Dolores Huerta at Sac State

Dolores Huerta, co founder of the United Farm Workers Union, a leading advocate for social justice, and an Honorary Chair of DSA, gave a rousing performance to over 800 students and community members at California State University Sacramento on March 26,2004.

The event, co-sponsored by the Women's Resource Center and the Feminist Majority Coalition was a part of the campus celebration of Women's History Month.

Huerta asserted that women and young women needed to get elected to office and into the board rooms of corporations. She encouraged the substantially female audience to get active politically.

As a Vice President of the United Farmworkers, Huerta became famous in the 1870's both for her role as a contract negotiator, and for her development of the slogan Si se puede! as a union chant.

Dolores held a conversation with the mostly college age crowd rather than giving them a lecture. She dealt with immediate concerns which the students faced- such as child care. She asserted that women needed to teach men to take care of themselves - such as cooking, laundry, etc. rather than doing the work for the men.

She drew mass applause with her arguments that women- particularly young women should take part in the political process and voting. She noted that all of the European nations, and Cuba and Costa Rica had free health care for all while the U.S. lacked such universal care. She called upon young women to get involved and demand a universal health system.

Huerta used the current California budget cuts as examples of why young people had to get involved and to vote. She said that the current Bush Administration was carrying out a war against unions and she called for a legalization program for immigrants not a bracero program.

Over and over Dolores pleaded with the energized audience to get involved in politics and urged them to participate in the April 25^th. national march on Washington, D.C. for Women's Rights. The audience responded enthusiastically to her pleas and pledged to join the fight for unions and social justice.

Speakers reminded the audience to write to write to Governor Schwarzenegger to oppose the budget cuts to EOP, and to insist that Dolores be re-appointed to the U.C. Board of Regents (her replacement term has expired).