50 Quotes by Dolores Huerta

We must use our lives to make the world a better place to live, not just to acquire things. That is what we are put on the earth for.

Every single day we sit down to eat, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and at our table we have food that was planted, picked, or harvested by a farm worker. Why is it that the people who do the most sacred work in our nation are the most oppressed, the most exploited?

We as women should shine light on our accomplishments and not feel egotistical when we do. It's a way to let the world know that we as women can accomplish great things!

The great social justice changes in our country have happened when people came together, organized, and took direct action. It is this right that sustains and nurtures our democracy today. The civil rights movement, the labor movement, the women's movement, and the equality movement for our LGBT brothers and sisters are all manifestations of these rights.

We can't let people drive wedges between us... because there's only one human race.

Every minute a chance to change the world.

We just have to convince other people that they have power. This is what they can do by participating to make change, not only in their community, but many times changing in their own lives. Once they participate, they get their sense of power.

Giving kids clothes and food is one thing, but it's much more important to teach them that other people besides themselves are important and that the best thing they can do with their lives is to use them in the service of other people.

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That's the history of the world. His story is told, hers isn't.

Honor the hands that harvest your crops.

When you choose to give up your time and resources to participate in community work, that's what makes a leader.

Don't be a marshmallow. Walk the street with us into history. Get off the sidewalk. Stop being vegetables. Work for Justice. Viva the boycott!

People would say 'Who is a leader?' A leader is a person that does the work. It's very simple. It's a personal choice for people who choose to put in their time and their commitment to do the work. It's a personal choice.

The thing about nonviolence is that it spreads. When you get people to participate in nonviolent action - whether it's a fast, a march, a boycott, or a picket line - people hear you, people see you, people are learning from that action.

Walk the street with us into history. Get off the sidewalk.

We criticize and separate ourselves from the process. We've got to jump right in there with both feet.

When you have a conflict, that means that there are truths that have to be addressed on each side of the conflict. And when you have a conflict, then it's an educational process to try to resolve the conflict. And to resolve that, you have to get people on both sides of the conflict involved so that they can dialogue.

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If you haven't forgiven yourself something, how can you forgive others?

A women's place in history has never been given the attention that it needs to be given, and that's why we have a lot of the misogyny in our society today.

When a group of people get together, it's collective power. You know that you're doing it for the good.

Among our people, theres not any question about women being strong -- even stronger than men -- they work in the fields right along with the men. When your survival is at stake, you dont have these questions about yourself like middle -- class women do.

Organized labor is the only way to have fair distribution of wealth...

My mother was a dominant force in our family. And that was great for me as a young woman, because I never saw that women had to be dominated by men.

It's important to realize that we all need to work together. With Weaving Movements, we are all interdependent and we all have to work together. If we could just realize that and understand that, we'll keep our country strong.

There's just so many facets, I think, of the ignorance in our society that have to be corrected if we're really going to have a democratic society and a society that is just and that respects all of the members of this society regardless of who they are, what color they may be, what sexual orientation that they have or what gender, you know, they happen to be.

Why is it that farmworkers feed the nation but they can't get food stamps?

If we can just convince other people to get involved, this could make some major changes in our society. It's very exhilarating.

Leadership is a choice one makes.

Sometimes, we have to promote ourselves. Just go out and be very active about trying to find an opportunity.

I want to say to mothers out there, you know, take your children to marches. Take them to meetings because this is a way that they can become strong, and they understand what politics is all about because they are actually living it.

People can take power over their communities and over their lives. Some people don't realize they can do that. They think 'It's OK for other people, but I myself can't do it.' Hopefully, that will come out of the film.

I hope people become inspired to become active in their community. That's the important thing.

If we don't have workers organized into labor unions, we're in great peril of losing our democracy.

Our society is connecting workers with the products people consume and recognizing workers for their contributions. It is important to do that, and to have organized labor - a middle class - to preserve our democracy.

We have to convince people that they have the power to elect people. The people they are electing are the ones making the decisions about how our tax dollars are going to be spent. Is it going to be for more jails, or for more schools? For more house services? It's very important that people understand that, do their research and find out who to vote for.

As a youngster and being a Latina, you see so much injustice.

Through that organization [Community Service Organization], I met Cesar Chavez. We had this common interest about farm workers. We ultimately left CSO to start the National Farm Workers Organization, which became the United Farm Workers. I was very blessed to have learned some of the skills of basic grassroots organizing from Mr. Ross and then be able to put that into practice in both CSO and the United Farm Workers.

How do I stop eleven million people from buying the grape?

We have to get back down to basics. We have to start organizing at the neighborhood level to get people educated to vote.

As we've focused more on our food and where it comes from, people now have greater awareness of what's being put onto our food, pesticides, labeling issues, and consumer health.

My son, Emilio Huerta, is running for congress. He was a young man who was marching and picketing.

Once you see the outcomes and the results, and you see how many people are helped and benefitting, you want to keep on doing it because it's so simple.

Employers able to work together with workers and sharing gains and profits will lead to a much better world, getting away from income inequality.

We need to keep ringing the bell, wake people up to get our democracy together. Farm workers are like a symbol, and it is good that people are paying attention.

You could really belong to a group of people and with other people, you could really make some significant changes - through the electoral process, of course, by registering people to vote, and by supporting good people who were running for office. For me, it was like I had found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Of course, we have leaders in the African American community as well that we've all worked with. One of the great rewards of being an activist is that you get to meet all these wonderful people. And there are many unsung heroes. There are so many out there that are good people that are working hard.

The racist rhetoric from politicians is inspiring people to organize, as more people see what happens by not getting active.

Going door to door and talking to people, convincing them to vote - this is what I call Organizing 101.

I call myself an addicted organizer.

I think, if anything, my children are the ones who have sacrificed because I've had to too many times be absent from them. But, at the same time, they have lived very enriched lives and probably experienced things they wouldn't have if not for the movements. So, there are some rewards.

In fact, the corporations are driving out the competition and it is not getting better, especially when they are not paying income taxes. Thank goodness for the social media out there, because we sure can't count on the corporate media to get the word out.

I am happy to see that, increasingly, people care about farm workers. There is tremendous interest in where and how our food is grown.

If you don't know, your labor unions and community organizations, there's somebody you can ask to guide you. A lot of people, especially in the Latino community, they have this big ballot and all these names and propositions on it, and they say 'Oh my God'. They don't know which of these to vote for, so they don't vote.

My kids have lived experiences that could have never been duplicated otherwise. That's one thing about people who get involved in activism, you live so many experiences that otherwise they wouldn't be there. This is why peoples' lives are so enriched.

We know we only have about half of our population that's voting.

I'm glad that the fact that people are still getting poisoned by pesticide drift is gaining attention.

My children grew up very resourceful and strong in spite of them having to live with different families and that I had to drag them all over the country with me.

As organizations, we have to find ways to create more opportunities, especially for our young people. A lot of corporations, they have to make opportunities for young people - create internships, for example, even if it's only half-time.