While the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. led the charge in the South, one California woman was fighting on the front lines for workers' rights.
asserted
woman → lead → rights
Dolores Huerta barely stands 5-feet-tall, but she's been a giant in the fight against inequality for more than 50 years, and at 84, she's still at it.
"Many of the issues that we fought and won in the civil rights movement have been rolled back," Huerta told
asserted
Huerta → stand → movement
When CBS News caught up with her, Huerta was leading protesters to the office of Congressman Kevin McCarthy, the newly-elected Majority Whip of the House of Representatives.
asserted
Huerta → catch → Representatives
When asked by Miller what she would like to tell the congressman, Huerta said, "To do his job.
asserted
Huerta → ask → job
The majority of people in California support immigration reform."
asserted
majority → support → reform
Her passion and determination go back to a battle she began in the 1960s.
asserted
she → go → 1960s
Hers was the rallying cry that would later come to define the presidential campaign of candidate Barak Obama.
asserted
that → come → Obama
Si se puede!" Huerta chanted.
asserted
Huerta → puede → ?
"President Obama stole your line?" Miller asked.
asserted
Miller → stole → line
"Well, when I met the president, he did say that to me," Huerta said, laughing.
asserted
Huerta → meet → me
"He said, 'You know I took your line.'
asserted
I → say → line
And I said, 'Yes you did!'"
asserted
you → say → ?
In 2011, Obama awarded Huerta with the Medal of Freedom.
asserted
Obama → award → Freedom
"I'm pleased that she let me off easy 'cause Dolores does not play," noted Obama.
asserted
Obama → let → me
Huerta has received the nation's highest honors.
asserted
Huerta → receive → honors
She co-founded the United Farm Workers Union with Cesar Chavez, fought for feminism with Gloria Steinem and battled for social change.
asserted
She → co → change
A new photo exhibit in Los Angeles pays tribute to her early life.
asserted
exhibit → pay → life
"I was one of the first Latina majorettes in California," she said, pointing to a photo of herself.
asserted
she → say → herself
She grew up in Stockton, California, the center of the state's migrant farming community made famous in John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath."
asserted
She → grow → Wrath
Teaching the children of farm workers opened her eyes to injustice.
asserted
Teaching → teach → injustice
"Many of the children that were in my classroom -- and by the way, they were not Latino children, most of them were Anglo children, they used to call them the 'Okies' -- and I could see that they were threadbare and malnutritioned," recalled Huerta.
uncertain
Huerta → use → them
About the time the civil rights movement was gaining momentum in the South, Huerta met Caesar Chavez, establishing a partnership that would define the labor movement in the West.
asserted
that → gain → West
"The philosophy that we had in common with Martin Luther King was that of organizing through non-violence," she said.
asserted
she → have → violence
By 1968 they'd gained a powerful ally, one they believed would soon become president.
asserted
they → gain → ally
"And Dolores Huerta, who is an old friend of mine, who has worked with the union, I want to thank her..." Robert Kennedy said, as Huerta stood by his side the night he won the California Democratic primary.
asserted
he → work → primary
"It was absolutely joyous, because we knew that we were going to have a president that really cared, that cared about poor people, working people of color," Huerta said.
asserted
Huerta → know → color
The joyous feeling that night was soon replaced by worry.
asserted
feeling → replace → worry
"I remember thinking, 'he doesn't have any security,' and that thought came to me three different times during the night, but I didn't say anything 'cause I didn't want to put any kind of damper on the evening," Huerta said.
"
asserted
Huerta → remember → evening
And then I felt guilty for years.
asserted
I → feel → years
I felt so guilty because if I just would have said something," she said.
asserted
she → feel → something
Kennedy's assassination came just two months after Martin Luther King Jr. was killed.
asserted
Jr. → come → ?
Despite the loss of those civil rights icons, Huerta continued to fight.
asserted
Huerta → continue → icons
She's still speaking out and teaching a new generation to do the same, and has no plans to retire anytime soon.
asserted
She → speak → plans
"As long as I have my health and energy I want to teach people to organize.
asserted
I → have → people
We can do it!"
asserted
We → do → it
Or as Huerta would say, "si se puede."
asserted
si → say → ?
The Aporia
