The Dolores Huerta Archives

This site will be under construction given recent revelations about a person who received top billing for decades as the figurehead of a movement but was found to have sexually preyed upon women and minors over the course of his lifetime. Out of respect for Dolores Huerta--a survivor of this predator--the resources, messaging, and narratives provided for educators from here forward will be crafted in a way that maintains a priority for underscoring the staggering impact of Dolores Huerta [as before these revelations were documented]; but it will also seek to engage in a thoughtful reevalutation of the predator's patterns of behavior and treatment of women in general [including but not limited to Ms. Huerta] and the implications of his legacy in the wake of these recently revealed truths. This will be a tricky process and I hope to be mindful about truth telling in a way that abides by historical facts and details. I am concertned about the potential for these details awakening trauma, but an accurate reckoning with horrible actions that this predator engaged in must--from here forward--accompany any mention of his name forever more.

More than anything, I stand with Dolores Huerta and the survivors of sexual violence. This website will be under renovation accordingly over the coming months.

bit.ly/DH-archives

Visit our sibling sites at necessarytroublearchives.org

Are you interested in attaining a free copy of Dolores Huerta Stands Strong? Scroll Down to the bottom of this site and click on the link for your free copy.

6th - 12th

Purpose of this Website

The Youth Advocacy Department of SDUSD is interested in building school spaces that are affirming and inclusive for all of our students. This is a team effort. And the effort lives in places where students themselves can be agents of positive change. . .but it is not easy work. Sometimes it is the hardest work there is because it often requires great courage in challenging and resisting existing social and systemic paradigms.

Like all of the installments of the Necessary Trouble Archives, the Dolores Huerta Archives shines a spotlight on a historical figure--Dolores Huerta--who is reknowned for a lifelong commitment to equity, justice, and paradigm shifts. Now in her 90s, Ms. Huerta shows no signs of slowing down. [Editor's note: In coordinating with the Dolores Huerta Foundation to arrange Ms. Huerta's contributions to the curricular components that are included below, I found myself conversing with her daughter, Alicia Huerta. At one point in the conversation, Alicia Huerta made reference to her mom's typical workload and how the DHF had challenges fulfilling the many requests for her mom to speak. . .and then there was a brief pause on the phone. Then she just stated, "We can't keep up with her." I'd say that's about as precise a distillation of the dynamic, courageous, formidable, uncompromising, brilliant, compassionate force of nature whom we know as Dolores Huerta.] Ms. Huerta is a living labor activist icon who has leveraged her platform over the past 7 decades to demand equity and justice for myriad social movements including organized labor, the Women's Rights movement, people of color, the LGBTQIA Rights Movement, immigrant rights, and people with disabilities, among others.

Ms. Huerta coined the term “Sí, Se Puede" [Yes, we can!] while she was organizing for the United Farm Workers. The term has become a rallying cry that has been embraced well beyond the labor rights movement. Ms. Huerta wields it as a Jedi wields a light saber. Reverse that--the Jedis wield their light sabers like Dolores Huerta wields “Sí, Se Puede." If anything, Dolores Huerta is a living breathing inspiration for every heroic narrative--fictional and real-life--from the last half century. It would be impossible to NOT be inspired by Ms. Huerta's courage in the face of incredible odds. Her tenacity is the stuff of legend. And those who cross paths with Ms. Huerta will never be the same again.

We hope that your students will have a chance to unravel a bit of the thread of Ms. Huerta's influential life at this website--the Dolores Huerta Archives. Note that we have archived a student-moderated interview where Ms. Huerta answers student questions submitted from schools all across San Diego Unified School District. Additionally, Ms. Huerta was kind enough to record 2 mini videos where she PROMPTS YOUR STUDENTS with "What would YOU do?" kinds of questions. Your students get the privilege of responding to and answering a question directly from a Necessary Troublemaker of the first order.

Please note: If you are an educator in SDUSD and would like to CLONE the already-prepared Google Classroom, please email a quick request to Mick at mrabin@sandi.net. If you are not in SDUSD, it is not possible to do the clone process, but you will find the pathway and all the components below. I've created a step-by-step job-aid for creating this G-Classroom from all of those components in the YouTube video--March Archives: Overview and Tips--directly below. Although the job-aid was created for March, you can apply all the same ideas toward the use of the components on ANY of the NTA sites.

Pathway

STEP 1: Foundational Discussion

We recommend that educators ask their students what they already know about any forms of organized labor including the following concepts and their historical implications:

collective bargaining
wages
unions
protests
marches
boycotts
strikes
voting
non-discrimination policies
workers' rights

It is worth visiting the United Farm Workers site for some history of “Sí, Se Puede" as well as other critical historical events and eras.

Often times throughout history, different human rights movements have "elevated" a singular "figure-head" [usually male] who, occasionally--without always intentionally vying for that position--are nonetheless foisted into these roles by a combination of media and carefully crafted emphasis on these singular figures' contributions and deliberate omission or erasure of the contributions of other critical individuals [especially non-male]. This is not only a disservice to the people who made significant contributions to that movement, but it is useful to the opponents of that historical movement--maintainers of the status quo--because it is always easier to manipulate propaganda with singular figures' histories. It is also inherently politically expedient to deemphasize and diminish the power and impact of collective resistance because it adheres to an interplay between an "omnipotent" savior and "useless" non-saviors. And finally, having singular narratives undermines the credibility of real movements' histories because something so complex could not possibly be so devoid of nuance which, in turn, makes them easier to dismiss as nonsensical (see the March Archives for a discussion about the 9 words of the Black Civil Rights Movement and an amazing resource that touches on this very subject).

There are people who don't recognize the name of Dolores Huerta but DO recognize the name of César Chavez as THE champion of ______________. (To fill that blank, would the phrase "labor rights" be the first thing that comes to mind for most Americans? If you're thinking that many people would have answered "Latine Civil Rights," then that lends further to the misconceptions about César Chavez and his contributions to historical movements and it severely diminishes the scope of the Latine Civil Rights Movement).

As of March 19, 2026, new revelations have indeed been publicly unearthed about a sexual predator who leveraged his considerable power in the labor rights movement to serially and premeditatedly harass and assault women and girls within the larger universe that intersected with the labor rights movement. And that predator was none other than César Chavez himself. A New York Times expose conducted over 5 years of journalistic research reveals a troubling side of Chavez that was unknown by the vast majority of the general public who regarded this man as a galvanizing figure in movements connected to civil rights and equity.

An honest reckoning regarding the contibutions of César Chavez must now prompt discussions regarding the duality of this man's impact as a movement figurehead and his impact as a sexual predator; but Dolores Huerta made monumental contributions to the same movements that César Chavez did and was often left out of the narrative. And now, in light of the patterns of harm and abuse of power by Chavez and the sexual predation that Huerta experienced personally from Chavez, it is impossible to imagine that Huerta's and other women's contributions were not conveniently dismissed and distorted in order to sharpen the facade of hero worship that continually raised his profile to the detriment and likely, total ignorance of others.

Part of the complication of engaging around the life and contributions of Dolores Huerta arises from the patronizing and mysoginist ways women have been treated in history, but a finger must be pointed to how her work has been inextricably tied, for so long, to the man that raped her. An educator needs look no further than a search on Amazon for children's books. As of March 20, 2026, the Chavez titles dwarf the Huerta titles by nearly 10 to 1. Perhaps as a final confirmation of the persistence of this imbalance, the book we used to offer to educators in the K-5 category for Dolores Huerta--Side by Side: Lado A Lado--was certainly one of the best written and most widely available [and affordable to distribute] titles but it is one that focuses on BOTH César Chavez and Dolores Huerta. . .not Dolores Huerta alone. Prior to March 18, 2026, I spotlit this book as an exemplary book that stood on its own merits and that it also was one of the only books about either of them that is written in a bilingual (English AND Spanish) format in one book. One of the sad realities of the fallout from these revelations is that books like this [one that depicts a loving relationship between Chavez and Huerta] can no longer be processed at face value because the seemingly "balanced" relationship portrayed in the book [by authors/creators who were conveying the narrative based on their own incomplete picture of Chavez's secretive life] can no longer be regarded in any other light than as a charade and, more accurately, a retroactive gross distortion of their relationship.

Nonetheless, this website seeks to strike a bit of balance to the traditional "singular figurehead" narrative. If you're learning about Dolores Huerta for the first time, I strongly encourage you to read on, order a copy of the free book (scroll way to the bottom), and learn more about this TITAN of MULTIPLE movements over the past 7 decades. Once you and your class explore the life of Dolores Huerta, your students will recognize her for the living legend that continues to inspire young and old and people from all identities everywhere across the Earth.

STEP 2: Read and discuss the narrative of your book selection with your class

Additionally, we encourage educators to frame the reading of any of these texts around topics and themes that relate to the identities and experiences of the students themselves (and of their peers).

Here is a short list of topics and themes that arise in these texts that examine the human experience.

Choosing ONE of the themes--allyship / solidarity--from the above list. We could build a text-talk discussion that references a pivotal moment of the narrative in one of the Dolores Huerta texts..

Below right is a simulated class conversation that references just one passage (left side) from Dolores Huerta Stands Strong. It starts with a justaposition about s ome of the sacrifices that Huerta and Cesar Chavez made during their long struggle for human rights and positive systemic change. Click on either of the pictures for access to the easy to read zig-zag in G-Slides.

STEP 3: Watch the video interview "Necessary Trouble Archives Dolores Huerta 2022" A discussion with a living legend and president and founder of the Dolores Huerta Foundation moderated by Amirah and Jenna from Lincoln High School.

The total run time is 1 hour and 13 minutes.

Necessary Trouble Archives Dolores Huerta, 2022

STEP 4: Plan for an online discussion with your own class, another classroom from your school, or a partner school. Some platforms to choose from include [but are not limited to] Google Classroom and Flipgrid. For student response samples of what teachers have done with both GClassroom and Flipgrid, please visit our sibling site: The March Archives. You'll find sample student work under "Additional Resources" (about 2/3 way down toward the bottom of the page).

This Google Classroom is designed to allow teachers from different classes/schools to facilitate collaboration and communication about student allyship, culturally responsive curriculum, and youth voice and empowerment. Before engaging in this culminating classroom discussion, all students should have A) read Dolores Huerta Stands Strong or Side by Side Lado A Lado B) viewed the primary source video "Necessary Trouble Archives Dolores Huerta, 2022" (above) and C) discussed and reflected on the reading/viewing of A) & B) with their classmates.

You are welcome to clone this class and share as you see fit within SDUSD. (Scroll up to directly above "Educator Pathway" for cloning instructions or--if you're not an SDUSD educator--a job-aid on how to build your own.)

Please note: Educators may need to go to "Stream" section of the General settings (below) and select "Students can post and comment" if it's not selected in the general settings.

TMF Q&A Template

To the right of "1. The _____________" title, you can see three dots. If you hover right under those three dots, another three dots appear and one of the options is to "Edit" which will allow you to add more to the description.

What would YOU do? prompts

Expectation for Online Communication and Discussion Rubric

Classwork #1: Sí, Se Puede!

1. In the "Question" section of your "Classwork" tab, paste this:

1. Dolores Huerta Student Prompt #1: “Sí, Se Puede"

"When I came up with the slogan “Sí, se puede,” it was meant to encourage and inspire people to exercise their power and to take action especially when others were in need. Are there moments in your life when “Sí, se puede,” resonated with YOU? There are those times when we are faced with difficult choices, but you know that you have to take a step forward and speak up and take an action to do what is right when somebody or a group of people need your help the most. What are those moments for you when you have an opportunity to address an injustice? It could be you addressing a big problem like underpaid labor, gun violence, the environment, but it also could be addressing injustice against one person, one of your schoolmates, one of your relatives, one of your neighbors. What is your plan of action?”

2. In the "Instructions" section, paste this:

Synthesizing what you read in your Dolores Huerta text, viewed in the "Necessary Trouble Archives Dolores Huerta 2022" video, and your own life experiences, view Dolores Huerta's prompt (below) and compose a unique post.

Additionally, please respond to at least two other students' posts. Be sure to use academic language, proper punctuation, and respectful dialogue.

Attached is a discussion rubric and expectations for facilitating online communication.

Click on the above "Dolores Huerta Student Prompt #1: "Sí, Se Puede,” video, open it in Youtube, copy the URL, and paste it into your Google Classroom.

Discussion Rubric

Classwork #2: How DO You Use YOUR Power

1. In the "Question" section of your "Classwork" tab, paste this:

2. Dolores Huerta Student Prompt #2: “How Do You Use YOUR Power?"

"There were many times in my life when people told me that I couldn’t do something because I’m a woman, or because I’m a Latina. But I knew that I could do it. I ignored what they said to me. I believed in myself and what I could do. So I just jumped over those hurdles in a way that I could get the job done. Often times, those hurdles are just in our mind when we listen to people who tell us we can’t do something. So we know there were many times somebody you care about was also told that they couldn’t do something because they were too young, because they are a woman, because they’re an imigrant, because they’re a person of color–brown, black, or Asian, because they are gay, lesbian, or trans, or because they have a disability, or because they speak a different language or because they don’t speak English in a perfect way. What did that feel like? How can you use YOUR power to push back against people that talk like that and try to make people afraid or intimidate them. Yeah, we know that those are the people we have to stand up against and not let them diminish our power.

You have to use your personal power to push back against those messages of exclusion of hatred to make your school or community a place that sends messages of love, affirmation, and belonging so that EVERYBODY–ALL people–recognize their own value of what they can contribute to the world? Okay? That’s our job. To be the messengers of peace, justice, and to empower others so that they can know that they have value and they can contribute and not let anybody stand in their way.

Sí, se puede. ”

2. In the "Instructions" section, paste this:

Additionally, please respond to at least two other students' posts. Be sure to use academic language, proper punctuation, and respectful dialogue.

Attached is a discussion rubric and expectations for facilitating online communication.

Click on the above "Dolores Huerta Student Prompt #2: "How Do You Use YOUR Power?” video, open it in Youtube, copy the URL, and paste it into your Google Classroom.

Discussion Rubric

Additional resources:

Introduction to Activism: Dolores Huerta

A great lesson plan from the National Women's History Museum about Dolores Huerta and her incredible legacy of activism in the realms of women's rights, labor rights, and immigrant rights. Includes some great primary source curricular materials.

Land & People: A Conversation with Dolores Huerta & Luis Valdez

A conversation from 2021 between Dolores Huerta and playwright Luis Valdez about the land surrounding and including the Santa Clara Valley as well as the civil, labor, and environmental struggles that people have made over many decades. Moderated by Jose Gonzalez, founder of Latino Outdoors.

Change the World? ¡Si Se Puede! - Dolores Huerta

Curriculum and lesson plans about Dolores Huerta from Share my Lesson that fall under the social studies / civic engagement category.

California Grape Workers' Strike: 1965-1966

Ready-made lessons by Facing History and Ourselves about the 1st year of the Grape Strike. Educators can pull from a variety of different activities that prompt students to consider different angles of the CA Grape Workers' Strike.

A Latinx Resource Guide: Civil Rights Cases and Events in the United States

This Library of Congress research guide focuses on 20th and 21st century American court cases, legislation, and events that had important impacts on civil rights in Chicana/o/x, Hispanic, Latina/o/x, Mexican-American and Puerto Rican communities. To get a glimpse of how expansive and nuanced this history is, the United Farmworkers Union section comprises a significant section, but we wanted you to see the larger site so that you and your students can also begin to recognize some of the many "hidden" histories that are worth exploring and that reveal the contributions of MANY MANY people.

Dolores Huerta Foundation Biographical Information

DHF lays out some concise but sweeping biographical details that outline the life of Dolores Huerta and her many contributions across myriad movements. It also is a good step off point into other movements that have been inspired by Ms. Huerta and the people who have lead those efforts.

Learning About Threats to Democracy

Help your students reflect on the significance of events within recent history that comprise a threat to civil discourse and our democratic system of government.

SD Unified for Democracy

SD Unified for Democracy: 2024 Election Cycle is a nonpartisan project aimed at building an informed and civil electorat. Built and curated by Esther Brown.

Guide To Inspiring Young Changemakers

Free PDF guide compiled by FirstBook. Has video and curricular tools, activities, & tips that are deliberately student-centered. A good educator resource for inspiring your students to roll up their sleeves and engage in shifting paradigms.

FREE copy of

Side by Side / Lado A Lado or Dolores Huerta Stands Strong

OK, if you're here for your free book copy, you'll have to jump through this here single hoop (while supplies last):
1. Register for a free copy of Side by Side / Lado A Lado or Dolores Hurta Stands Strong that I'll send you through school mail (while supplies last). Visit the link to this G-Form and fill it out.

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