By Bo Tefu | California Black MediaDolores Huerta, the labor and civil rights leader who helped transform conditions for farmworkers and collaborated with Black activists and civil rights leaders, will lie in honor at the California State Capitol on November 16, legislative leaders announced.
The public may pay respects from noon to 6 p.m. in the Capitol rotunda, Senate President pro Tem Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) said. A midday program is planned, with details to be announced.
Huerta died October 28 at her Bakersfield home after battling cancer. She was 96. Her death prompted tributes from across the country.
Born in 1930 in Dawson, New Mexico, Huerta became an organizer in California’s Central Valley. In 1962, she co-founded the National Farm Workers Association with César Chávez; it later became the United Farm Workers. She helped lead the Delano grape strike and nationwide grape boycott, drawing attention to farmworkers’ low wages and harsh conditions.
Her organizing helped secure passage of California’s Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, which established farmworkers’ right to collective bargaining. Huerta also advocated for women’s equality, immigrant rights and environmental justice. Her rallying cry, “¡Sí, se puede!” — “Yes, we can” — became a movement slogan. In 2012, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2003, she founded the Dolores Huerta Foundation to organize communities and develop local leaders.
“Dolores negotiated my grandfather’s first union contract at Almaden Vineyards,” Rivas said. “She brought to that bargaining table what she brought to every fight: the conviction that farmworkers deserved fair pay, dignity and a say in the conditions under which they worked.”
Public memorial events are scheduled in Bakersfield. A rosary and vigil will begin at 6 p.m. Nov. 19 at IBEW Local 428 Hall, 3921 Sillect Ave., for “prayer, reflection and quiet remembrance,” the Foundation said.
On November 20, events at Dignity Health Arena, 1001 Truxtun Ave., will begin at 8 a.m. with a blessing by Aztec dancers, followed by an interfaith memorial service at 10 a.m. A celebration of life at 2 p.m. will include speakers from labor, public office, cultural communities and community organizing, and a live performance by Los Lobos.
