Members of Senate Democratic Hispanic Task Force Urge Obama to Award Dolores Huerta the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Dolores Huerta and DFNM blog's photog Mary Ellen Broderick at political rally earlier this year in Santa Fe

This is something I think we can all enthusiastically get behind. Today members of the Senate Democratic Hispanic Task Force, led by U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), sent a letter to President Obama urging him to award Dolores Huerta the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award. The letter was signed by Senator Menendez, Chairman of the Hispanic Task Force, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Senator John Kerry (D-MA), and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). In their letter, the Senators emphasized Dolores Huerta’s lifetime commitment to service and social justice, as well as her advocacy and work on behalf of farm workers and their families. Excerpt:

“Born during the uncertainty of the Great Depression, Ms. Huerta’s commitment to service and social justice began to surface in her early years in Stockton High School. After founding the Agricultural Workers Association in 1960, setting up voter registration drives, and fighting for the rights of tenants, Ms. Huerta joined Cesar Chavez to become a civil rights pioneer and champion of social and economic equality for farm workers and an agriculture community composed of Mexican, Filipino, African-American, Japanese, and Chinese working families. In 1968, she coordinated the East Coast table grape boycott, which was instrumental in helping get recognition for the farm workers’ union. Through her role as a civil rights advocate, Ms. Huerta was instrumental to the enactment of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975 -- the first law in the country to grant farm workers the right to collectively organize and bargain for better wages and working conditions.”

Click to read the entire letter (pdf) to President Obama.

Dolores Huerta was born in the small mining town of Dawson in northern New Mexico, where her father, Juan Fernandez, was a miner, field worker, union activist and State Assemblyman. Her parents divorced when she was three years old. Her mother, Alicia Chavez, raised Dolores, along with her two brothers and two sisters, in the central San Joaquin Valley farm worker community of Stockton, California. Her mother was a businesswoman who owned a restaurant and a 70-room hotel, which often put up farm worker families for free.

Dolores is the mother of 11 children, 14 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She celebrated her 80th birthday this year at a benefit concert in Los Angeles. Click to see an interview with Dolores conducted by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! the week before the celebratory concert. It features a discussion about the life and times of Dolores Huerta.

A living icon of America’s labor, civil rights, immigrant rights and feminist movements, Huerta’s achievements are a testament to her commitment to social justice and she is certainly deserving of our nation’s highest civilian award. This is wonderful news.