South Bay Community Remembers Dolores Huerta: ‘Immense Pride’ in Her Lifelong Fight for Justice

Dolores Huerta's impact is felt across the Bay Area, including East San Jose. KTVU's Tori Gaines joins us live from the campus of San Jose State University. Tori, you spoke with people looking to really carry on Huerta's legacy. Absolutely. Good evening to you, Mike. Dolores Huerta may be a household name across the nation, but her impact, her roots, and her loss is deeply personal and felt here in San Jose. We're on San Jose State University's campus right now, just next to the Arch of Dignity, Equality, and Justice. This is just one of the places where Ms. Huerta has been memorialized in this city. And folks here say that her efforts left a direct impact for them. And her loss this week during Dia de los Muertos celebrations gives the community a chance to come together. Across the South Bay, grief is mixed with immense gratitude. When I heard about Dolores Huerta this morning, there was sadness, but also an immense amount of pride. Dolores Huerta spent much of her 96 years in service to her community, with deep roots across San Jose, from Mayfair to San Jose State University. Her legacy lives on in the people who carry her movement forward, including the Si Se Puede Collective, made up of five agencies serving the people of East San Jose. Dolores Huerta's coined Si Se Puede Collective. And so when we think about the work that we are currently doing in this day and moment, in this national context, we are paying tribute to someone who was a part of the movement, and we're just picking it back up and running with it, because the work still continues. As altars go up across San Jose for Dia de los Muertos, a time to welcome spirits home rather than say goodbye, Huerta's presence remains powerfully alive. This is a moment where we can come together as a community to mourn but to also honor and celebrate those who are no longer with us. You can see touches of Huerta's impact across campuses and communities statewide where her trailblazing work continues to shape the next generation. So many of the students that I have, young Latinas who are following in her footsteps, who want to get involved in government work and non-profit work because of her inspiration. Her courage to challenge power didn't stop at institutions. In Huerta's final year, she broke her silence, alleging sexual assault by Cesar Chavez. Community members say that freed many women from the need to carry such a burden alone. It means that we don't have to carry those injustices with us, and it is okay for us to be a part of the movement, any movement, and still expect dignity, safety. History may remember her fists raised in protest, but in San Jose, her voice lives on quietly, one altar, one campus, and one lesson at a time. One of my favorite quotes from Dolores Huerta says, we must use our lives to make the world a better place to live, not just to acquire things. This is what we are put on the earth for, and you could certainly say she lived her life by those words. And memorials, of course, are going to be happening across the state, across the Bay Area. We'll bring you more details on those as they are finalized. Guys. Fighting for dignity, fair wages, and so much more. Tori Gaines, live tonight there in San Jose. Thank you, Tori.