Labor Leader Dolores Huerta Dies at 96: Governor Newsom Issues Statement, Orders Flags at Half-Staff in California
Sacramento — California Governor Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom issued a statement on October 28 on the passing of Dolores Huerta, the labor leader and civil rights activist, and the Governor has ordered flags flown at half-staff in her honor. Huerta's family announced her death the same day at age 96; according to a statement by family spokesman Erik Olvera, she died at her home in Bakersfield, California, surrounded by family, and the family will announce plans to honor her life and legacy at a later date.
"Dolores represented the best of us. California — and the United States — would not be what we are today without her resolute spirit, her passion for justice and fairness, and her commitment to those overlooked and forgotten," Newsom said in the statement. He said Huerta started off as a teacher working with the children of farmworkers, and although she moved away from the classroom, she never stopped teaching: as a leader in the National Farm Workers Association, and later the United Farm Workers, she fought for gender equity, workers' rights, and civil rights, paving the way for generations to come.
The statement said Huerta never faltered in fighting for a fairer world, continually reminding people of their shared responsibility, and became known for her iconic declaration, "Sí, se puede." Through protests and marches, including the Delano grape boycott, she changed the course of history against all odds and fundamentally reshaped California, Newsom said. "Her legacy lies not just in the accomplishments she achieved, but in the people who follow in her footsteps, who take up the mantle and keep creating a better world," he said.
Huerta was a member of the California Hall of Fame. The farmworker movement she co-founded with Cesar Chavez and others drove the first farmworker union contracts in U.S. history, and in 2012 President Barack Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Dolores Huerta生前在集会上讲话。Gage Skidmore 摄，CC BY-SA 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Dolores Huerta speaking at a rally. Photo by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
