blog




  • Essay / Dolores Huerta: Life and Times of a Mexican-American Political Activist

    Dolores Huerta is a Mexican-American political activist born on April 10, 1930 in northern New Mexico ("Dolores Huerta" 2013). As a young woman living in the mid-20th century, a very strict role was imposed on her, especially being of Mexican descent. Despite this, inspired by her generous and very independent mother, Huerta continued her education through high school and university, obtaining a teaching certificate. While teaching, she became aware of the economic injustices in her community and was determined to take action to correct them. She is best known for her fight for farm workers' rights, primarily in the 1960s and 1970s, although she continues her activism today. (Garcia 1993)Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayHuerta played an important role in winning workers' rights, helping his organizations achieve significant victories despite his status as a Latin woman, which led to her being taken. seriously in a difficult working world during this period. She is often considered the unsung heroine of this movement, while her colleague Cesar Chavez is much more often recognized for his work. (“National Portrait” 2015) In 1955, she began her career at the Stockton Community Service Organization, hoping to help the poor as she wished. During her time there, she helped organize voter registration events and fought for better working and living conditions for migrant workers. (Garcia 1993) After working for the CSO, Huerta met Cesar Chavez who had similar views to his on how best to get farm workers the rights they deserve. Their ideas did not agree with the CSO's methods, so they resigned and co-founded the National Farm Workers Association. They were incredibly successful, with Huerta using her skills and training to become a strong lobbyist and contract negotiator for the NFWA. Although their organization had little economic power, their grassroots campaign methods allowed them to gain the necessary influence through boycotts and strategic voting. Her first major achievement in this area came in 1963 by providing farm workers with disability insurance and assistance to dependent families, an important step toward combating the poverty she saw among the working class. . One of Huerta and the Association's greatest accomplishments was securing the first-ever law granting workers the right to organize and advocate for their own terms, called the Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975. This essentially allowed them to realize their dream of organizing the workers they were. defend what was their goal in founding the NFWA. (“Dolores Huerta” 2013) Throughout her career, Huerta always affirmed her belief that women had an equal role in activism and never considered her gender as an obstacle between her and her work. After her successes in the NFWA, Huerta also began to focus her efforts on feminist activities (Garcia 1993). She campaigned to encourage more Latina women to run for political office, leading to a significant increase in the number of women involved in politics. She even held a position within the 21st Century Party which advocated for true representation of gender and racial diversity in political office. Today, Huerta continues to educate and advocate for..