Dolores Huerta’s legacy will forever shape Silicon Valley

Dolores Huerta, the pioneering labor organizer who co-founded the United Farm Workers and spent decades fighting for farmworkers’ rights, has died at 96, leaving behind a legacy that continues to shape San Jose and the South Bay.

Huerta’s influence in the region lives on through generations of organizers who fought alongside her, community groups inspired by her rallying cry “¡Sí, se puede!” and local leaders who worked with her to advance farmworkers’ rights. Her death also comes as communities reckon with the legacy of the farmworker movement following her revelations earlier this year that César Chávez, her longtime colleague and United Farm Workers co-founder, sexually abused her.

Huerta was born Dolores Clara Fernández on April 10, 1930, in Dawson, a mining town in northern New Mexico. Her father, Juan Fernández, worked as a farmworker and miner and was a union activist. Her parents divorced when she was 3 years old, and her mother moved Huerta and her two brothers to Stockton, where she spent most of her childhood. Her mother’s compassion for working families and involvement in community affairs helped shape Huerta’s own commitment to activism.

“She never gave up working for the poor,” Ramon Martinez, secretary of the La Raza Historical Society of Santa Clara Valley, told San José Spotlight. “Even in her 90s, she was out making speeches and endorsements.”

Martinez met Huerta by chance on a train in 2014. He recorded their conversation and later posted an edited version on YouTube titled “A Train Ride Interview with Dolores Huerta.”

Martinez said Huerta would visit his sister’s friend in Bakersfield for small get-togethers, where she could relax and be herself. He talked about Huerta being beaten by police during a 1988 protest in San Francisco. The San Francisco Police Department eventually settled with Huerta over the incident for $825,000.

“She was in the hospital for a long time,” Martinez said. “She could have taken that money and done something else, but she used it to start her foundation. She always worked for the poor people.”

In East San Jose, her legacy continues through community organizations and generations of women inspired by her activism.

Jessica Paz-Cedillos, CEO of the School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza, said Huerta was a symbol of power, resilience and sacrifice.

“On a personal level, when I think about her passing, there is sadness but also an immense amount of pride,” Paz-Cedillos told San José Spotlight. “And so this also leads into Avenida de Altares, because for us when our loved ones pass away, this is an opportunity for us to honor them with joy and not just sadness.”

The annual Avenida de Altares at Mexican Heritage Plaza takes place on Oct. 31, where organizers expect residents to honor Huerta’s legacy and her lifelong advocacy for Latino communities.

Paz-Cedillos said Huerta was an example of someone we could look up to.

“I know a lot of other Latinas also look up to Dolores Huerta, and it’s because of what she represented for our Latino community,” she said.

Rose Amador, a longtime community advocate and former director of ConXión to Community, said Huerta served on the group’s advisory board years ago. Amador said she’ll be thinking of the labor leader as the community gathers for Día de los Muertos.

“She was really one of the first female Chicanas to have a large role in the community, in the farmworker community, and she wasn’t afraid to speak up,” Amador told San José Spotlight.

Huerta’s influence also extended to elected officials who worked alongside her on labor rights and social justice issues. State Sen. Dave Cortese remembered Huerta as both a friend and mentor, recalling their shared efforts to protect farmworkers from pesticides and herbicides.

“Dolores Huerta didn’t just teach us how to fight for justice. She showed us how to do it with courage, discipline and an unwavering commitment to nonviolence,” Cortese said in a statement. “Over the years, I was fortunate to know her personally, learn from her example and work alongside her on issues that mattered deeply to both of us.”

State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas also mourned Huerta death. He too had a personal connection to Huerta dating back to the 1960s.

“Dolores negotiated my grandfather’s first union contract at Almaden Vineyards,” Rivas said in a statement. “She helped give him and his fellow farmworkers a voice, dignity and a fair shot at a better life. My family’s story, and my own journey to becoming Speaker, cannot be told without Dolores Huerta.”

For Martiza Maldonado, executive director of Amigos de Guadalupe, Huerta’s legacy is personal. The daughter of farmworkers who grew up in San Jose, Maldonado said Huerta helped pave the way for generations of Latina leaders who continue to fight for immigrant rights and social justice.

Maldonado said the work of Amigos de Guadalupe, which serves San Jose’s Mayfair community, follows the model of leadership Huerta embodied. Despite the progress she helped achieve, Maldonado said, barriers remain for Latinas.

“She was an example of someone we could look up to,” Maldonado told San José Spotlight. “She’ll be a great loss to all of us, but her biggest legacy is that we continue to fight on behalf of the poor, for justice.”

Contact Maryanne Casas-Perez at [email protected] or @mexicanredhead on Instagram.