Nevada leaders mourn Dolores Huerta, labor and civil rights icon

Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers union and coined the enduring rallying cry "Sí, se puede," died Wednesday at her home in Bakersfield, California, at age 96. Family spokesperson Erik Olvera said she died of cancer surrounded by family. Huerta remained active well into her 90s, marching in protests and speaking nationally about race, poverty, LGBTQ+ and women's rights through her foundation. "It seems like history continues to repeat itself," she told The Associated Press months ago. "You see what's happening right now in our country, and we know that people have to stand up."

Her three-word Spanish slogan — translating to "Yes, it can be done" — reflected her belief that action drives change. Her decades of work earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, when President Barack Obama praised her as a tenacious leader and noted he had adopted her slogan for his 2008 campaign. "Her life's work was to empower her community to face and overcome injustices, and she has left farm workers and the entire Latino community stronger and more organized than she found it," United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero said in a statement.

Born Dolores Clara Fernandez in 1930 in Dawson, New Mexico, Huerta was the daughter of a miner and union activist. After her parents divorced, her mother moved the family to California, where Huerta grew up among diverse working families. She left teaching in the San Joaquin Valley after growing frustrated by her students' poor living conditions, saying, "I couldn't stand seeing kids come to class hungry and needing shoes."

This year, Huerta revealed she was sexually abused in the 1960s by farmworker movement co-founder César Chavez, resulting in two children, a secret she kept for 60 years. She said she remained silent because she feared coming forward would compromise her life's work. "It was my personal pain, it was my personal problem and, you know, I think it was worth it because it was my cross to bear. I'll say it that way," she told Latino USA in a 2026 interview.

Sources: Las Vegas Sun