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Dolores Huerta, the labor activist and civil rights leader who co-founded with Cesar Chavez the group that later became the United Farm Workers, has died, her family said in a statement posted to social media . She was 96.
Huerta's family said in a statement through her foundation that she died Wednesday at home. "As you can imagine, this is an incredibly difficult time for us, and we ask for privacy as we grieve this incredible loss to our family," the family said.
"We know that many of you around the world share in our mourning." California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who considered Huerta a close friend, ordered flags be flown at half-staff in her honor.
"Dolores represented the best of us," Newsom said in a statement .
"California — and the United States — would not be what we are today without her resolute spirit, her passion for justice and fairness, and her commitment to those overlooked and forgotten." Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass described Huerta's legacy as "proof of what ordinary people can accomplish when they organize." "Dolores reminded us that no matter the odds, no matter the obstacle, we can build a greater life for ourselves, our community, our city, and our country," Bass said in a statement .
"She never, never stopped working. She was fighting for civil rights every day, into her nineties.
Those who knew her, worried about her, but the intensity of her fight continued on." Huerta kept a busy schedule, marching in protests and speaking in cities across the country about race, poverty, LGBTQ+ and women's rights on behalf of her Bakersfield, California-based foundation.
Huerta's resolve cemented her place in history as one of the nation's most influential labor leaders , civil rights icons and feminist activists.
Her three-word Spanish-language slogan "Sí se puede" — which translates to "Yes, it can be done" — was grounded in the belief that people could effect change. Her work over the decades earned her a number of accolades, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
When then-President Barack Obama presented the award in 2012, he praised Huerta as a tenacious leader and joked that he had stolen her slogan for his 2008 campaign.
This year, Huerta sent shockwaves through the Latino community when she revealed that she was sexually abused in the 1960s by Chavez, leading to the birth of two children, a secret sh e kept for 60 years and long after he died.
From the early 1970s on, Huerta's life partner was Richard Chavez, César's brother, and together they had four kids. She also had seven children from two earlier marriages.
Huerta said she had kept silent for so long because she feared that coming forward would compromise her life's work and unravel all the progress made for workers.
When asked during a 2026 interview with the news organization Latino USA about keeping the secret, Huerta said: "It was my personal pain, it was my personal problem and, you know, I think it was worth it because it was my cross to bear.
I'll say it that way." Huerta was born Dolores Clara Fernandez in 1930 in Dawson, New Mexico. Her father was a miner and union activist who went on to win a seat in the state Legislature.
Her parents divorced when she was 3, and her mother took her and her brothers to California.
Immersed in a melting pot of Mexican, Filipino, African American, Japanese and Chinese working families, Huerta learned from her mother — who owned a restaurant and hotel — about independence, compassion and activism.
Huerta was a young, energetic elementary school teacher in the farm-rich San Joaquin Valley when she decided to answer another calling after growing frustrated by her students' poor living conditions.
"I couldn't stand seeing kids come to class hungry and needing shoes," she said in a 2017 PBS Independent Lens documentary on her life. "I thought I could do more by organizing farmworkers than by trying to teach their hungry children."
Gợi ý thực hành:
1. Theo dõi thông báo từ cơ quan địa phương tại California.
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