{"id":327989,"date":"2025-10-24T02:18:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T02:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/327989\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T02:18:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T02:18:12","slug":"labor-leader-huerta-now-95-urges-audience-to-tap-into-people-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/327989\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor leader Huerta, now 95, urges audience to tap into \u2018people power\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dolores<\/a>Famed labor organizer Dolores Huerta gave a keynote lecture and did a Q&A at University of San Diego Wednesday evening, Oct. 22. (Photo by Sophia Sleap\/Times of San Diego) Credit: Sophia Sleap<\/p>\n

Dolores Huerta set out to share a message of hope in San Diego: \u201cPeople power,\u201d she said, will triumph.<\/p>\n

The living labor legend delivered those words to hundreds of students and members of the public who gathered to hear her speak at the University of San Diego\u2019s Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice on Wednesday evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething good will be coming out of this dark period,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we are the ones that have to start forming those policies that we want, to make sure that when we come out of this era that we\u2019re in right now, we\u2019re going to come out a lot stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharing lessons from her decades of labor organizing, the 95-year-old Huerta said peace can be achieved within the lifetime of today\u2019s young people.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The key, she said, is to organize, protest and vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Overcoming opposition<\/strong><\/p>\n

She shared the example of the famous grape boycott<\/a> she led with C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez in the 1960s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe growers were against us. The oil industry was against us. The banking industry was against us. The governor of California, Ronald Reagan, was against us. The president of the United States of America was against us,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd we beat all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the 19 million Americans who joined the boycott across the country in support of farmworkers made it possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was people power. People understanding that they had power, that they could take action,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd once you see that, you get addicted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Huerta gave recent examples of this power in action: the boycott of Target<\/a> that led to a drop in share prices and the resignation of the retailer\u2019s CEO<\/a>, and users canceling their Disney subscriptions<\/a>, which helped late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel return to the air<\/a> after his suspension.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin a week, within 24 hours, they felt the pain. The pain is in their wallets,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Huerta also applauded everyone who attended a \u201cNo Kings\u201d rally. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to protest and we\u2019ve got to march. And we do those things that really make a visible difference,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A call to vote in the special election<\/strong><\/p>\n

Huerta also urged people to vote yes on Proposition 50<\/a>, Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s redistricting proposal. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have the opportunity to vote \u2014 to change our voting districts so that we can elect people that care \u2014 that are more progressive to the Congress,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it is our Congress right now that is using our tax dollars,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s our money \u2014our millions of dollars that we need for healthcare, that we need for housing, that we need for all types of education and all types of disability resources, etc. It\u2019s our tax dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

She encouraged people not only to vote yes on Prop. 50, but also to organize their relatives, neighbors, and even their exes, to vote. \u201cThen we can set the groundwork for the elections that are going to happen in 2026,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Huerta ended the event by leading a chant: \u201cWho\u2019s got the power? We\u2019ve got the power! What kind of power? People power!\u201d<\/p>\n

READ NEXT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Famed labor organizer Dolores Huerta gave a keynote lecture and did a Q&A at University of San Diego…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":327990,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,86332,113424,2609,132135,163136,163137,3549,7264,67,586,132,5230,15420,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-327989","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-cesar-chavez","12":"tag-dolores-huerta","13":"tag-hope","14":"tag-joan-b-kroc-institute-for-peace-and-justice","15":"tag-labor-organizer","16":"tag-people-power","17":"tag-san-diego","18":"tag-sandiego","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-united-states-of-america","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","23":"tag-university-of-san-diego","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115426748370979994","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}