Remembering Dolores Huerta

The Leonard I. Beerman Foundation for Peace and Justice mourns the passing of our dear friend Dolores Huerta, whose lifelong commitment to the dignity and rights of working people helped transform our country.

As a cofounder of the United Farm Workers, Dolores helped build a movement that brought national attention to the exploitation of farmworkers and demonstrated the power of people organizing together. Across decades, she extended that commitment to the struggles for racial justice, women’s equality, and the rights of immigrants. 

Rabbi Leonard Beerman z"l and Dolores shared a conviction that justice required each of us to stand with others, challenge entrenched power, and persist when change seemed distant. Leonard stood with the farmworkers’ movement from its earliest days, side by side with those demanding fair wages, safe working conditions, and respect for the people whose labor feeds this country.

In 2022, the Foundation was honored to present Dolores with our Award for Social Justice in Action, recognizing a lifetime of courage and commitment that reflected Leonard’s own. For us, she was both a towering figure in the history of social justice and a beloved member of our community.

Earlier this year, her decision to speak publicly about the sexual abuse she had endured revealed another dimension of that courage. We stood with her then, grateful for her insistence on truth and for the example she offered others who had yet to feel able to speak.

We extend our deepest condolences to her family, to our friends at the Dolores Huerta Foundation, and to all who worked alongside her. It is now our collective responsibility to carry forward the work to which she devoted her life. May her memory be a blessing.