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Why did Dolores Huerta get an unfair grade?
Dolores Huerta says a school teacher accusing her of stealing another student's work and, as a result, giving her an unfair grade, an act she considers to be rooted in racial bias. Having experienced marginalization during childhood because she was Hispanic, Huerta grew up with the belief that society needed to be changed. She attended college at the University of the Pacific 's Stockton College (later to become San Joaquin Delta Community College ), where she earned a provisional teaching credential. After teaching elementary school, Huerta left her job and began her lifelong crusade to correct economic injustice:
When is Dolores Huerta Day?
In California, April 10 is Dolores Huerta Day.
What college did Huerta go to?
In October 2010, Huerta was awarded an honorary degree by Mills College, who lauded her as "a lifetime champion of social justice whose courageous leadership garnered unprecedented national support from farmworkers, women, and underserved communities in a landmark quest for human and civil rights".
Why does Huerta say that feminism is for white women?
Huerta goes on, in the documentary, to explain how she understands why many people think "feminism is for white women" and that is because middle-class women initially organized it. However, her stance is to show that women of color can be at the front of civil rights, labor, and feminist movements.
Why did Huerta leave the union?
Following a lengthy recovery, Huerta took a leave of absence from the union to focus on women's rights. She traversed the country for two years on behalf of the Feminist Majority's Feminization of Power: 50/50 by the year 2000 Campaign encouraging Latinas to run for office. The campaign resulted in a significant increase in the number of women representatives elected at the local, state and federal levels. She also served as National Chair of the 21st Century Party, founded in 1992 on the principles that women make up 52% of the party's candidates and that officers must reflect the ethnic diversity of the nation.
How old was Huerta when he started lobbying?
At the age of only 25, Huerta was a lobbyist in Sacramento for the Stockton Community Service Organization and trained people to do grassroots organizing.
What awards did Huerta receive?
Huerta has received numerous awards for her community service and advocacy for workers', immigrants', and women's rights, including the Eugene V. Debs Foundation Outstanding American Award, the United States Presidential Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
How many times has Dolores Huerta been arrested?
Her activism has been a passion with some consequences. She has been arrested over 20 times. In 1988 while handing out leaflets in San Francisco, police beat her with enough force to break her ribs and shatter her spleen. She has gone on hunger strikes, most recently in March of this year. Chávez said of her, “Dolores is totally fearless, both mentally and physically.” She bore and raised 11 children while continuing with her activism. Many people would consider these repercussions as costly sacrifices, but Ms. Huerta has said, “You can’t make change unless you’re willing to give something up.” Dolores Huerta is not a lawyer, but she has made a profound effect on the law and society. The California and Nebraska legislatures have honored her with state days of service named for her. President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012 for her civil rights activism. She continues to work for her causes through her foundation that she started in 2003. It is possible that she is most famous– even if she is not always credited– for her slogan, “ Si, se puede! ” (Yes, we can!); it is a summation of her work ethic as well as the slogan of her movement.
What is the significance of Hispanic Heritage Month?
If you listen to Ms. Huerta talk about her activism and views, you will find that she feels all people should be treated fairly and equally – and that all who can vote should vote in every election.
Who is Dolores Huerta?
Dolores Huerta. Co-founder of the United Farm Workers Association, Dolores Clara Fernandez Huerta is one of the most influential labor activists of the 20th century and a leader of the Chicano civil rights movement. Born on April 10, 1930 in Dawson, New Mexico, Huerta was the second of three children of Alicia and Juan Fernandez, ...
How did Huerta's grandfather help her raise her?
Huerta’s grandfather helped raise Huerta and her two brothers while her mother juggled jobs as a waitress and cannery worker until she could buy a small hotel and restaurant. Alicia’s community activism and compassionate treatment of workers greatly influenced her daughter. Discrimination also helped shape Huerta.
How many children did Ventura Huerta have?
She subsequently married fellow activist Ventura Huerta with whom she had five children, though that marriage also did not last. Huerta briefly taught school in the 1950s, but seeing so many hungry farm children coming to school, she thought she could do more to help them by organizing farmers and farm workers.
What awards did Huerta receive?
The recipient of many honors, Huerta received the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award in 1998 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.
Why did Huerta get accused of cheating?
Discrimination also helped shape Huerta. A schoolteacher, prejudiced against Hispanics, accused Huerta of cheating because her papers were too well-written. In 1945 at the end of World War II, white men brutally beat her brother for wearing a Zoot-Suit, a popular Latino fashion.
What was the result of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975?
In 1973, Huerta led another consumer boycott of grapes that resulted in the ground-breaking California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, which allowed farm workers to form unions and bargain for better wages and conditions.
Overview
Early life
Dolores Huerta was born on April 10, 1930, in the mining town of Dawson, New Mexico. She is the second child and only daughter of Juan Fernández and Alicia Chávez. Juan Fernández was born in Dawson to a Mexican immigrant family and worked as a coal miner. Later, he joined the migrant labor force, and harvested beets in Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming. When Huerta was young, she would hear her father tell stories about union organizing. After her parents divorced when sh…
Career as an activist
In 1955, Huerta along with Fred Ross co-founded and organized the Stockton Chapter of the Community Service Organization (CSO), which fought for economic improvements for Latino/Mexican/Chicano migrant Farm workers. Due to her dedication and willingness to serve, Ross often delegated huge responsibilities to her. He knew she was capable of delivering the organization…
Dolores Huerta Foundation
Huerta is president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation, which she founded in 2002. It is a 501(c)(3) "community benefit organization that organizes at the grassroots level, engaging and developing natural leaders. DHF creates leadership opportunities for community organizing, leadership development, civic engagement, and policy advocacy in the following priority areas: health & environment, education & youth development, and economic development."
Awards and honors
Dolores Huerta currently has about 15 honorary doctorates.
On November 17, 2015, Dolores Huerta was bestowed the highest decoration a foreign national can receive from the country of Mexico for her years of service helping the Mexican community in the United States fighting for equal pay, dignity in the workplace, and fair employment practices in the farms of Norther…
Representation in other media
• Huerta is one of the subjects of the Sylvia Morales film A Crushing Love (2009), the sequel to Chicana (1979).
• She is portrayed by actress/activist Rosario Dawson in Diego Luna's César Chávez (2014).
• She is the focus of a 2017 documentary called Dolores.
Women's rights
Huerta championed women's rights in feminist campaigns during her time off from union work. She also fought for ethnic diversity in her campaigns.
Huerta was an honorary co-chair of the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017, the day after the inauguration of Donald Trump as president.
Dolores, a new documentary about Huerta, talks a lot about her feminist appro…
Personal life
Huerta married Ralph Head in college after her graduation in 1948. During their marriage, they had two daughters, Celeste and Lori.
After divorcing Head, she married Ventura Huerta, with whom she bore five children. Their son Emilio Jesus Huerta entered politics and ran for Congress. Her second marriage ended in divorce as well, in part because of the significant amount of time that she spent away from the family w…