Dolores Huerta, an internationally renowned activist, community organizer, and political force who co-founded what is now known as the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) alongside Cesar Chavez
asserted
what → co → Chavez
News of Huerta’s death was shared by family members through her Instagram account, though the post did not disclose a cause of death.
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post → share → death
The New York Times reported that the cause of death was cancer, citing a spokesperson for Huerta.
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cause → report → Huerta
"We know that many of you around the world share in our mourning, and we will be following up on plans to recognize and celebrate her incredible life and legacy," the post said.
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post → know → life
Huerta dedicated her career to fighting a variety of causes, including labor rights, women's rights and immigrants’ rights.
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Huerta → dedicate → rights
She is also credited with coining the phrase "Yes we can"—"Sí se puede"—which was later adopted by Barack Obama.
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we → credit → Obama
In March 2026, Huerta publicly accused Chavez of sexually abusing her decades earlier, breaking a silence she said she had maintained to protect the farmworker movement.
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she → accuse → movement
Her disclosure accompanied a New York Times investigation into allegations that Chavez sexually abused women and girls.
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Chavez → accompany → women
"I think she kind of radiates empowerment not only for herself, but for others," Mario Garcia, a professor of Chicano Studies and History at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told TIME in an interview before Huerta's death.
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Garcia → think → death
Indeed, when Huerta received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, Obama noted that she "does not play."
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she → receive → 2012
"Without any negotiating experience, Dolores helped lead a worldwide grape boycott that forced growers to agree to some of the country's first farmworker contracts," Obama said during the ceremony.
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Obama → lead → ceremony
"And ever since she has fought to give more people a seat at the table.
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she → fight → table
'Don't wait to be invited,' she says.
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she → wait → ?
'Step in there.'"
"On a personal note, Dolores was very gracious when I told her I had stolen her slogan, Sí se puede, Yes we can," Obama added.
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Obama → step → slogan
"Knowing her, I'm pleased that she let me off easy.
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she → know → me
How Huerta's early life shaped her activism
Huerta was born on April 10, 1930, in Dawson, New Mexico, to Alicia Chávez and Juan Fernández, who both played a major role in her views on justice.
Her father was a miner and farmworker who went on to join the New Mexico state legislature.
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who → shape → legislature
After her parents' divorce, her mother opened up her own hotel in Stockton, California, and often offered affordable or free rooms to low-wage workers, according to a biography by the Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF).
uncertain
mother → open → Foundation
Huerta often said she became a feminist because of her mother.
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she → say → mother
As a girl, Huerta was a high-achieving student, an active member of several school clubs, and a member of the Girl Scouts.
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Huerta → achieve → Scouts
Huerta now has a Scouts patch dedicated to her.
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Huerta → have → her
In 1945, one of her two brothers was beaten for wearing a zoot suit, an ensemble then popular with Black and Mexican-American men who were often unfairly labeled as delinquents.
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who → beat → delinquents
She has said that her brother's beating further influenced her activism.
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beating → say → activism
After Huerta graduated from high school, she obtained a provisional teaching credential at the University of the Pacific’s Stockton College, which later became San Joaquin Delta College, and began teaching at an area elementary school.
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which → graduate → school
She also got married and had two children with her husband at the time, Ralph Head.
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She → marry → time
She has repeatedly said that her students, many of whom were children of farmworkers, inspired her activism.
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many → say → activism
"I think the one thing that really kind of hooked me for life was going to the homes of some workers who did not have linoleum or wood on their floor, only dirt," Huerta told MAKERS, a documentary project featuring influential women, in 2012.
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Huerta → think → 2012
"And yet, these are people who are working, they're working very hard and you know that this is wrong."
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this → work → ?
Huerta decided to pursue a career in community organizing in 1955 when she met Fred Ross Sr., founder of the Community Service Organization (CSO) and a nationally influential community organizer who began his career fighting for the rights of Dust Bowl-era farmworkers.
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who → decide → farmworkers
Dolores Huerta accepts TIME100 Impact Award
Finding her voice
At a November 2018 TED Talk, Huerta told an audience she found her voice while volunteering at the Stockton chapter of CSO, which she co-founded.
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she → accept → which
She described a day she was volunteering there when she was 25 years old and a disabled farmworker walked in asking if someone could help him apply for disability benefits.
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him → describe → benefits
She went to a welfare office with the man, but she was not allowed to submit an application on his behalf.
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she → go → behalf
Defeated, she returned to CSO, where Ross told her to go back and demand that a supervisor allow the man to submit an application.
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man → defeat → application
"I kind of overcame my anxieties and my fears.
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I → overcome → anxieties
I went down to the welfare office and I demanded to see the supervisor," Huerta said.
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Huerta → go → supervisor
"That taught me a lesson.
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That → teach → lesson
That taught me that I had a voice."
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I → teach → voice
Ross taught Huerta to make demands of people, she said, especially public officials.
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she → teach → people
He also instilled the importance of voting.
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He → instill → voting
While at CSO, Huerta founded the Agricultural Workers Association, led voter registration drives and met Cesar Chavez in 1955, while he was an organizer with CSO.
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he → found → CSO
Chavez would later become CSO's executive director in 1959.
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Chavez → become → 1959
…and 62 more, not listed.
The Aporia
