Dolores Huerta, arguably the nation's most well-known Latina civil-rights leader, has passed away at 96, her family said in a statement.
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family → know → statement
The labor leader and civil rights activist was the co-founder, with Cesar Chavez, of the United Farm Workers (UFW), the first nationally recognized union for farm workers.
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leader → recognize → workers
An inspiration to generations of Americans, Huerta spent decades fighting labor injustices and political, racial and gender inequality.
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Huerta → spend → injustices
Huerta was “the most famous Latina that has ever been in the labor movement, and the renown was well-earned,” said Matthew J. Garcia, professor at Dartmouth College and author of the 2014 book, “From the Jaws of Victory: The Triumph and Tragedy of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement.”
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Garcia → earn → Chavez
In her UFW heyday, Huerta cut a striking figure, a fierce young Latina shouting through a bullhorn, rallying workers and leading marches.
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Huerta → cut → marches
This was a rare sight at a time when Hispanics had yet to become a political force.
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Hispanics → have → time
She was the embodiment of a “Chicana,” a politically active Mexican American woman claiming her own power.
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She → claim → power
Though she was most famous for her leadership in the United Farm Workers, Huerta was committed to social and political activism throughout her life, supporting voting rights, immigrant rights, environmental justice, LGBTQ+ equality and other issues.
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Huerta → support → rights
She was arrested more than 25 times for participating in non-violent civil disobedience activities.
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She → arrest → activities
In 2019, at 89, she was arrested while joining a union protest for better pay for home health care workers.
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she → arrest → workers
She also prominently campaigned for many Democratic candidates.
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She → campaign → candidates
In 1993 Huerta was the first Latina inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
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Huerta → induct → Fame
In 2012, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
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Obama → award → Freedom
In a shocking coda to her life story, Huerta revealed in 2026 that Chavez had sexually abused her during their time as union leaders.
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Chavez → reveal → leaders
This revelation came as part of a bombshell investigation by the New York Times, alleging that Chavez had groomed and abused girls and women.
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Chavez → come → girls
Huerta had not known about the young girls’ and young women’s allegations, she said.
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she → know → allegations
In a statement about her revelations, Huerta said, “I carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life’s work.”
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building → say → rights
Of Mexican American descent, Huerta was born in 1930 in New Mexico and grew up in Stockton, California.
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Huerta → bear → Stockton
“My father was an assemblyman; I had a cousin who was a judge.
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who → have → cousin
When we were kids, we used to listen to FDR’s fireside chats,” she said.
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she → use → chats
“When I turned 21, part of my birthday ritual was to go and register to vote.”
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part → turn → ritual
After college, Huerta worked as a teacher.
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Huerta → work → teacher
But she was shocked to see the children of farm workers coming to school barefoot and hungry, and living in homes with dirt floors.
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children → shock → floors
Determined to make more of a difference in people’s lives, she decided to become a community organizer.
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she → make → lives
In her mid–20s, Huerta joined a California Latino civil rights group as a lobbyist, working in Sacramento in support of pensions for noncitizens and disability insurance for farm workers.
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Huerta → join → workers
Then came a turning point in Huerta’s life, when she met fellow organizer Cesar Chavez at a 1955 fundraising dinner.
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she → come → dinner
They shared an interest in the welfare of farm workers, and seven years later they launched the National Farm Workers Association, a forerunner to the UFW.
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they → share → UFW
Although Chavez was the face of the movement, Huerta’s organizing was essential to its success in winning farm workers the right to collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions.
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organizing → win → wages
It was she who coined the slogan “Sí se puede” (Yes we can!), which became the rallying cry of the farm worker movement.
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which → coin → movement
Through protests, strikes, and grassroots campaigns, the UFW helped improve the lives of some of the country’s poorest and most marginalized workers.
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UFW → help → workers
From the mid-60s to the mid-70s, millions of Americans participated in boycotts of grapes and lettuce.
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millions → participate → grapes
It was a heady time, Huerta recalled in the 2017 documentary about her life, “Dolores.”
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Huerta → recall → life
“We had this ambience all around you, that you could really change the world," she said in the documentary.
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she → have → documentary
It was during this time that Huerta experienced two separate unwanted sexual encounters with Chavez.
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Huerta → experience → Chavez
The first time, Huerta told the Times, was in 1960, when Chavez pressured her into sex.
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Chavez → tell → sex
The second time was in 1966, a situation that Huerta described as rape.
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Huerta → describe → rape
These traumatic experiences became a dark secret that she would keep for nearly 60 years, even as she became a much-admired feminist and labor icon.
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she → become → years
“Dolores was by Cesar Chavez’ side the whole way through,” said Garcia.
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Garcia → say → side
“They took what had been a largely rural movement and turned it into a cause that captured the national imagination.”
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that → take → imagination
Huerta, he pointed out, brought the UFW’s message into places like Los Angeles and New York City.
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he → point → Angeles
…and 58 more, not listed.
The Aporia
