Huerta (with California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, her daughters Juanita Chavez and Yesenia Contreras, friend Jane Perry, and the author, at left) was a tireless activist and lobbyist into her 90s.
It seems like everyone I know has a photo with Dolores Huerta. My social media feed has been flooded with photos of her with my friends and acquaintances since her family announced her passing, at age 96, this week.
We all have photos with her because Dolores was generous with her time, and she lived and worked long enough to inspire multiple generations of activists. She was most well-known for co-founding the United Farmworkers Union, but in her later years she became so much more than a labor rights activist. Dolores embraced intersectional activism and believed in civil rights for all people, and she was a particularly strong ally to the LGBTQ+ community.
“Someone compared me to Mother Teresa, and I said, ‘No, I’m not like Mother Teresa. I’m more like Mother Jones.’”
She and her family were always on the move to support a cause or a candidate, to champion justice and seek better conditions for working people. In the decade that I knew her, it often appeared as if she was in a different city every day. There were a few weeks during the 2016 election season when I attended events throughout the country, from New York to Arizona to California, and she was at all of them. She said yes to every photo request even when she was swarmed by crowds after she spoke.
I’ve been taking in all of the stories and photos I am seeing on Instagram, because whether people knew her well or not, she had an immense influence on all of us who call ourselves activists. She made us believe that every one of us has the power to make change.
Dolores had a particular way of connecting with everyone on a personal level. When she found out that I serve on the board of the Center for Investigative Reporting, which publishes Mother Jones, she said, “You know, I visited Mother Jones’ grave site in Illinois.” Then she told me, “Someone compared me to Mother Teresa, and I said, ‘No, I’m not like Mother Teresa. I’m more like Mother Jones.’” Since that day, I’ve made sure that every new issue of the magazine was sent to her house.
Because she showed up for us, I wanted to show up for her, too. I have attended countless events to support her and the Dolores Huerta Foundation, and in doing so, I witnessed her magic in action, from prepared speeches to candid moments. Behind the scenes, she was funny and joyous, and she shared her deep love for music with her family and friends. She loved attending concerts and going to clubs to dance into the wee hours of morning, even into her 90s. She was truly tireless in both work and play.
Last year I got to hold her hand walking through the state capitol as she was celebrated on the Assembly and Senate floors on her birthday, designated Dolores Huerta Day throughout California. It was a personal honor to help her daughters Juanita and Jess accompany her as she worked the rooms and checked in on legislation to help working people. She knew that she had become an icon, and she used that to get everyone to work on her causes.
A brilliant marketer, Dolores coined the chant, “Sí se puede”—Yes we can!—and she led it as a rallying cry at every event, fist in the air. And she said repeatedly, “Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world.”
Dolores spent the majority of the roughly 50 million minutes in her lifetime changing the lives of people throughout the country and the world.
Sí, se puede. Forever.
