Clarified: Who is Dolores Huerta?

Meet the 92-year-old activist for farmers who coined, "Sí, se puede" which means "Yes, we can."

Meet the 92-year-old activist for farmers who coined, "Sí, se puede" which means "Yes, we can."

don't quit because you know what, you are going to win *** strong leader in *** proud Latina known as *** strong activist in the latino community, but she's not stopping anytime soon. It's *** weather in the snow. I'm Dolores huerta, president and founder of the Foundation for grassroots community organizing and co founder of the United Farm Workers of America Huerta is an iconic figure in the latin community with an impressively long list of accomplishments over her lifetime. She has lobbied for justice, changing dozens of laws. She has songs written about her, her face plastered on murals across the country and films inspired by her. She was even granted the presidential Medal of Freedom from president Obama for her achievements. Her story starts in 1930 in Dawson New Mexico where she was born to *** coal mining unionist father and entrepreneur mother. I was kind of an activist as *** teenager and as *** young kid, her family moved from new Mexico to Stockton calif cornea where she spent most of her childhood and got her first taste for organizing with one of the social clubs I belong to. We would have dances and then all of the money that we made that would go into making charity baskets that we would pass out to poor people and thanksgiving and christmas, you know, but I never felt that that was quite doing the job Where to set out to change things. I learned that you could really make, really make changes political changes and policy changes by organizing people. In 1955 at age 25, she founded the Stockton Community Service Organization which succeeded in passing *** range of vital laws and we passed *** lot of really important laws like getting driver's license and in Spanish getting the ballots to vote in Spanish. But she was just getting started with some of her biggest achievements yet to come. In the 19 sixties, the Californian agricultural industry was taking off, aided by immigrants from latin America and Asia flocking to the fertile land to work the crops. However, many crop growers took advantage of the workers. They worked long hours for low pay, had no medical care, no accident or unemployment insurance, no sanitary facilities in the fields and worst of all, no mechanism for expressing their grievances or improving their lot. In 1962 Huerta and her associate cesar Chavez deeply affected by the plight of farm workers. Co founded the National Farm Workers Association, now known as the United Farm Workers Huerta and the U. F. W. Began organizing the Delano grape strike. *** lot of people think that the strike was very spontaneous. It wasn't, we had not planned to go on strike 1968 and the 1965 of the Filipino workers went on strike and so, you know, we had to support them because they were the minority of the farm workers and it lasted for five years. From 1965 to 1970, hundreds of farm laborers walked off the job and picketed outside the headquarters of the largest grape growers. Cesar Chavez began *** 25 day hunger strike. Some even started *** 300 mile pilgrimage from Delano to Sacramento, 10,000 strong came swinging up the capitol mall to the steps of the state capitol building. It was beyond question, the largest, the broadest and the most significant public gathering on behalf of farmworkers in California history. It was workers boycott that helped tip the balance, And the only way that we were able to win is that we started *** boycott of California table grapes. In 1968, *** whole group of farm workers were, they traveled in *** school bus all the way to New York City, so they went all over the country, they're telling the story. And so at the end of the day, we were able to get 17 million Americans to stop Eating grapes it within *** year and *** half, that we were able to get the growers to come to the table inside contracts where to lead the negotiations, managing to get the growers to agree to *** raise in wages, bumping the farmers up from 840 an hour to 1372 an hour, *** more than 60% increase in pay. The growers also agreed to set aside money for health care and benefits, establish *** formal grievances process and regulate the use of pesticides. The strike had ripple effects setting off *** chain of boycotts and collective action, which resulted in 30,000 new contracts being signed, providing higher wages and benefits knowing that farm workers who worked under Union contracts are getting *** pension check every month after they retired. You know that, that to me is *** good feeling knowing that so many people that went to jail people that got beaten up, you know, so when you think of all of these people and I get the recognition, but it's on the backs of all of the hundreds of farmworkers who went on strike and arm artist people who were killed Today. Farm workers have far more rights than they did in the 60s and 70s thanks to Huerta and her colleagues but remain *** disenfranchised group. They are predominantly Hispanic, have lower educational attainment than average and are more likely to be non citizens than in other industries but where there is *** change to be made, Huerta will be there. She Reese joined farmworkers in sacramento after they walked 335 miles from Delano in protest, *** nod to her legacy. I want to ask the governor, not only to sign the bill, but to get the growers together and tell them they don't get any more legislation unless they recognize the part workers union. Okay. And the slogan she coined for the United farm workers can still be heard chanted today an anthem for other activist groups as well in english. Yes, we can at 92 years old, more than 50 years since the Delano grape strike, Huerta looks to the future of activism. Women's marches. You know the Me two marches. The marches after George Floyd was killed. You have the same kind of fervor that was happening then. And it's like the sixties with steroids. Once people realize that they can make *** difference, I mean it is so exhilarating. I mean they feel their power and they know that they can do something about the issues that are confronting them. Gloria. Yeah. Mhm.

Clarified: Who is Dolores Huerta?

Meet the 92-year-old activist for farmers who coined, "Sí, se puede" which means "Yes, we can."

Only one 93-year-old can say they’ve been arrested 22 times, are the subject of an award-winning film and have been granted the medal of freedom from President Obama.That person is Dolores Huerta, a hugely influential labor activist and union organizer.Over the course of her life, Huerta has always lobbied for justice and equality and has successfully managed to change dozens of laws, impacting the lives of thousands of workers still to this day.Despite her age, she is not giving up. In 2003, she founded the Dolores Huerta Foundation for grassroots activism, and can still be spotted marching at protests, continuing her fierce fight for justice.This clarified episode delves into the life of Dolores, featuring the legend herself discussing her greatest wins and motivations for future fights against injustice.Early LifeHuerta began her life in Dawson, New Mexico. Her father was a coal miner who later became a strong union man and then ran for office, eventually winning a seat in the New Mexico legislature when she was 8 years old. Her mother was an entrepreneur who opened a restaurant and hotel serving the working class in Stockton, California, where the family moved to during Huerta’s childhood.Even as a young girl, her spirit for equality showed itself. She described being disappointed with the charity work of one of her social clubs, “we would have dances, and then all of the money that we made would go into making charity baskets that we would pass out to poor people at Thanksgiving and Christmas. But I never felt that that was quite doing the job.”Her experiences with racism also fueled her; “We were raised having faced a lot of racial discrimination, myself, and my friends, who were Asian, Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, my black friends, and we were always harassed by the police and discriminated by our teachers.”After finishing high school, Huerta began a job teaching but quickly grew disillusioned by the amount of children who showed up tired and hungry to class without clean clothes. When she realized her efforts would be best served fighting the poverty the children faced, she quit her job and began what would become a storied and hugely impactful career in organizing.Farmer strugglesAt age 25, Huerta founded the Stockton Community Service organization, a group dedicated to fighting for the rights of citizens of the community. In this role, Huerta and her colleagues were able to pass a range of important laws, including a law allowing driving licenses to be in Spanish, getting voting ballots translated into Spanish and a law that helped illegal immigrants access public assistance.At the organization, she was introduced through a colleague to Cesar Chavez, with whom she went on to found the United Farm Workers association in 1962. Their partnership resulted in decades of influential organizing, strikes and boycotts that made national headlines.Both were passionate about the plight of farm workers, who worked long, hard hours on very low wages in extremely poor conditions. Many farmers lived in communal housing with dirt floors and crop crates used for furniture. The farm worker’s children were often undereducated as their parents would travel throughout the year, depending on the seasons, to chase work with the ripe crops. After witnessing such conditions, Huerta and Chavez, leading the United Farm Workers, organized a strike to begin in 1965 that would become one of the largest strikes in U.S. history.Delano Grape StrikeThe strike began in 1965 when Filipino workers from the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee walked off the job to protest their pay and conditions. The UFW, then known as the National Farm Workers Association, voted to team up with the AWOC strikers, and began protesting, too.The strike lasted five years and employed a range of organizing tactics, from hunger strikes to picketing. Tens of thousands of protesters marched more than 300 miles from Delano to the California state capital of Sacramento to get the attention of the governor. Other farm workers spread their message by traveling across the country, going to schools and grocery stores to ask people to boycott California grapes from the table region. The grape strike received national attention, with the boycott being particularly successful given that by the end, 17 million Americans had stopped eating grapes.The success of the strike also created strife, as several growers hit back against the workers.“A lot of them were arrested, and Sen. Robert Kennedy then sent his attorneys to get them out of jail,” Huerta said in the interview with Clarified. Many protesters suffered when the police and growers disrupted peaceful demonstrations, with several killed.“We had martyrs, five people that were killed in the farm worker movement,” said Huerta. “One young man named Rene Lopez who was killed, he was only in his 20s, and he was shot in the temple with a gun because he organized his company to vote for the union.”The growers finally came to the table in 1970 to negotiate with the union, with Huerta leading the talks. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the negotiations had raised farmer wages from $1.10 an hour (around $8.40 today) before the strike to $1.80 an hour (around $13.72 today). The negotiations also resulted in the regulation of pesticides, grower investment into the health and benefits of employees, and the creation of a formal grievances protest.Huerta nowMore than 50 years on from the strike, Huerta is still active in the organizing space. In August 2022, she joined a group of protesting farm workers who had marched from Delano to Sacramento, recreating the pilgrimage workers took during the Delano grape strike.It’s not just the farm work movement that she is an activist for. Her foundation has a broad range of focuses, from breaking the school-to-prison pipeline and running voter registration drives to environmental justice work and LGBTQ advocacy and support.Huerta uses the same tactics to get people involved in organizing that she employed when she first started her career, taught to her and Cesar Chavez by activist Fred Ross.“The way that we organize is something like a Tupperware party,” she said. “ We call them house meetings. So you get the six to eight people together and then you talk about their problems, then you talk about the solutions and you make people understand that they're the ones that have to solve a problem, that nobody can do it for them, that they can't wait for somebody to come in from outside.”Empowering people with the confidence and knowledge of tackling issues of justice is a key part of her organizing technique, and one that hasn’t changed over time despite developments in technology and the advent of the internet.“You have to show them pictures of people like them, and say, 'well, if they were able to do this, then you can do it,'” said Huerta. “So it really is miraculous and amazing when people know that they have the power to take on the issues in their own community.”What she managed to achieve in her lifetime is also miraculous, and she leaves a strong legacy behind her.

Only one 93-year-old can say they’ve been arrested 22 times, are the subject of an award-winning film and have been granted the medal of freedom from President Obama.

That person is Dolores Huerta, a hugely influential labor activist and union organizer.

Over the course of her life, Huerta has always lobbied for justice and equality and has successfully managed to change dozens of laws, impacting the lives of thousands of workers still to this day.

Despite her age, she is not giving up. In 2003, she founded the Dolores Huerta Foundation for grassroots activism, and can still be spotted marching at protests, continuing her fierce fight for justice.

This clarified episode delves into the life of Dolores, featuring the legend herself discussing her greatest wins and motivations for future fights against injustice.

Early Life

Huerta began her life in Dawson, New Mexico. Her father was a coal miner who later became a strong union man and then ran for office, eventually winning a seat in the New Mexico legislature when she was 8 years old. Her mother was an entrepreneur who opened a restaurant and hotel serving the working class in Stockton, California, where the family moved to during Huerta’s childhood.

Even as a young girl, her spirit for equality showed itself. She described being disappointed with the charity work of one of her social clubs, “we would have dances, and then all of the money that we made would go into making charity baskets that we would pass out to poor people at Thanksgiving and Christmas. But I never felt that that was quite doing the job.”

Her experiences with racism also fueled her; “We were raised having faced a lot of racial discrimination, myself, and my friends, who were Asian, Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, my black friends, and we were always harassed by the police and discriminated by our teachers.”

After finishing high school, Huerta began a job teaching but quickly grew disillusioned by the amount of children who showed up tired and hungry to class without clean clothes. When she realized her efforts would be best served fighting the poverty the children faced, she quit her job and began what would become a storied and hugely impactful career in organizing.

Farmer struggles

At age 25, Huerta founded the Stockton Community Service organization, a group dedicated to fighting for the rights of citizens of the community. In this role, Huerta and her colleagues were able to pass a range of important laws, including a law allowing driving licenses to be in Spanish, getting voting ballots translated into Spanish and a law that helped illegal immigrants access public assistance.

At the organization, she was introduced through a colleague to Cesar Chavez, with whom she went on to found the United Farm Workers association in 1962. Their partnership resulted in decades of influential organizing, strikes and boycotts that made national headlines.

Both were passionate about the plight of farm workers, who worked long, hard hours on very low wages in extremely poor conditions. Many farmers lived in communal housing with dirt floors and crop crates used for furniture. The farm worker’s children were often undereducated as their parents would travel throughout the year, depending on the seasons, to chase work with the ripe crops. After witnessing such conditions, Huerta and Chavez, leading the United Farm Workers, organized a strike to begin in 1965 that would become one of the largest strikes in U.S. history.

Delano Grape Strike

The strike began in 1965 when Filipino workers from the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee walked off the job to protest their pay and conditions. The UFW, then known as the National Farm Workers Association, voted to team up with the AWOC strikers, and began protesting, too.

The strike lasted five years and employed a range of organizing tactics, from hunger strikes to picketing. Tens of thousands of protesters marched more than 300 miles from Delano to the California state capital of Sacramento to get the attention of the governor. Other farm workers spread their message by traveling across the country, going to schools and grocery stores to ask people to boycott California grapes from the table region. The grape strike received national attention, with the boycott being particularly successful given that by the end, 17 million Americans had stopped eating grapes.

The success of the strike also created strife, as several growers hit back against the workers.

“A lot of them were arrested, and Sen. Robert Kennedy then sent his attorneys to get them out of jail,” Huerta said in the interview with Clarified. Many protesters suffered when the police and growers disrupted peaceful demonstrations, with several killed.

“We had martyrs, five people that were killed in the farm worker movement,” said Huerta. “One young man named Rene Lopez who was killed, he was only in his 20s, and he was shot in the temple with a gun because he organized his company to vote for the union.”

The growers finally came to the table in 1970 to negotiate with the union, with Huerta leading the talks. The reported that the negotiations had raised farmer wages from $1.10 an hour (around $8.40 today) before the strike to $1.80 an hour (around $13.72 today). The negotiations also resulted in the regulation of pesticides, grower investment into the health and benefits of employees, and the creation of a formal grievances protest.

Huerta now

More than 50 years on from the strike, Huerta is still active in the organizing space. In August 2022, she joined a group of protesting farm workers who had marched from Delano to Sacramento, recreating the pilgrimage workers took during the Delano grape strike.

It’s not just the farm work movement that she is an activist for. Her foundation has a broad range of focuses, from breaking the school-to-prison pipeline and running voter registration drives to environmental justice work and LGBTQ advocacy and support.

Huerta uses the same tactics to get people involved in organizing that she employed when she first started her career, taught to her and Cesar Chavez by activist Fred Ross.

“The way that we organize is something like a Tupperware party,” she said. “ We call them house meetings. So you get the six to eight people together and then you talk about their problems, then you talk about the solutions and you make people understand that they're the ones that have to solve a problem, that nobody can do it for them, that they can't wait for somebody to come in from outside.”

Empowering people with the confidence and knowledge of tackling issues of justice is a key part of her organizing technique, and one that hasn’t changed over time despite developments in technology and the advent of the internet.

“You have to show them pictures of people like them, and say, 'well, if they were able to do this, then you can do it,'” said Huerta. “So it really is miraculous and amazing when people know that they have the power to take on the issues in their own community.”

What she managed to achieve in her lifetime is also miraculous, and she leaves a strong legacy behind her.

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