Andrea Garcia

Emily Litle

ENG121001

4 December 2020

Journal 9

There are plenty of people in this world who have made important and positive impacts

within the world and their communities, and one woman who I’d love to sit down and meet with

would be Dolores Huerta. Dolores Huerta is an American civil rights activist and labor leader

who is a co-founder of the now United Farm Workers. Her hard efforts during the 70s secured

Aid For Dependent Families (AFDF) and disability insurance for farm workers in the state of

California. She also played a crucial role in the enactment of the Agricultural Labor Relations

Act of 1975, which would grant farm workers in California to organize and fight for better wages

and working conditions.

Dolores Huerta also challenged gender discrimination within the farm workers movement

and pushed the practice of non-violence within the movement. Dolores Huerta continues to

advocate for the working poor, women, and children, and is developing leaders within the

community. I look up to Dolores because she advocates for people that can’t advocate for

themselves and continues to work hard to create a better future for those around her. I actually

did meet her once back in 2019 at a UNC conference and I actually started crying while she was

speaking, her presence was so powerful and I felt very honored to meet her and listen to what she

had to say in person. Although, our meeting was quick and I didn’t get to talk to her for very

long, and I wish I could, so I could ask her what kept her going in the face of adversity and what
she hopes to achieve for the future, and what I could do along with other young advocates to

better improve our community.