Dolores, the new documentary directed by Peter Bratt in theaters this month celebrates the force that is Dolores Huerta, the labor organizer and political activist who worked tirelessly on behalf of some of the most poverty stricken workers in the country.
Amongst union organizers and political activists, Dolores Huerta is a legend. Yet she is virtually unknown to the public.
Huerta co-founded the United Farm Workers (UFW) with Cesar Chavez. They were equal partners in the movement in every way except how history remembers their contributions. This is true even of the slogan “Si, se puede!” It’s often attributed to Chavez, and President Obama adopted the English translation, “Yes, we can!” for his own campaign. But in fact, the slogan actually came from Huerta.
Archival footage gives us a front-row seat to the indignities, big and small, of being a woman who steps outside of traditional roles. In one archival interview clip, Huerta was asked to defend her “lifestyle” as a single mother raising children out of wedlock. In another, a man asks: “Who’s taking care of her children while she’s out on all her adventures?”
[For more on this story by TITI YU, go to http://billmoyers.com/story/do...-huerta-documentary/]
Photo: United Farm Workers leader Dolores Huerta organizing marchers on the second day of March Coachella in Coachella, California in 1969. (© 1976 George Ballis)
Comments (0)