When veteran labor activists gathered with local workers and advocates at the annual Cesar Chavez celebration in Albuquerque last week, they put the rights of workers in a pandemic at the forefront of the discussions. New Mexican workers and labor advocates drew inspiration from a legendary figure who was there in person.
Dolores Huerta, wearing a flowered Mexican dress and a straw Panama hat, took the stage in front of a small but enthusiastic crowd.
The workers' rights icon, now 91 years old, was the keynote speaker at the 29th annual remembrance of the late, celebrated activist Cesar Chavez at the National Hispanic Cultural Center on Saturday. The event was the first in-person celebration in two years, and was invitation-only because of the pandemic.
Huerta reminded the crowd that although she is known for her work in California, she has deep New Mexican roots.
“I was born here. My parents were born here. My grandparents were born here. And we went back 14 generations in New Mexico," said Huerta.
Huerta said the fight for workers' rights is still urgent today.
"The pandemic has really put a spotlight on these health disparities that we have in our low income communities of color," she said in an interview with KUNM.
Fidel Gonzalez, originally from Mexico and now a farmer in the South Valley, Albuquerque, said the struggle has expanded beyond agricultural workers but that the icons of the past still inspire him.
“It’s not only about the agricultural workers, they are a point of reference, because those very same rights should be demanded by janitors, by cooks," said Gonzales in Spanish. "But the example here that we see from Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta – and it’s so wonderful to hear it from her directly – is how they did this, and how we can learn from them and put these organizing skills into practice now and be thankful to those who fought before us.”
Delving into history, Huerta also clarified the origins of her famous battle cry "si se puede,” explaining that it originated during Chavez’s hunger strike which lasted 24 days in Arizona in 1972.
Chavez undertook the strike in opposition to an Arizona law that said farmworkers who organized would be imprisoned. Huerta pushed back.
“I was talking to some of the Latinos and the professionals, you know, the attorneys, all those guys, and I said, we have to we have to overturn that law. And they said, 'no, you can’t in Arizona.' And then I said to them, 'si se puede en Arizona!' And that is where that came from, all of those professional, educated Latinos saying we couldn’t do it,” explained Huerta.
Barack Obama recognized Huerta as the originof the phrase that became his slogan when he presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.
Teresa Guevara, director of education at community development organization Encuentro, joined the celebration as a community leader and as a musician with her band Las Otras. She said Huerta’s reach extends beyond farm workers.
"The importance of this celebration, more than the figure of Dolores Huerta and the fight that Cesar Chavez represents, and the fight for people in the field, I think she [Huerta] transcends all of this and she reaches the feminist struggle for rights, and the fight for rights of people of all socioeconomic classes," said Guevara in Spanish. "It’s important to remember that the fight is still happening, and there is a long road ahead of us in the fight for equity in society.”
Huerta presented Lorenzo Candelaria, who runs Cornelio Candelaria Organics farm in the South Valley, with the “Si Se Puede” community service award, pointing out his commitment to education.
“On my farm, we grow a lot of things, millions of plants, but we harvest only one thing and that is consciousness. And the reason that I was chosen for this award is because of that, because my efforts in education and mentorship is my greatest asset and my greatest goal,” said Candelaria.
Huerta also talked about her alarm at recent attacks on voting rights and the importance of youth participation in politics and voting.
"I say I want people to go out there and register people to vote okay? Register people to vote," Huerta said.
She turns 92 on April 10, and said voter registration is what she wants for her birthday.
