Huerta, Ford share the YWCA spotlight
It would have been difficult for the YWCA Silicon Valley to deliver a more powerful duo at its 29th annual Inspire Luncheon than Dolores Huerta and Christine Blasey Ford.
The two women — a civil rights activist from Stockton and a university psychologist living in Palo Alto — are from different worlds and are a generation apart, but they both faced opposition, and sometimes hatred, for standing up for what they knew was right.
“I think this is such a powerful day. For years now, women have been trying to speak up and have their voices heard,” said Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, who introduced Huerta, the luncheon’s keynote speaker. “To have Christine Blasey Ford and Dolores Huerta in the same room with more than 1,000 women from our community is just overwhelming.”
It was just over a year ago that Ford testified to Congress at the confirmation hearing of now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, accusing the nominee of sexually assaulting her when they were high school students in Maryland. Ford was presented with the YWCA Empowerment Award at Thursday’s event at the Santa Clara Convention Center, which she said was particularly meaningful to her because of the work the YWCA does to support survivors of sexual violence.
“When my family was forced out of our home last year, we had resources and we had friends who
made sure that we had safe places to go and stay,” she said to a packed audience of more than 1,200 people. “So many women do not. So many women do not have the privilege that my professional position afforded me. It’s much harder for them to speak up. But women in the Silicon Valley have you.”
Ford’s appearance was preceded by another powerful moment — a spoken-word performance by Oakland Youth Poet Laureate Eleanor Wikstrom of her poem “Too Good,” which was inspired by Ford’s experience. And that did not go unnoticed by Ford.
“It’s funny; I was inspired by Anita Hill when I was deciding whether to testify but it didn’t occur to me at the time that I would be inspiring anyone else,” Ford said. “Eleanor, I couldn’t ask for a greater gift than to know I inspired your poem.”
And there was more inspiration to come as Huerta took the stage. The 89-year-old labor leader, who co-founded the National Farmworkers Association (precursor to the UFW) with César Chávez and originated the mantra “Sí, se puede,” gave a 20-minute talk filled with humor, charm and, naturally, a bit of politics. She used some of her time to talk about an upcoming challenge to the business-end of Proposition 13 and to encourage people to get involved with the 2020 census to make sure underrepresented groups are fairly counted. (She slyly got in a plug for the state
Senate bid of a longtime friend, Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese.)
“I know that the YWCA has done such great work over the years. I only have one regret, that we don’t have enough YWCAs in every single city and the United States of America,” Huerta said. “We know that our young women, women everywhere, we need so much help. Especially our young people because they have so many pressures on them in our society.”
And there was one young woman in the audience that she was certainly speaking to. Millie Peeples, a 10-year-old fifth grader at Hammer Montessori School in San Jose, did a research project on Huerta last year for her school’s Historical Figures Day. Millie’s mom, Shortino Family Foundation Executive Director Tamara Alvarado, brought her to the luncheon to see her in person. Millie wrote a letter for Huerta that she delivered during a meet-and-greet session after the luncheon.
“For me, she’s a civil and labor rights leader. She’s an icon; she’s a role model,” Alvarado said. “I think it’s such a unique opportunity to have my daughter meet her. Why wouldn’t I do anything possible to make that happen?”