Dolores Huerta, US civil rights icon and farm workers' union co-founder who accused César Chavez of abuse, dies aged 96
Dolores Huerta, who coined the rallying cry 'Sí, se puede!' and co-founded the United Farm Workers, died of cancer on Wednesday aged 96 at her Bakersfield home.
Dolores Huerta died of cancer on Wednesday at her home in Bakersfield, California, surrounded by family, her foundation confirmed. She coined the rallying cry 'Sí, se puede!' — 'Yes, it can be done' — which Barack Obama later borrowed for his 2008 presidential campaign. Huerta was 96 and had kept an active schedule of protests and speaking engagements well into her final years.
Earlier this year Huerta revealed César Chavez had raped her twice in the 1960s, leading to two children she gave to other families — a secret kept for 60 years.
The allegations sparked California-wide condemnation of Chavez; Los Angeles renamed Cesar Chavez Day 'Farmworkers Day' and lawmakers called for his name stripped from monuments.
United Farm Workers president Teresa Romero said Huerta 'left farm workers and the entire Latino community stronger and more organised than she found it.'
