Radical Women: Delores Huerta

I first met Dolores Huerta in 1995. She had come to PCUN in Woodburn, Oregon to speak at the memorial of PCUN co-founder Cipriano Ferrell. Since that time we have greeted one another at various marches, rallies and protests as we take part in the never ending struggle for the rights of undocumented immigrant workers. Like Fredrika Newton, Dolores most definitely is one of my sheroes. I may not agree with all of her political point of view (I'm a recovering liberal), but I continue to admire her nonetheless. She is a tireless and dedicated Chicana Warrior and can always be found on the frontline of the battle for human rights.
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Photo: Delores Huerta Foundation

Chicana Warrior Still Going Strong after 45 Years of Activism

Dolores Huerta ended her keynote address at the first Environmental Conference for Health and Justice with a familiar call and answer. Looking out over the audience that packed the Seattle Ethnic Cultural Center Theater, she called out, "We didn't cross the border!" The audience shouted back the answer, "The border crossed US!"
"Always remember this," she said. "If you are of Latino descent and someone tells you to go back from where you came from, make sure that you tell them that you ARE where you came from and that you were here a long time before they were, right?"
 
She then brought the crowd to their feet with the Farmworker Movement mantra Si Se Puede. "Se puede? (Can we do it?)" she asked. Attendees answered, "Si, se puede! (Yes, we can!)"
 
Huerta introduced this rallying cry in the earliest days of her work as co-founder with Cesar Chavez of the United Farm Worker Union in 1965. While Chavez has garnerd much of the spotlight in counteless books and documentaries, Huerta is at times a mere blip on the radar.
 
Huerta was born on April 10, 1930 in New Mexico. Her parents divorced when she was three. Huerta's mother was a business woman who raised her daughter to be outspoken and independent.

After earning a teaching degree at the University of Pacific's Delta Community College, Huerta ended a brief stint as a teacher because in her words, "I couldn't stand to see kids come to class and needing shoes. I thought that I could do more organizing farm workers than be trying to teach their hungry children."

As a founding member of the Stockton, California Community Service Organization (CSO), Huerta met Cesar Chavez when he joined the outfit in 1955. The CSO worked to organize voter registration drives, fought to end police brutality, battled segregation and pushed to improve resources for the poor and underemployed. in 1960, Huerta helped organize and found the Agricultural Workers Association. As a lobbyist she succeeded in obtaining that citizenship requierments be removed from public assistance programs. She also helped pass legislation that allowed voters the right to vote in Spanish as well as the right to take a driver's license test in one's native language.

In 1962, Huerta and Chavez recognized the need to organize farm workers. Together they founded the National Farm Worker Association. In 1965 they merged with the Filipino worker's Agricultural Farmworker's Association to become the United Farm Worker Union (UFW).

After a successful five year boycott of California grape products, the UFW won the first agricultural union contracts with the San Joaqchin Valley grape growers. It was Huerta who negotiated these first historic contracts. Since then, Huerta has worked tirelessly to lobby for better wages and working conditions for ag workers, fought against federal implementation of Guest Worker programs, pesticide regulation (it was the UFW that won the ban od DDT), and has spearheaded legislation to grant amnesty for farm workers who have lived, worked and paid taxes for years in the U.S. but have been barred from the advantages of citizenship.

During the last presidential election Huerta left the UFW (she is currently the UFW 2nd Vice President Emeritus) to work full time for the Gore campaign.

I had the honor of taking a few minutes with Dolores during a break in conference events.

ME: What have yo been doing since making the transition from full time work at the Union?

DH: Well. for one thing, I worked on the Gore campaign before I was hospitalized for an aneuyrsim. After that, I was sick for a whole year. Then, about that time one of my daughters (Huerta has 11 children!!), Anita, needed a transplant. One of my other daughters, Maria Elena who is a filmmaker, gave her 70% of her liver. Up until February of this year, I was pretty much tied up with my daughters. Then in February I hit the road. We had a lot of activities around March 31 which is Cesar Chavez Day.

ME: How has the focus of your speaking presentations shifted now that you devote much of your time to other causes?

DH: Well, I always use the farm worker struggle to show people what we can bring about through organizing.You know, Cesar and I started the Union with his wife, Helen. And I use the organization as an example of how we were able to rally enough people to change laws and bring about farm worker union contracts that included medical plans, job security, pension plans, paid vacations, and how the Union has grown throughout the southwest, Southeast and Northwest. We have a radio station, the Radio Campesino Network that broadcasts from Washington State all the way down to California's San Joaqchin Valley.

ME: How do you define your role with the UFW now. and, was there a sense of loss as you made the transition from the Union to campaigning Gore?

DH: Um, yes and no. I'm co-founder of the Union, so that will always be my title. You know, at some point you realize that other people can do the work that I used to do.

ME: And this is a way to build leadership.

DH: Right. And I'm always thinking of or doing other projects. One thing that I'm very involved in is promoting women's rights. I'm on the board of the Feminist Majority Foundation. This is the organization that brought attention to the plight of the women in Afghanistan. This is an organization that fights for gender balance, at least on the legislative level and public level. So, there's so much more to be done in terms of the fight against racism, sexism...I don't lack for things to do (laughs)!

ME: After all these years, you're still a powerhouse. Is there anything else that you feel is important to include in this interview?

DH: Only to remind the people that it is we who have the power and to always remember this.
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Visit her foundation site: http://doloreshuerta.org/dolores-huerta/