nPostednon April 10, 2015
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Ifnyou were the daughter of a union activist and state assemblyman, yountoo might grow up to be a civil rights activist.
Ifnyou were the daughter of a union activist and state assemblyman, yountoo might grow up to be a civil rights activist.n
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nButnDolores Fernandez Huerta – like everyone else – had two parents.nThe union activist and state assemblyman was her dad, Juan Fernandez;nand Huerta didn’t grow up with him, because her parents divorced whennshe was just three years old.
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nItnwas Huerta’s mom, Alicia Chavez, who raised her. After the divorce,nChavez moved with her kids from New Mexico to Stockton, California.nChavez became very involved with community organizations and thenlocal church, and she made sure that her kids got a taste of culturalndiversity. Chavez became a businesswoman; she owned a restaurant andna 70-room hotel. She was known for her kindness, and she oftennwelcomed low-paid workers, including farm workers, into her hotel fornfree.
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nAndnDolores Huerta, born on this date in 1930, saw her mom’s compassionnfor and connection to others.
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nHuerta learned to be active in her community, like her mom. She joinednclubs at her high school; she became a majorette; she was in the GirlnScouts all the way through until she became an adult. She was alsonable to do something her mom hadn’t done: she attended college andnbecame a teacher.
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nHowever,nkids came to Huerta’s class hungry. They came shabbily dressed, withnworn shoes or no shoes at all. Huerta had learned compassion, likenher mom, and she decided to quit teaching and to start organizingnfarm workers so that the families those kids belonged to could have better lives.
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nDoloresnHuerta cofounded organizations and workers’ unions. She met Cesar Chavez and worked with himnto organize farm workers. She helped direct a national boycott ofntable grapes, and she participated in and led non-violent civilndisobedience activities and strikes. These sorts of activities hadnworked for Mahatma Gandhi in achieving independence for India, andnfor Martin Luther King, Jr., and other black activists in overturning Jim Crow laws and working toward civil rights. Huerta and Chaveznused these peaceful means to win rights for farmworkers and Hispanic people.
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nHuertanlobbied politicians in California with the same goals. She became sonwell-known among progressive politicians that she was actually withnpresidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy when he was assassinatednafter winning the California presidential primary election for thenDemocratic Party. What a horrible blow that was for America – andnit must have seen even more horrifying to Huerta, since she was rightnthere with Kennedy!
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nHuertanwas badly beaten during a peaceful, lawful protest of a Republicannpresidential candidate (later to become the president), George H.W.nBush. The San Francisco police officers who beat her with theirnbatons ended up breaking several ribs and injuring her spleen, whichnhad to be removed in emergency surgery. The beating was caught onnvideotape, and Huerta won a large judgment against the SFPD and thenCity of San Francisco. n
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nShengave away the money she won in that judgment to benefit farmworkers.
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nAfternrecovering from her injuries, Huerta began to work for women’snrights. In 2002 she founded the Dolores Huerta Foundation, whichnhelps women, children, and poor people to develop their leadershipnskills and to organize their communities in order to make their livesnbetter. n
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| President Obama awarding Dolores Huerta with the Presidential Medal of Freedom |
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nIt’sngreat to see that Huerta has won a lot of honors for her work onnhuman rights issues! I cannot list them all, but I will mention thatnshe is on the Board of Directors of an organization I belong to,nEquality California, and that one of the student centers at a collegenvery near me, Pitzer College, is named after her!
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nThenbiggest surprise for me, when writing about all of Huerta’s manynachievements in California and the nation, is realizing that she hadneleven children!
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nThat’snright – she had 11 kids!!!
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| This is Huerta with her seven daughters…remember, she has four sons, too! |
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nAlsonon this date:
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nNationalnSibling Day
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nAnniversarynof the invention of the safety pin
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nAnniversarynof the first bananas sold in England
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nPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nApriln holidays
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nMayn holidays
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nMayn birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in May
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