Dolores Huerta

Hello, my name is Dolores Huerta. I was born on April 10th, 1930, in a busy town in New Mexico, but I grew up in Stockton, California. My neighborhood was full of people from many different places, and I loved it. My mother, Alicia, owned a restaurant and hotel and was always helping people in our community. She taught me that it was important to be kind and to help others whenever you can. Watching her planted a little seed in my heart that grew into a big wish: to make the world a fairer place for everyone.

After I went to college, I became a teacher. I loved working with children, but something made me very sad. Many of my students were the children of farmworkers, the people who work in the fields picking fruits and vegetables. They would come to school so hungry that they couldn't focus on their lessons, and sometimes they didn't even have shoes to wear. I realized that teaching them was not enough. To truly help them, I needed to help their families get better pay and have a better life. That is when I knew I had to do more. I decided to leave teaching and become a community organizer to fight for the rights of these families.

Soon, I met a man named Cesar Chavez, who became my good friend. He shared my dream of helping the farmworkers. Together, in 1962, we started a group called the National Farm Workers Association. We wanted to make sure the people who picked our food were treated fairly. We organized marches where we walked for miles to bring attention to their problems. During a big protest that began in 1965, called the Delano Grape Strike, we asked people all over the country to help us by not buying grapes. It was hard work, but we kept going. To keep everyone's spirits up, I came up with a saying that we would all chant together: '¡Sí, se puede!'. It means 'Yes, we can!', and it reminded us that if we worked together, we could make a change.

I am so happy to tell you that all of our hard work made a difference. The farmworkers won their fight for better pay and safer places to work. But my work didn't stop there. I have spent my whole life fighting for people's rights. In 2002, I started the Dolores Huerta Foundation to keep helping communities and teach people how they can make a difference. In 2012, I was given a special award called the Presidential Medal of Freedom for my work. I want you to know that you have power, too. No matter how small you are, your voice is important. Always remember our saying, '¡Sí, se puede!' Yes, you can!