Si se puede! The rallying mantra coined by Dolores Huerta conveyed hope during the darkest days of the farmworkers labor movement. During this time farm owners, disregarded the civil rights of farmworkers, most of which were immigrants. Workers did not have a voice and were disheartened when the government did nothing about it. Thus, the speech given by Dolores Huerta on behalf of the 1965 Delano Grape Strike of five thousand workers from the National Farm Workers Association communicated the resilience of the group. She embodied the voice of the people by forming solidarity and demonstrating the importance of the issue. To do so, however, she needed to develop the characteristics of an effective leader. While Dolores Huerta was a successful strike organizer, she was far more successful in her authoritative and unarguable rhetoric which inspired a revolution of people. Nevertheless, it is fundamental to note the experiences that molded Huerta into the leader that she is today and the legacy that she will leave behind.
Dolores Huerta, a Mexican-American born to divorced working parents, grew up with the concepts of self-sufficiency, individuality, and equality in a Mexican agricultural community. Her mother’s success as a single mother and hotel business entrepreneur inspired Huerta to maintain the same ambition throughout her student and organizing career. Furthermore, her mother’s commitment in aiding poor families with housing educated Huerta on the importance of activism within one’s own community. Chavez et al states that from a very young age, Huerta was taught the value in “acquiring resources and knowledge that could meet community needs.” She was studious and managed school clubs to reinforce her talents as a leader. In addition, Huerta expressed that “there was no sexism [within her household]. My mother was a strong woman and she did not favor my brothers. There was no idea that men were superior” (qtd. in Chavez et al). Thus, she never felt threatened by the opposite sex and embraced the belief that she could be as active as her mother without a sense of inferiority (Garcia). Her self-confidence was established at a young age, giving her the ability to be herself and fend for herself. Huerta’s community also influenced her intersectionality and ability to connect with others. She describes her hometown as “integrated [with]…Chinese, Latinos, Native Americans, Blacks, Japanese, Italians, and others…all rather poor, but…integrated” so she experienced the ideal of American equality without ethnicity barriers in her childhood (qtd. in Garcia). As such, she felt the urge to fight for discrimination later in her life insisting that everyone have a voice in shaping their own life. Her intersectionality as an educated, independent, woman with the ability to relate to others strengthened her disposition as an effective leader. She concerned herself for the needs of others and focused on active change in a variety of campaigns including women, immigrants, and farmworkers.
The farmworkers movement consumed most of Huerta’s efforts. She observed their unfair treatment first hand in her agricultural community and briefly as a worker herself. During and after WWII, there was an exponential demand for cheap labor, thus the U.S. government permitted corporations to contract workers from other countries (Chavez et al). However, these workers suffered from extremely low wages and dangerous working conditions. Particularly, they were extremely poor, unable to care for their sick, and forbidden the use of toilets and drinking water when working (Godoy). Their children were malnourished and ill-clothed. Huerta accounts that many men, women, and children suffered from cancer and deformities due to poisonous pesticides (Godoy). The issue soon became more than just a labor issue but an emblematic national civil rights movement for Mexican Americans. For this reason, it was important for legislators and the general public to take the issue as seriously as Huerta did.
Huerta had the ability to view life through a different lens because of her intersectionality, thus she was able to connect with the working people effectively and earn their trust in organizing them. As her own definition of leadership said, she trained people and stepped back in an effort to lead through example (Chavez et al). She taught others that they had the ability to voice their demands and how to fight for them. She was a type of leader that empowered others through undetected works, but made enormous change as a result. After she met Cesar Chavez in the 1960s, she became involved in organizing rallies, boycotts, picket lines, and lobbying in the name of the National Farm Workers Association, the predecessor of the United Farm Workers’ Union (Michals). This job, however, did not only depend on organizational skills, but it also depended on the ability to communicate effectively. Huerta needed to be strategic with her words to persuade people to support La Causa, the farmworkers movement. She also needed to fight the societal structures of gendered authority when negotiating new contracts and making people listen to her confrontations.
It is no surprise that Huerta was known as the “Dragon Lady.” She spoke “with fire” in a forceful but poignant manner that others would call aggressive, crazy, and even violent (Chavez et al). However, those who alleged the latter were usually white men on the opposing side of Huerta’s negotiations. In an interview, Huerta questioned, “Why do we need to be polite to people who are making racist [or sexist] statements at the table…you have to call them [out] because then also you are educating them in the process” (qtd. in Chavez et al). Huerta is the type of woman to speak her mind when everyone else remains silent; she does not care for structure or pleasantries when dealing with imperative issues, such as human rights. Garcia states that Huerta broke hegemonic Mexican and American womanly ideals by avoiding being calm and agreeable, especially towards men. Instead, she was combative and competitive with her male colleagues (Garcia). She resisted being told to sit down and used her stubbornness to successfully negotiate the revolutionary California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975 wherein farm workers could legally unionize for better wages and conditions (Michals). Her message was simple: everyone deserves equality. And no one could argue with that. Huerta’s powerful conviction and self-assurance unsettled those around her, therefore, she effectively brought about change through her rhetoric.
Huerta’s language played a crucial role in the portrayal of a sincere labor movement. Her prose was sophisticated and it displayed her confidence. In addition, she enacted multiple parts of her intersectionality, as a college educated Hispanic woman from a multiracial community, to represent and appeal to her audience. Dolores Huerta was active in a time where she held the positions and responsibilities normally possessed by older white males as a lobbyist, contract negotiator, and vice president of a Union (Michals). Therefore, as stated by Chavez et al, she was unflappable, uncompromising, and unapologetic of the collective social and political norms she eschewed at that time. Such tones are reflected in her 1965 Delano Grape Strike speech when she commands her union be heard by clearly stating that their demands need to be “unconditionally” met and that they “will be satisfied with nothing less.” She is firm with her words calling out the governor by name and encouraging listeners to take part in a movement seeking “victory” and “equality.” Such powerful phrases resonate deeply within American patriotic values and encourages outsiders to relate to the larger movement. From another perspective, she knows what she wanted and she knows how to get it in a way in which opposing sides could unarguably negotiate; a very valued quality among leaders. Her ability to elevate her opinions with authoritative diction allowed her critics to focus on the content of her words instead of the physical and social differences between the speaker and the audience. Consequently, she was able to address the existent problems at hand.
Huerta also criticizes Governor Edmund Brown and the state legislatures for not upholding their responsibilities to congress and to the people of the state. She argues the invalidity of the opposing side as negligent towards their own people. She states “we are no longer interested in listening to the excuse the governor has to give” and reiterates the fact that the governor is indifferent and ignorant of farmworkers rights and thence indifferent and ignorant of human rights. She warns the governor with a general strike unless he calls for an emergency session of state legislatures to bring about a collective bargaining agreement for California farm workers. Because threats were necessary to get the point across, it seems that farm workers, people of lower class both economically and socially, are of less importance to society and to the government. There is no equality to be found. As a result, Huerta applies public chastisement in her speech to balance the hierarchy between the workers and the government leaders. She points out the flaws that the leaders have thus elevating the authority of the workers and pressuring the worker’s demands. Huerta asserts “we unconditionally demand” because, now that she has undermined the credibility of the people in power, she is now able to expand on her petitions with little retaliation. It is difficult for anyone to now endorse the actions of the government leaders; thus no one can argue Huerta’s position. The path that she took in appealing for her union shows that she can effectively write and speak to persuade a larger group of people much how an effective leader would.
The legacy that Huerta has is of hope and resilience. She is a determined woman who undoubtedly poured all her life in advocating and speaking on behalf of people in need. Her advocacy has extended beyond farmworkers such as women’s activism and immigration rights. The longevity of her continuing career is an inspiration as well as the multiplicity of movements that she has worked for because of her intersectionality. She has inspired the Mexican community, politicians, and the poor to confidently deal with issues head on (Garcia). She also proved that a seemingly impossible issue could be heard and enacted upon through the voices of the people. Even when they said that it could not be done, she chanted si se puede, yes it can, a slogan for current immigrant rights movements (Godoy). She encouraged individuality citing that through one’s own efforts, whether seen or unseen, have the ability to transfigure the world. Nevertheless, in today’s day and age, there has been much criticism for political leaders notably within the past election. Thus, the support from anyone with influence will come under scrutiny.
Huerta has been a prominent representative symbol of the Mexican community, struggles, and movements such as immigration. As a result, she has, to some extent, responsibility in basing her decisions and position in politics according to her supporters. Within the last two elections, however, she has aligned herself entirely with the democratic party seemingly only for the fact that they are not republican. This in turn has caused much controversy over the fact that she has chosen “party over people” much like how former President Obama, nicknamed “deporter-in-chief”, reverted his promise on acting on deportations as soon as in office (“Even Dolores Huerta Gets Jabbed in Latinos’ Immigration Quarrel”). Huerta has also been accused of not being entirely pro immigrant bringing up the fact that the United Farm Workers union was against immigration and even helped conceive a law that denied undocumented immigrants the right to work (“Even Dolores Huerta Gets Jabbed in Latinos’ Immigration Quarrel”). Such law has positioned many undocumented immigrants in unfortunate positions, however, the decision back then was made for “the bigger picture” in favor of farmworkers who were citizens. Likewise, Huerta’s encouragement for Latinos to continue on the democratic party in based on the “lesser of the two evils” calling for people to keep patience. It is important to note, nevertheless, that no change can be delivered without immediate action, and people are tired of waiting. Although Huerta’s technique has worked in the past and will probably work within a period of time, there needs to be a movement that will certainly abrupt transformations. In other words, there was no Women’s Suffrage Amendment without both the National American Woman Suffrage Association and Alice Paul.
While Dolores Huerta was successfully able to organize workers in defense of their rights, she generated more effect through her powerful, confident, and simple oratory. She used authority through her union and brought fairness through indisputable connections. Even though Huerta rose from unfortunate circumstances, her background and intersectionality fostered the outspoken and articulate woman that she is today. By breaking social and political boundaries, she demonstrated that anyone with a voice can and will get things done.
Bibliography
“Dolores Huerta.” UXL Hispanic American Reference Library, edited by Sonia Benson, 2nd ed., UXL, 2003. Student Resources in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ2130500012/SUIC?u=full19951&xid=bf036978. Accessed 03 Nov. 2017.
“Even Dolores Huerta Gets Jabbed in Latinos’ Immigration Quarrel” NBC News, NBC UNIVERSAL, 19 Sept. 2014, 11:28 AM ET, www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/even-dolores-huerta-gets-jabbed-latinos-immigration-quarrel-n206541
Garcia, R. A. “Dolores Huerta: Woman, Organizer, and Symbol.” California History, vol. 72, no. 1, Jan. 1993, pp. 56–71., doi:10.2307/25177326.
Godoy, Maria. “Dolores Huerta: The Civil Rights Icon Who Showed Farmworkers ‘Sí Se Puede’.” NPR, NPR, 17 Sept. 2017, www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/09/17/551490281/dolores-huerta-the-civil-rights-icon-who-showed-farmworkers-si-se-puede.
Michals, Debra. “Dolores Huerta.” National Women’s History Museum, National Women’s History Museum, 2015, www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biographies/dolores-huerta.
Chavez, Alicia, et al. “Dolores Huerta and The United Farm Workers.” Latina Legacies: Identity, Biography, and Community, Oxford Univ. Press, 2005, pp. 240–254.
Tol, Alex Van. Dolores Huerta: Voice for the Working Poor. Crabtree Pub., 2011.