IFT Honors Dolores Huerta: Teacher, Organizer, Giant of the Labor Movement

When we talk about standing on the shoulders of giants, Dolores Huerta is central among them.

She began her career as a teacher but like so many of us in the profession, couldn’t stand being asked to present in front of a classroom of children coming to school hungry, unhoused, and without shoes.  The elementary school teacher turned organizer went from making history to being taught in our history classes.

Huerta was a friend to workers, to educators in California and across the country, and the recipient of AFT’s lifetime achievement award at this past year’s convention.

She lifted up Chicano, Mexican, and Filipino workers in the fields through her United Farm Workers, and was a bridge that supported the Rainbow Coalition alongside Rev. Jackson Sr, marching together in Delano, Chicago, and across the country. She taught us the power of solidarity.

Huerta coined “¡Sí, se puede!”, a rallying cry that movements and presidential campaigns have repeated for decades. 

In a labor movement and a country that expects women’s labor and invisiblizes their leadership, we honor Huerta, incorporate the classroom plans that share the lessons of her work with a new generation, and plan to make next year’s Dolores Huerta day on April 10th a day of honoring her memory as we carry her work forward on May Day and beyond.