Dolores Huerta, who died last week at age 96, spent seven decades advancing human rights one cause at a time.
Huerta was born in the historic mining camp of Dawson, New Mexico, in 1930, and went on to become one of America’s most influential labor and civil rights leaders. In recent years, she encouraged people — particularly Latino citizens and working families — to exercise their right to vote.
“We know that democracy cannot work unless we all engage, and we have so many issues right now that are so important to all of us. We have to let our voices be heard and invite other people to also join us because democracy doesn’t work unless everybody engages,” Huerta said.
Huerta is credited with the slogan “¡Sí, se puede!,” or “Yes, we can!” in English. It was first used in 1972 in Phoenix during a protest against a state law prohibiting agricultural workers from organizing, boycotting or striking during harvest seasons. President Barack Obama adopted the phrase for his 2008 presidential campaign slogan. He later credited Huerta as the original creator and awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.
Huerta spoke to Public News Service in 2021 on behalf of the group Compassion and Choices about end-of-life care. She had traveled to New Mexico to support the Elizabeth Whitefield End-of-Life Options Act, later passed by lawmakers. She saw it as another civil rights issue, promoting justice, dignity and self-determination.
“The fact that there is an alternative and that people can make a choice that they want to end their life in a graceful and a peaceful manner with their loved ones around them, I think that is something that’s very important,” Huerta said.
Even in her 90s, Huerta’s social rights advocacy never waned. As recently as August, she joined a coalition at the California State Capitol asking lawmakers to increase state-level food assistance to make up for federal cuts to the SNAP program included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
