Dolores Huerta

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

Dolores+Huerta

Denyse Lopez-Hernandez, Staff Writer

Dolores Huerta was born on April 10th, 1930 in New Mexico. However, when her parents got divorced she moved to Stockton, CA. She is an American labor leader, civil rights activist, and co-founder of the United Farmworkers Association. She has fought for farmworkers rights and working conditions. She helped organize a strike in 1965 which gathered many people to boycott grapes and resulted in the California table grape industry to sign a 3 year collective bargaining agreement to the UFW. She faced lots of discrimination, violence, and sexism in her life but still continues on fighting for farmworkers in a peaceful manner. She has been arrested many times due to strikes and non-violent civil disobedience and has gone on hunger strikes. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the U.S., by Barack Obama on May 29, 2012; As well as other medals and rewards.. She is the president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation, which was founded in 2002. At age 89, she still continues on influencing legislation and defending civil rights.