I never felt overlooked because I didn’t expect any kind of recognition. I think that’s very typical of women. I had been acculturated to be supportive, to be accommodating, to support men in the work they do. We never think of getting credit or recognition or even taking the power. We didn’t think in those terms. Of course, I think that’s changing now and there’s a surge of women who are not only running for office but getting elected. That could make an incredible amount of difference in our world. We will never have peace in the world until feminists take power.”

Rothman 2018,1

To this day Dolores Huerta still works to make a difference, we can see this from her recent advocacy from just two years ago when she was arrested at a protest, in California, protesting over pay for workers who look after people with disabilities and older adults. She told reporters these workers have gone without a wage increase for more than a decade while supervisors make over $100,000 a year and that it was time. Overall, Dolores Huerta to this day continues to reach for change, making her one of the many women who’ve made a significant impact on our country and our lives.

Work Cited

Delano grape Strike begins. (2019, September 25). Retrieved February 23, 2021, from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/delano-grape-strike-begins-ufw 

Dolores huerta. (n.d.). Retrieved February 23, 2021, from https://doloreshuerta.org/dolores-huerta/ 

Rothman, L. (2018, March 27). Dolores Huerta on metoo, new documentary and Feminist Power. Retrieved February 23, 2021, from https://time.com/5211356/dolores-huerta-pbs-documentary/ 

Carroll, N. (2020, August 27). At 90, labor LEADER Dolores Huerta still works to make a DIFFERENCE. ‘you can’t do it all by yourself.’ Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/life/women-of-the-century/2020/08/24/dolores-huerta-labor-leader-still-working-civil-labor-rights/5535992002/ 

Yeager, J., & Ward, J. (2019, August 21). 89-Year-Old civil rights LEADER Dolores huerta arrested at California labor protest. Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/08/20/dolores-huerta-civil-rights-leader-arrested-fresno-labor-protest/2068197001/ 

Prepared by Michelle Lazaro