Following the news that Dolores Huerta – the civil rights icon who popularized the rallying cry “Sí, se puede! – had died at the age of ۹۶ on Wednesday, activists, lawmakers and civil rights leaders paid tribute to Hureta’s long and lasting legacy.
In California – where Huerta helped found the United Farm Workers (UFW) union – her death was deeply felt. It was in California’s central valley that she laid the foundations for the United Farm Workers, and helped organize the ۱۹۶۵ Delano grape strike – a national boycott of table grapes that resulted in better wages and working conditions for grape pickers. Several schools in California bear her name, and murals across the state depict her likeness. And in ۲۰۱۸, California declared ۱۰ April – her birthday – Dolores Huerta Day.
“From the fields of California to the halls of Congress and the White House, Dolores dedicated her life to ensuring that every voice – especially those too often silenced – was heard,” said Hector Sanchez Barba, the president of the voter mobilization organization Mi Familia Vota. “Her historic rallying cry, ‘Sí, se puede,’ is not just a slogan; it is a living call to action that continues to unite and inspire millions across the world.”
“Our greatest monument to her memory is for the union she helped found to continue to grow. Dolores fought for farm workers to the very end of her life,” said UFW president Teresa Romero. “The greatest possible tribute to her life is for her work of organizing to continue.”
Huerta’s legacy is national and international; her portrait hangs at some US embassies and schools in several US states are named after her. She helped negotiate national immigration policy, and remained, until her death, intimately involved in promoting civil and labor rights in Washington DC and across the US.
Tributes also came from some of California’s biggest political names, including Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, Gavin Newsom, the governor, and former vice-president Kamala Harris.
“Dolores was a dear friend, and we all responded to her rallying cry, ‘Sí se puede,’ which inspired generations of Americans to believe in the power of collective action,” said Pelosi. “May it be a comfort to her family and loved ones that so many mourn their loss and are praying for them at this sad time.”
“I was blessed to know Dolores for many years and proud to organize alongside my dear friend to champion working families and immigrant rights,” said Harris. “I will always be grateful for her support and friendship. We will honor her legacy by continuing the fight for the dignity of every person.”
“Dolores Huerta represented the best of us,” said Newsom. “California – and the United States – 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.”
“The best tribute we can pay is to carry on the work, which means standing with workers, defending civil rights and organizing for a more just California,” echoed Alex Padilla, US senator representing California.
“¡Adiós, Dolores! You were everywhere. You did everything,” said Xavier Becerra, the former California attorney general and former US health secretary who is running for governor. “If you want to know where a leader will take you, know where they come from. Dolores never let us forget where she came from. Si, se pudo [Yes, we did].”
Lawmakers across the US, including Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, the New York congressperson, also hailed her trailblazing legacy. “For decades after the Delano Grape Strike, she continued to organize for the rights of working people, women and immigrants. She continued to fight for the idea that when ordinary people come together, they can change the course of history,” said Ocasio Cortez. “While we mourn her devastating loss, we will continue her fight to build a country where every worker, regardless of race, gender, or economic status, is treated with dignity.”
Lawmakers thanked Huerta for her efforts to promote female candidates to public office.
Eloise Gómez Reyes, the state senator who brought legislation in ۲۰۱۸ to mark ۱۰ April as Dolores Huerta Day in California, said that she was mourning “the loss of someone who profoundly shaped my own life”.
“Dolores Huerta taught generations of us that we did not have to accept the world as it was. That ordinary people, working together, could challenge powerful institutions, overcome injustice, and build something better. She didn’t simply open doors for women like me. She taught us that we had the power to open them for others,” Reyes said.
Hilda Solis, a former Democratic congresswoman who became the first Latina to serve in a cabinet position as Barack Obama’s labor secretary, thanked Huerta for her mentorship. “Growing up in the San Gabriel Valley, I rarely saw Latinas in positions of leadership. Dolores was one of the few women who showed me what was possible,” she said. “From the state legislature to Congress and my time serving in President Barack Obama’s cabinet, Dolores remained a constant in my life. We joined demonstrations and rallies, stood with workers fighting for their rights and demanded action when people in power looked away … Dolores understood the importance of showing up, bearing witness and refusing to let the suffering of women go ignored.”
Huerta for years was considered the second-in-command to UFW co-founder César Chávez – and spoke about how she had to fight the sexism within the movement, and was often forced to cede credit to Chávez. Earlier this year, in the aftermath of a New York Times investigation uncovering Chávez’ pattern of sexual abuse of women and girls, Huerta revealed that Chávez had raped her, too.
“I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for,” she said, explaining why she had stayed silent about her abuse for so long.
But after sharing her story, she learned that her fear would not bear out. Across the US, officials looked to renaming streets that once bore Chávez’s name with Huerta’s. Murals centering Chávez were replaced with Huerta’s image, or images depicting the larger farmworker movement.
“Her guidance transcended generations, nationalities, and borders. She touched so many people as she fought for justice, peace and equality. She never backed down,” said actor Rosario Dawson, who portrayed Huerta in a ۲۰۱۴ biopic of César Chávez. Dawson, who cofounded the organization Voto Latino, had worked with Huerta to rally voter turnout, and at times had openly disagreed with her politics, said that the civil rights leader had been a “mentor and a beacon of light”.
“¡Sí, se puede, Dolores! May we carry your light and joy as we forge the path for new generations,” she added.
