We had the pleasure of meeting Dolores Huerta in 2017 when she was here for the Mendocino Film Festival. We hosted her at the Inn and had several meaningful conversations. She was truly a remarkable woman, passionate about human rights and still working at 87! She said in a 2025 documentary, Seeds of Change, the Life and Times of Dolores Huerta, something that bears repeating:
“I hope that my legacy will be one of an organizer who organized to fight injustice. We want to give our children an inheritance of justice, rights, not jewels, or property or money because they will just fight over it. So the main thing to do is to give this love for justice—and that is the greatest gift any of us can have.”
As we shop for the holidays, good to think of the values we want to share as gifts to our children and grandchildren.
Hope to see you soon,
Joan and Jeff
💛
Remembering Dolores Huerta: A Life of Courage and Justice
1930 — BIRTH IN DAWSON, NEW MEXICO
April 10, 1930: Dolores Clara Fernández is born in Dawson, New Mexico, to Alicia Chávez and Juan Fernández, a miner, labor activist, and future state legislator. Following her parents’ separation, Dolores grows up in Stockton, California.
OCTOBER 28, 2026 — DOLORES HUERTA DIES AT AGE 96
Dolores dies at her home in Bakersfield, surrounded by family. Her seven decades of pioneering leadership transformed American labor rights, civil rights, women’s equality, and grassroots organizing. Her extraordinary legacy lives on through generations inspired by her enduring words: “¡Sí Se Puede!” (Yes, We Can!)