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Dolores Huerta, who spoke Monday on a panel, is greeted by Mariana Salazar during the LBJ Library’s Summit on Race on April 9, 2019, in Austin, Texas. “She’s an inspiration for all of us young people trying to change the world,” Salazar said about Huerta. Salazar is a candidate for the Austin City Council. [ANA RAMIREZ\/AMERICAN-STATESMAN]<\/p>\n
Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Austin-area elected officials remembered Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association, who worked alongside farm-worker rights advocate Cesar Chavez. <\/a>Huerta died Wednesday at 96<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n U.S. Rep. Greg Casar (D-Austin) said he was \u201cheartbroken\u201d by the news, commending Huerta for decades of fighting to \u201cmake the world a better place for workers, women, and immigrants.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cAt 95 years old, Dolores would get on a red-eye flight on a moment\u2019s notice to make it for a protest at the Capitol, or a meeting with brave Texas workers,\u201d Casar said in a written statement. \u201cShe was inspiring us until the very end.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m heartbroken. For decades, Dolores Huerta fought to make the world a better place for workers, women, and immigrants.<\/p>\n At 95 years old, Dolores would get on a red-eye flight on a moment\u2019s notice to make it for a protest at the Capitol, or a meeting with brave Texas workers. She was inspiring us until the very end.<\/p>\n Que en paz descanse, Dolores.<\/p>\n \u2014 Congressman Greg Casar (@RepCasar) October 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cQue en paz descanse, Dolores,\u201d Casar added. Casar\u2019s remarks in Spanish roughly translate to, \u201cMay you rest in peace.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Austin City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes<\/a>\u00a0described Huerta as having made a \u201chuge impression\u201d on her life.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThere aren\u2019t that many Latina figures for us to look up to,\u201d Fuentes said. \u201cHer comments were always about keeping up the fight. It was motivating to hear what it was like for her to do that for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n Fuentes is one of only two Latina women to serve on the Austin City Council in the 10-1 era that began in 2014. She said she met with\u00a0Huerta several times and noted that the workers’ rights leader encouraged her to keep going.\u00a0<\/p>\n Montserrat Garibay, Democratic nominee for Texas House District 49\u00a0\u2014 an Austin area seat\u00a0\u2014 shared photos of her and Huerta on social media, writing that her \u201cheart is heavy\u201d amid the news of Huerta\u2019s death. She described Huerta as an \u201cicon whose courage and deep commitment to organizing changed countless lives.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe reminded us that there is always work to do & always a reason to keep going,\u201d Garibay wrote. ” We will honor you by continuing the work.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Garibay closed her message with the phrase that Huerta, herself, has been reported to have coined, \u201c\u00a1S\u00ed se puede!\u201d which roughly translates to \u201cWe can do it,\u201d or \u201cYes, we can do it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n My heart is heavy with the passing of Dolores Huerta, an icon whose courage & deep commitment to organizing changed countless lives. She reminded us that there is always work to do & always a reason to keep going. \u2014 Montserrat Garibay for Texas House District 49 (@MontserratforTX) October 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Dolores Huerta at the Delano Strike in 1966. Contributed by Jon Lewis-Courtesy of LeRoy Chatfield-PBS Distribution<\/p>\n Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n Bobby Pulido, the Democratic\u00a0nominee for Texas’ 15th Congressional District in South Texas, remembered Huerta who \u201cdedicated her life to giving a voice to the unheard.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cHer legacy lives on in every worker fighting for fair wages, every family seeking a better future, and every community that refuses to give up,\u201d Pulido wrote on social media<\/a>. \u201cMy deepest condolences. Que descanse en paz.\u201d<\/p>\n Texas Democratic Party Chairman Kendall Scudder recalled hosting Huerta at the party\u2019s state convention in June, where she called on Texas Democrats to organize and participate in elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHuerta dedicated her life to reminding us that our voices matter, that our rights are worth fighting for, and that real change happens when people come together and refuse to endure injustices in silence,\u201d Scudder said in a written statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n He added that the party would honor her by continuing its work and echoing her words, \u201cEvery moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n A sign calling for the renaming of East Cesar Chavez Street, featuring the United Farm Workers logo, is posted along the roadway in Austin on Monday, April 13, 2026. Calls to rename the street followed a New York Times investigation reporting allegations that Cesar Chavez sexually assaulted young women and girls, including civil rights leader Dolores Huerta.<\/p>\n Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n Huerta\u2019s name was floated in May as a contender to rename Austin\u2019s Cesar Chavez Street after a March investigation by The New York Times<\/a> reported newly disclosed evidence alleging that Chavez had groomed and sexually abused girls, some as young as 12. In this report, Huerta revealed her own experience in 1966, when she said Chavez raped her, an incident she had not publicly discussed or reported to the police because of their hostility toward the movement, Huerta told The Times, and out of a fear that no one in the union would believe her.\u00a0<\/p>\n During these discussions<\/a>, Council Member Mike Siegel pointed out that the Dolores Huerta Foundation, an organization she founded and led as president, opposed renaming the street after her. A spokesperson for Huerta told the San Francisco Standard in March that streets, schools, and buildings should instead be named after other individuals associated with the United Farm Workers movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In 2012, then-President Barack Obama awarded Huerta the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America\u2019s highest civilian honor. She collected numerous awards for her organizing work, including 15 honorary degrees. She stepped down from serving as a union officer in 1999 after 37 years, according to The Times<\/a>, and continued her work through her foundation, helping communities organize health, environmental, educational and economic projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dolores Huerta, who spoke Monday on a panel, is greeted by Mariana Salazar during the LBJ Library’s Summit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479570,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-479569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
\nWe will honor you by continuing the work. \u00a1S\u00ed se puede! https:\/\/t.co\/PU3hQWe3cZ<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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