It’s a simple sentiment, but the phrase “sí se puede” or “yes we can” has powered demands for justice around the world ever since the United Farm Workers of America adopted it as its motto in 1972. The woman behind those words is Dolores Huerta, one of the most influential labor activists in America and the leader of the Chicano civil rights movement.View all sponsors
Huerta’s career as an organizer began in part to protest police brutality against Mexicans in California. She herself was beaten by police at a protest in 1988. She said it’s heartening to see young people engage with the system in recent years after the murder of George Floyd, but there’s one more step she would like to see young people take.
Although she is best known for her labor activism, Huerta has been a vocal supporter of a number of human rights causes and consciously wove a feminist approach into her organizing.