DOLORES HUERTA – A PERSONAL REMEMBRANCE
Dolores Huerta in 1970 during filming of Yo Soy Chicano.
I first met Dolores Huerta in the Spring of 1970. I was filming what would become a classic documentary about the Chicano experience, Yo Soy Chicano, and had arranged to meet her in the lettuce fields of the Imperial Valley for an interview about her organizing for the United Farm Workers Union.
She was about to speak at a rally there, and I had secured a hour of her time—pretty extensive, given the demands on her time– to interview her for my film. Of course, I was intimidated and nervous. I knew who she was and the important role she was playing within the struggle of the farm workers. But within moments of our meeting, I was suddenly at ease—that’s how she met people. A good organizer knows how to listen.
We were instant friends. She was open, reassuring, and her mission was to tell her story about the current struggle—and the stories of those at the front lines of the fight for labor protections, a fair wage and workplace dignity.
Even with fellow organizers calling for her to ascend to the stage for the rally, she allowed me even more than an hour of her time.
I didn’t know it at the moment but this would be the start of a lifelong friendship, cemented by our mutual quest for the justice we felt our people deserved.
At my Directors Guild Tribute. (photo credit: George Rodriguez)
We met time and again and our friendship grew as she recognized that I, as a filmmaker, was about pursuing the same goals she and her union were about. I would encounter her at picket lines, at political and labor rallies, and I was always greeted with a warm hug and a “so happy to see you!” In 2010 she was gracious enough to be part of my Lifetime Tribute award celebration at the Directors Guild of America and speaking at length about me and my film work.
In 2013, I sat down with her for an interview for my website Latinopia—we met up at her foundation in Bakersfield, California for an extended four- hour discussion about her extensive life work but specifically focusing on her role in the farm workers union.
Looking back on it, I marvel at how generous she was with her time and it was clear to me then how much time she took preparing for answers to these highlights of her life. Because the story she had to tell, and always told, was the story of how to organize for worker and racial justice—a tedious and step-by-step process (frequently violently opposed.) She had a mission to get that story out.
With my wife Bobbi Murray and I.
Throughout more than 56 years of friendship, I have been most taken by her resolute resolve to pursue justice, fair play and equality not just for the Latinx community but for all people. Recent revelations about horrific acts by union leader Cesar Chavez and her courageous actions, both in protecting the success of the union over the years, and in support of women who had also been brutalized by him, only accentuates her impeccable moral character and her vision for the future of our people.
Dolores Huerta que en victoria descanse.