VOICE OF CHANGE
PBS documentary chronicles Dolores Huerta’s life of activism
PBS documentary chronicles New Mexico native Dolores Huerta’s life of activism.
Dolores Huerta is an icon. She’s one of the most important activists and an equal partner in founding the first farmworkers union with César Chávez.
She’s tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice and evolved into one of the most defiant feminists of the 20th century.
At 87, she continues to fight. Not to mention, she’s a native New Mexican.
It’s because she’s lived her life fearlessly fighting for others that the documentary “Dolores” was made. It has screened at film festivals across the country.
It will premiere as part of Independent Lens beginning at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 27, on New Mexico PBS.
“It was interesting looking back on my work and life,” Huerta says. “It made me reflect on how I got there. I had to take a look at the decisions I had to make and how I grew as a woman and as an organizer. I could see why I made those decisions and all the emotional healing that came along with it.”
The film is directed by Peter Bratt and produced by Benjamin Bratt and Brian Benson.
Huerta was born April 10, 1930, in Dawson, a small mining town 17 miles northeast of Cimarron.
“I love New Mexico and try to get back as often as I can,” Huerta says. “It’s a magical place for me and in a way, it’s always home.”
She spent most of her childhood and adult life in Stockton, Calif., where she and her two brothers moved after her parents’ divorce.
After graduating from college and becoming a teacher, Huerta found her calling as an organizer while serving in the Stockton Community Service Organization.
During this time, she founded the Agricultural Workers Association, set up voter registration drives and pressed local governments for barrio improvements.
In 1955, she met César E. Chávez. The two soon discovered that they shared a common vision of organizing farmworkers and in 1962 they launched the National Farm Workers Association, which would evolve into the United Farm Workers and bring national attention to the conditions faced by farm laborers.
Huerta’s lobbying and negotiating talents helped secure Aid for Dependent Families (AFDC) and
disability insurance for farmworkers.
She was also instrumental in the enactment of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, which granted California’s farmworkers the right to collectively organize and bargain for better wages and working conditions. While the farmworkers lacked financial capital, they were able to wield significant economic power through hugely successful national boycotts. As their principal legislative advocate, Huerta became one of the UFW’s most visible spokespersons.
“Looking back at my history and activism, we were able to pass so many laws,” she says. “These included giving immigrants the right to public assistance. There was aid to the disabled. Today, 15 million get the Affordable Care Act. There were so many moving parts and we were able to bring them together.”
While directing the first National Boycott of California Table Grapes out of New York, Huerta met Gloria Steinem and was introduced to the burgeoning feminist movement that rallied behind the farmworkers’ cause. Having found a supportive voice with other feminists, Huerta began to challenge gender discrimination within the farmworkers’ movement.
Huerta says the documentary will air nationally at a perfect time.
With the #MeToo and #TimesUp movement sweeping the nation, women are taking the stage and not being silenced.
“As a woman, I’m here to say we have to stand up,” Huerta says. “We, as women, hold ourselves back. We think we shouldn’t be in the limelight and we believe that we shouldn’t take our place at the table. With women, especially those of color, you are taught to take the back seat. We need to be more vocal about it. I can see my own evolution in watching the movie. That was one of the main things. I decided to not stay in the background and make my voice heard. When you see the women involved in the current movement, it’s wonderful to see they had the courage to speak out. That’s what we need to do.”
Huerta has dedicated her life to activism and she says there are many areas where we can all help.
From the women’s movement to immigration rights or LGBT movements, she encourages people to help make a difference.
“In the 1970s, the national grape boycott Dolores Huerta helped organize played out in the small rural Minnesota farming community where I grew up — supported by our Catholic church along with tens of thousands of religious organizations across the country,” says Lois Vossen, Independent Lens executive producer. “More than 40 years later, Dolores is still an indefatigable architect for social change on behalf of poor, underrepresented people, urging them to seek self-determination with her refrain ‘Si Se Puede’ (‘Yes We Can’).”
“There are a lot of places we can get involved,” Huerta says. “I just like to say to young people to volunteer to a campaign. That’s how you get experience. Activists made the difference and you have to get out there and do the physical work to make it happen.”