Iconic Huerta Heading to Saginaw
SAGINAW-A member of the National Women's Hall of Fame will travel to
Michigan in the month of September who is looked upon as an icon to those
who know her story. She wasn't educated in a university, or reared from a rich family, but she helped bring the plight of the farm workers to the national conscience with Cesar E. Chavez nearly 50 years-ago. Her name is Dolores Huerta, a Mexican-American born in a mining town of Dawson, New Mexico. She came from humble beginnings-a child raised by her mother Alicia in Stockton, California after her parent's divorce when she was just three. Her mother's independent entrepreneurial spirit shaped her daughter's total involvement as a high school student and beyond.
As a teacher, it was Huerta's exposure to young students who were poor, bare
feet and often hungry that began her lifelong journey of working to correct
economic injustice. Huerta found her calling as an organizer while serving in the leadership of the Stockton Community Service Organization (CSO). During this time she founded the Agricultural Workers Association, set up voter registration drives and pressed local governments for barrio improvements. It was in 1955 through CSO founder Fred Ross, Sr. that she would meet a like-minded colleague, CSO Executive Director Cesar E. Chavez. The two soon discovered that they shared a common vision of organizing farm workers, an idea that was clearly not in line with the CSO's mission. As a result, in the spring of 1962 Chavez and Huerta resigned, and launched the National Farm Workers Association. Huerta's organizing skills were essential to the growth of this budding organization. The challenges she faced as a woman did not go unnoticed and in one of her letters to Chavez she joked..."Being a now
(ahem) experienced lobbyist, I am able to speak on a man-to-man basis with other lobbyists." Cesar Chavez once described Dolores Huerta's character as: "Totally fearless, both mentally and physically." Her description of Chavez: Cesar's life is the lucero, the light that provides vision to our path, with the glow of energy generated by the struggle." While the farm workers lacked financial capital they were able to wield significant power at the ballot box. As the principal legislative advocate, Huerta became one of the UFW's most visible spokespersons. Robert F. Kennedy acknowledged her help in winning the 1968 California Democratic Presidential Primary moments before he was shot in Los Angeles. As much as she was Chavez's right hand she could also be the greatest thorn in his side. The two were infamous for their blow out arguments an element that was a natural part of their working relationship. Huerta viewed this as a healthy and necessary part of the growth process of any worthwhile collaboration. While she was busy breaking down one gender barrier after another, she was seemingly unaware of the tremendous impact she was having on, not only farm worker woman but also young women everywhere. At age 58 Huerta suffered her most life-threatening assault while protesting against
the policies of then presidential candidate George Bush in San Francisco. A baton-wielding officer broke four ribs and shattered her spleen. Public outrage resulted in the San Francisco Police Department changing its policies regarding crowd control and police discipline and Huerta was awarded an out of court settlement. She has received numerous awards among them the Eleanor Roosevelt Humans Rights Award from President Clinton in l998, Ladies Home
Journal's 100 most important women of the 20th Century, and she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993. Huerta also holds Nine Honorary Doctorates from Universities throughout the United States.
La Union Civica Mexicana is honored to bring this renown historic woman to our
area to kick-off Hispanic Heritage Month on Sept. 14. It is a great opportunity to educate the region on one of the most important civil rights struggles of the 20th century, with one of its key players within our midst.
