On Monday, Sept. 10 American feminist, leader and civil rights activist, Dolores Huerta will hold an hour-long presentation discussing her life at Shenandoah University. The event will be held at 2 p.m. in Stimpson Auditorium and is free and open to the public, according to Shenandoah University News.
Dolores Huerta“She’s on the level of Cesar Chávez and Martin Luther King, Jr.,” said Dr. Bryan Pearce-Gonzales, professor of Hispanic studies at Shenandoah University, who helped to arrange Huerta’s visit.
“She’s one of those larger-than-life, important political figures and activists. She’s the American dream story. She’s not a singer, a dancer or an actor. She’s just trying to fight for the downtrodden and people who might not have a voice,” Pearce-Gonzales added.
After her talk on campus, Huerta will host a screening of a new documentary, “Dolores: Rebel, Activist, Feminist, Mother,” at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema at 7 pm. She will speak before the screening and have a question-and-answer session with the audience following the screening.
Huerta has fought to advance the wages and lives of farm workers and Spanish-speaker’s since the 1950s.
In 1962, she co-founded the National Farm Workers Association and a year later, secured disability insurance for California farm workers.
She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2012.
Monica Levitan can be reached at [email protected]. You can follow her on Twitter @monlevy_.
