U.S. labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta spoke about the importance of voting and standing together as a community to a crowd of more than a 100 people during a symposium Sept. 19 in Brownsville.
The UTRGV Center for Mexican American Studies, Office of Public Art and College of Fine Arts hosted “The Pursuit of Social Justice–Past, Present and Future” symposium featuring Huerta in the Texas Southmost College Performing Arts Complex. La Unión del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), Cosecha Voices and local activists also took part in panel discussions as part of Latinx Heritage Month.
Huerta advocated for farmworkers’ unemployment and health-care benefits as well as safer working conditions, and continues to fight for human and civil rights, according to the National Women’s History Museum website.
She emphasized the importance of voting throughout the lecture.
“We just have to elect the right people to our Congress and for governor,” Huerta said.
The 92-year-old activist said she believes change in society starts when people register to vote and it is important to keep immigration, universal day care, health care and global warming policies in mind while voting.
“We are in a critical moment in the United States where our democracy is being challenged,” Huerta said.
She said activists do not have the luxury of getting burned out as there are still people out there who need to hear what they have to say.
“You’re out there trying to organize people and get people empowered,” Huerta said. “You don’t have time to think about your personal problems.”
A panel discussion titled RGV Activism Today featured local activists Denisce Palacios, Josue Ramirez and Dani Marrero Hi, who explained the importance of being involved in social activism.
Asked why she is involved in activism, Palacios, a Texas Rising organizer, replied, “Along the border, we don’t really have a choice…Having the government always tell you whether you can or can’t do something, or whether or not your humanity is recognized because of legality, really impacted my life at a young age.”
The symposium is in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition: Dolores Huerta, Revolution in the Fields/Revolución en los Campos,” which chronicles her life. The exhibit is housed at the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art and will be on display until Saturday.
Dahlia Guerra, UTRGV assistant vice president for Public Art and Special Projects, helped organize the event along with Stephanie Alvarez, director of the UTRGV Center for Mexican American Studies.
“I believe that we should be inspired by her determination to make a better world,” Guerra said.
The panelists called Huerta a hero and described her as powerful and extraordinary.
Huerta worked alongside activist Cesar Chavez, who died in 1993. They co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA).
She served as the main negotiator for the work contracts that followed the 1965 Delano Strike and led the international consumer boycotting of grapes that resulted in the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, according to the National Women’s History Museum website.
Due to her groundbreaking work, Huerta was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, presented by then President Barack Obama, the Puffin Prize for Creative Citizenship in 2002 and the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award presented by then President Bill Clinton in 1998.
