Dolores Huerta, the trailblazing civil rights activist and labor leader who spent decades fighting on behalf of farmworkers and marginalized communities, died Wednesday from cancer at her home in Bakersfield, California, according to PBS News. She was 96 years old.
Her family and the Bakersfield-based Dolores Huerta Foundation confirmed her death in a public statement, asking for privacy while noting that plans to commemorate her life and achievements would be announced, KCRA reported. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered flags flown at half-staff to honor the woman who helped reshape American labor history.
A Life Dedicated to Organizing
Born Dolores Clara Fernandez in New Mexico in 1930, Huerta spent much of her youth in Stockton, California, PBS News reported. At age 25, she launched the Stockton Community Service Organization. She began her working life as an educator, but she soon chose a different path after seeing poverty firsthand in her classroom.
“These children that were my classroom were the children of the Dust Bowls, the little Opie and Archie kids, and they were coming in there also and kind of hungry and threadbare,” Huerta recalled to the PBS “NewsHour” in 2012. “I thought that was so wrong. So I thought, well it’s better to just get up and start organizing the farmworkers and I decided then to quit.”
Alongside César Chávez, Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers union, KCRA reported. In 1965, the union joined Filipino laborers in launching the Delano grape strike, a five-year walkout and national grape boycott that ultimately secured better pay, contracts, and working conditions for agricultural laborers, according to The Guardian.
Huerta coined the enduring movement slogan “Sí, se puede” — later adopted as “Yes, we can” by Barack Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign. In 2012, Obama awarded Huerta the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States, Rolling Stone reported.
Bravery Through Adversity
Huerta spent almost 40 years as vice president of the UFW, PBS News reported. Her frontline activism came at great personal cost: she was arrested 22 times during labor demonstrations and suffered severe injuries when she was beaten by police during a protest, according to PBS News. She was also standing on stage next to Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 when he was assassinated in Los Angeles.
Throughout her career, Huerta also pushed back against sexism within the labor movement. Earlier this year, following a New York Times investigation that revealed a history of sexual abuse by César Chávez, Huerta disclosed that Chávez had raped her during the union’s formative years, PBS News reported. Huerta stated that the assaults resulted in two pregnancies that she kept private, placing both children for adoption so as not to damage the union’s mission. Huerta later entered a long-term partnership with his brother, Richard Chávez, and raised 14 children overall, according to PBS News.
Nationwide Tributes Pour In
Leaders across government, activism, and the arts paid tribute to Huerta on Wednesday. Newsom said in a statement that the nation “would not be what we are today without her resolute spirit, her passion for justice and fairness, and her commitment to those overlooked and forgotten,” according to KCRA.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Huerta’s rallying cry “inspired generations of Americans to believe in the power of collective action,” The Guardian reported. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and California Sen. Alex Padilla also released statements praising her courage and mentorship of female leaders.
Public memorials and services celebrating Huerta’s life are expected to be announced by her family and foundation in the coming days, KCRA reported.
