Remembering Dolores Huerta

We do have some breaking news this morning. A towering figure in California history, labor leader, and civil rights pioneer, Dolores Huerta, has passed away. Her family announced the news online, asking for privacy while they grieve. The cause of death was not given. Huerta is best known for co-founding the United Farm Workers Union alongside Cesar Chavez. Just in March, she rocked the labor movement, though, after accusing Chavez of past sexual abuse. Locally, Huerta leaves a massive mark from her namesake square in Boyle Heights to a new mural dedicated to her just this past May in downtown LA. Mayor Karen Bass was asked this morning about the passing. She said she believes talks about renaming LA landmarks in Huerta's honor will resurface. I'm sure that those discussions will kick up again. They had not been happening, but I'm sure her passing will re-raise those subjects. Puerta was 96 years old. Cause of death again has not been announced. Her impact was felt across several generations. Joining us to talk about her life and legacy is LA City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez. Good morning, Councilwoman. Thank you for joining us this morning. Thank you for having me. It is such a somber day. Obviously, the legacy of Huerta is just going to be remembered for generations to come. How are you affiliated with her specifically? Well, I had the privilege of meeting her when I was in my mid-20s, just getting my start in local politics. And, you know, she was just always high energy. She was a force of nature. And I subsequently, even after I was elected, I received an honor that's actually in her namesake, the Dolores Huerta Adelita Award. And that was when she and I reconnected shortly after I was elected. But, you know, Dolores was just unstoppable. She was an unstoppable force. she meant a lot for women in politics in particular and always fighting for women's rights. She was at the forefront at a time when women historically were not really part of the labor movement, but she was also just such an incredible force for women of all nationalities. She fought for women's rights. She was involved with a number of organizations to help advance justice for a variety of communities. And she and I, I actually reconnected with her when we both ended up, found ourselves in Texas helping Beto O'Rourke when he was running for governor. She was nonstop. If there was a fight, she was willing to take it on if it was just, and I'm just gonna miss her tremendously. Yeah, I remember so many campaign rallies she would be at, and despite the heat, Dolores, whatever, she was there for the cause and definitely lending her voice to any movement that she believed in. And you see this fighter publicly, this figure, she's larger than life, even though she's pint-sized. But what did she tell you personally in terms of those private conversations that really inspired you, anything? We were in Mexico City celebrating and witnessing Claudia Sheinbaum's presidential inauguration And there was a dinner in her honor where I had an opportunity to just sit with her and her daughter and a number of folks. And I'll never forget when she says, you know, she goes, Monica, I get your newsletters every Saturday and they're really great. And I just thought, how the heck are you reading my newsletters, you know, every every Saturday? But it was just one of these moments where she was just very real. She was like everybody else. She was you know, she would read everything. she was involved and kind of staying informed and everything and and it was clear she was paying attention so i just always appreciated uh her kindness and uh her just her words of support you know so often we're in these roles and you know you you uh don't know who's really paying attention and for me it was just such an incredible moment of validation of of so much of the work that I know we do here. And it was an incredible honor to have those moments and share those moments with her. She was a Dodger fan. She would stay up late and she would get up early. And I just appreciated she really took every moment of life that she had and she put it to work. And she's an example of someone who just had incredible tenacity and passion to show up for our community. And for 96 years, she just didn't stop. Her phrase, her famous phrase, si se puede, became a rallying cry that went far beyond the farm workers movement. What do those words mean to you today? The same thing they meant to me when I first heard them. It's that, yes, we can. There is nothing that stops us. We just must be willing to do the work. She was the example of showing up and doing the work. There's a lot of people who show up in words only and in name only. She did it in action. And I watched her show up, as I said, in person, in the fight, every time. She was doing the walk. She was doing the rally. She was there and she was present and she was active. And so it wasn't just adding her name to something, she actually would show up. And it's just a reminder to everybody, you know, so often people get involved in politics, they forget how long, how persistent you have to be to lead change. Dolores was someone who actually showed with her actions what change looks like and how to lead it. And she showed up for it every day. And I'm just grateful to have had such, it was such an incredible privilege to know this woman and see her fight up close and personal. She was the living embodiment of civil rights history, and I'm just grateful to have had the privilege of knowing her. Speaking of a fight and a change, most recently, obviously, we heard the news of her talking about Chavez and working closely together, and then those sexual abuse allegations that surfaced decades later what was your reaction to that and what do you think change will mean in that, in the light of that, I think it was incredibly powerful that even after all these years for her to come forward and something that she carried, um, it you know obviously puts tremendous pain in, uh, in the hearts of our community. We don't want, you know, as both as, uh as someone who suffered as a victim, but also just because of, uh, we don't want anything to really tarnish, uh, that work or undermine the the legacy of the work, especially because it represented the, just the, the blood, sweat, and tears of so many workers that were, that are still in the fight for justice. Um, but it is just a reminder how often women harbor some really real trauma real real trauma and they do so in putting the cause before themselves and, uh, Dolores was just at that moment was a reminder of the incredible sacrifice and pain that she carried because of the movement because she wanted to fight for workers and protect workers and she didn't want to undermine that and it's sad but it's a reflection of, I know, you know, it's, it's you know it's, uh, it's in depth, it's, it's really emblematic of what so many women do right when they put their families first when they put their community first there's a lot of sacrifice and it pained me to learn that that's what she endured um and but how she was just so committed to the fight that unfortunately she suffered that pain but it's just a reminder for everyone to you know when you see a wrong you must right it, that even when it's uncomfortable, be that voice and, um, that's why for me, I take my hits and my licks for speaking the unapologetic truth. But it was because of examples like her that we just got to be willing to say it It's also moving to know that as we say goodbye to her and her legacy and what she meant, she was able to speak her truth before she left this earth. And we know what happened I think that is really significant as well. Thank you so much, Councilwoman Rodriguez Really appreciate you joining us this morning. Thank you. And Amanda joining us now I just saw your Instagram post and you had a chance to actually meet her. So it was last October, a year ago. Exactly a year ago this month. I'm on the Latino Committee for the Critics' Choice Association and I co-hosted their celebration, the fifth annual celebration of Latino cinema and television. And let me just tell you last year she was receiving the Icon Award which is a word that perfectly sums her up this is her and i talking afterwards we had a really beautiful moment when i tell you she might have been one of the smallest in stature at this event but had the biggest presence and everyone wanted to just say hello to her and have just a moment of her time what an icon she is though i I mean, decades of social justice advocacy and co-founding the United Farm Workers Union. We actually presented her with the Icon Award, and she was introduced by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Gregory Nava, who directed the Selena film and is working on her biopic that is in development. But here's a moment when she received the award on stage that really stuck with me that I filmed backstage. Take a look. We need to let the world know we are not criminals, okay? We are farmers, we are people who take care of children, our nannies, the people who work on our hotels, our hospitals. We are the people that really feed and really nourish this nation, the United States of America. And the other thing that we have to say, you know what? The majority of the people right now that are being harassed and tormented, they're not immigrants. They're the indigenous people of the continent. that got a that got a really like roaring sound of applause right there uh she has always spoke up for the latino community she has always fought for that and i cannot wait to see her biopic one day especially her and Gregory Nava working so closely together of course i mean some people might remember back in 2017 Carlos Santana the legendary guitarist produced a documentary and And that is what they're basing her biopic on, is 70 hours of interviews and her, you know, 70 hours for 70 years of her dedication to her life's work. And I cannot wait for that. Gregory Nava will direct it. He will produce it and co-write it, along with Golden Globe-nominated, Emmy-nominated Barbara Martinez as well. So do we know when that'll come out? It's in development. I don't know when. I mean, last year we were kind of talking a little bit about it, but just knowing that she was a part of it, I feel like it's in good hands now. The sweetest woman, just on a personal note, the sweetest woman gave everyone moments of her time and truly, as fierce as she was, she was also very humble, very family oriented. Her children had, and she has a lot of children. not all 13 were there but a lot of them were there at a table and the way they looked up at their mom on stage at the time she was 95 looked up at her just enamored with her and as as we all were with her in that room as they should be as they should be who would play oh i i you know what i knew i think Eva Longoria oh okay i think Eva Longoria could do a really good job with her all right that's just that's yeah just putting it out there yeah yeah but i think she'd be great um all right amanda could you see it i could see it i could see it i was just also we mentioned this earlier but Robert Vargas the famous muralist obviously painted the mural of her it's like seven stories tall in downtown the Barclay Hotel all these seven dedicated yeah dedicated around her 96th birthday but it was the theme of it i think was important it was walking into history where she is quoted to say something like walk the streets into history with us get off the sidewalk and that was her motto right yeah yeah she had great sayings yeah well that will live on forever yeah for sure yes we can i agree about uh eva Longoria maybe even Salma Hayek um at some point right in her life could play that role pretty well as well