More than 50 old age ago , a determined young woman step up and created the iconic slogan " ¡ Sí , se puede ! " ( " Yes , we can ! " ) that would purloin up the vocalism of the voiceless and change the state of confinement in the United States incessantly . That woman , civic rights activist Dolores Huerta , would go on to co - found theNational Farm Workers Association ( NFWA)withCesar Chavez .
The NFWA later became theUnited Farm Workers of America ( UFW)and , as frailty president of that organizationuntil 1999 , Huerta helped set up the first farmworkers strike in the country , which kickstarted the fight forunion rightsand labor organize in the agricultural sector in the U.S. and changed the lives of farmworkers forever .
" In my notion , she is one of the most important American civil right and labor movement right loss leader in the second half of the 20th hundred and into the Modern millennium , " says Mario Garcia , author of " A Dolores Huerta Reader , " in an e-mail interview .
Early Life and Family History
Huerta was bear April 10 , 1930 , in the townsfolk of Dawson , New Mexico . She wasone of threechildren born to activistic parents . Her father was a miner , farmworker and union leader who afterward live on into DoS politics .
" Her parent , Alicia Chavez and Juan Fernandez , were early role models of activism , " says Monica Brown , author of " Side by Side : The Story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez , " in an electronic mail interview .
After herparents ' divorcement , Huerta moved with her mother to Stockton , California , where they live in a diverse community of Mexican , Filipino and Nipponese Americans . According to the record book " Dolores Huerta : Get to Know the Voice of Migrant Workers , " Huerta was a talkative , speculative young girl , and her gramps nicknamed her " Siete Lenguas , " Spanish for " Seven Tongues . "
" When her family moved from New Mexico to Stockton , California , her brothers had to work in the subject field , and [ Huerta ] as a teen also require to join them . However , her mother interdict this because she did not want her daughter to work in the field , " Garcia say . Huerta ’s mother did let her daughter to operate in industrial packing sheds , but the work shape there were n’t much better than in the field . But what Huerta saw stuck with her .
" I think this early pic to the harsh working conditions of farmworkers provided a context for Dolores by and by working to organize these worker to do away with the more exploitatory look of farm Labor Department , " Garcia adds .
After calibrate from Stockton High , Huerta married , had two children and began instruct elementary school tiddler , many of whom were the impoverished sons and daughters of farmworkers . Although the spousal relationship did not last long , the teaching had a profound impingement on Huerta ’s desire to improve the lives of farmworkers .
" As a very young woman , Dolores was a teacher , and saw the baby of farmworkers come to school with no brake shoe and hungry — this motivated her to work for alteration , " Brown says .
Sarah Warren wrote the book " Dolores Huerta : A Hero to Migrant Workers . " She summate by email that Huerta “ was driven to do more for the children she planned to serve when she found out how their families were being abused . ”
Dolores Huerta, Cesar Chavez and the Delano Grape Strike
At old age 25 , Huerta became engulf in activism , connect a local militant radical run byFred Rossthat advocated on behalf of Mexican Americans . There , Huerta began learning how to become a childbed organizer .
" As a young adult she became involved with the Community Service Organization ( CSO ) which was an organization mobilizing Mexican Americans in civil rights oeuvre and elector registration in the fifties , " Garcia says .
At the CSO , Huerta take on Cesar Chavez , who would go on to become one of the most wide recognized Mexican American labor leaders in U.S. history . Huerta and Chavez began to work together for improved working condition and wages for farmworkers , who earned as littleas 70 centsan hr at the time .
" Cesar discern Dolores ' talents as an organizer plus her own personal long suit and so when he began to organize in the fields by 1962 , he recruited Dolores to work with him , " Garcia says .
Together , Chavez and Huerta founded the National Farmworkers ' Association in 1962 , which later became the United Farm Workers union . Huerta remained vice president of United Farm Workers until 1999 . The two had a complex family relationship , according to scholar . From one point of view , they were familiar in the fields , working for good circumstance for the most marginalized actor in bon ton .
" As Dolores once differentiate me , they were comrades . They spoke to farmworkers on the backs of flatbed trucks and co - plant the United Farmworkers Union , " Brown says .
" Dolores saw herself as adequate to Cesar and he accepted this . Cesar did n’t always concur with Dolores , but he instruct from her , " says Garcia . " She was one of the few persons in the union who was not afraid to criticize Cesar , which he appreciate . "
Huerta and Chavez became most well - known for form the1965 Delano grapevine strike and boycott , in which striking Filipino grape vine farmworkers — led byactivists likeLarry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz — try the help of the come forth National Farm Workers Association , which for the most part correspond Latino workers .
Huerta edge along with Chavez for workers ' rights , brought together the Filipino and Latino worker on the picket note , and led a nationwide boycott of nonunion table grapevine . In 1970 , Huerta and Chavez ’s steadfast organizing bear off , resulting in union contracts , as well as better wages and working conditions for the grape workers .
" Dolores Huerta played a full-grown role in getting farmworkers to participate in union body process , to boycott grapes and other produce , to picket farms , and become member of the brotherhood , " says Stacey Sowards , author of " Sí , Ella Puede ! The Rhetorical Legacy of Dolores Huerta and the United Farm Workers . "
“Sí, Se Puede!”
In 2012 , President Barack Obama grant Huerta the Presidential Medal of Freedomrecognizing her , not Chavez , as the original generator of the idiom " ¡ Sí , se puede ! " Obama famously appropriated the slogan for his own presidential campaign , but Huerta ’s muster up shout had been used for years to organize farmworkers and inspire protagonism for other civil right issues .
" Dolores Huerta first speak the famous wrangle , " ¡ Sí , se puede ! " while talk to a chemical group of workers who kept saying " We ca n’t organize the workers here . We can’t . No se puede ! " Dolores responded , " ¡ Sí , se puede!Yes , you’re able to ! " Brown suppose .
Huerta became an iconic activist and a source of pride for Mexican Americans and others within the Latinx community of interests . Her organizing helpedbring aboutthe1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act , which granted amnesty to 1.3 million undocumented workers .
Legacy and Present-day Activism
Huerta celebrated her 91st birthday in 2021 , and remains combat-ready on the front lines as a polite rights advocate and labor organiser . She holds mass medium outcome and hostsTED Talkson how to speak out and become empowered through activism .
" Her bequest today is that she has become a societal bowel movement ikon , " Sowards says . " She has demonstrate how one moves from case-by-case action and vexation for residential district to work with other people on those issues to creating an entire societal apparent movement . "
Huerta also base theDolores Huerta Foundationin 2003 . The nonprofit focuses on empower and train grassroots organizers in lower - income and voiceless community in California , including study on LGBTQIA issues .
Although farmworkers have more collective bargaining opportunity as a result of Huerta ’s work , they still experiencewidespread exploitation , harsh working conditionsand wage theft . In late age , Huerta has been vocal in pushing forimmigration reformto ply a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants , who make up a prominent plowshare of farmworkers in the U.S.
Moreover , Huerta go on to boost the civil power of Latinos , specifically through efforts to move around out the vote . Latino voter played an important part inthe 2020 election , turning out in criminal record number .
" She has been very participating in record people to vote and get people to the polls , " Sowards say . " Her foundation works to get people more tortuous beyond vote , such as mastermind elector to vote , but also to take part more amply on societal justice return in their community . "
at last , Huerta ’s bequest suffer through the important issues she enhance as an militant and community organizer , which uphold to come across today .
" Her bequest of taking on topic of societal jurist , not only in the fields but in the fight for women ’s rights , civil rights , ballot rights and for world public security , are all part of her bequest , " Garcia pronounce .
