Dolores Huerta, an internationally renowned activist, community organizer, and political force who co-founded what is now known as the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) alongsideCesar Chavez, died Wednesday at her home in Bakersfield, California. News of Huerta’s death was shared by family members through her Instagram account, though the post did not disclose a cause of death. _The New York Times_ reported that the cause of death was cancer, citing a spokesperson for Huerta. "We know that many of you around the world share in our mourning, and we will be following up on plans to recognize and celebrate her incredible life and legacy," the post said.
Huerta dedicated her career to fighting a variety of causes, including labor rights, women's rights and immigrants’ rights. She is also credited with coining the phrase "Yes we can"—"Sí se puede"—which was later adopted by Barack Obama. In March 2026, Huerta publicly accused Chavez of sexually abusing her decades earlier, breaking a silence she said she had maintained to protect the farmworker movement.
Her disclosure accompanied a _New York Times_ investigation into allegations that Chavez sexually abused women and girls. "I think she kind of radiates empowerment not only for herself, but for others," Mario Garcia, a professor of Chicano Studies and History at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told TIME in an interview before Huerta's death. "She's really quite an electrifying person." Indeed, when Huerta received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, Obama noted that she "does not play." "Without any negotiating experience, Dolores helped lead a worldwide grape boycott that forced growers to agree to some of the country's first farmworker contracts," Obamasaid during the ceremony.
"And ever since she has fought to give more people a seat at the table. 'Don't wait to be invited,' she says. 'Step in there.'" "On a personal note, Dolores was very gracious when I told her I had stolen her slogan, _Sí se puede_, Yes we can," Obama added. "Knowing her, I'm pleased that she let me off easy." Huerta is presented with a Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama on May 29, 2012.Alex Wong—Getty Images Huerta was born on April 10, 1930, in Dawson, New Mexico, to Alicia Chávez and Juan Fernández, who both played a major role in her views on justice. Her father was a miner and farmworker who went on to join the New Mexico state legislature.
After her parents' divorce, her mother opened up her own hotel in Stockton, California, and often offered affordable or free rooms to low-wage workers,according to a biography by the Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF). Huerta often said she became a feminist because of her mother. As a girl, Huerta was a high-achieving student, an active member of several school clubs, and a member of the Girl Scouts.
Huerta now has a Scoutspatch dedicated to her. In 1945, one of her two brotherswas beaten for wearing a zoot suit, an ensemble then popular with Black and Mexican-American men who were often unfairly labeled as delinquents. She has said that her brother's beating further influenced her activism.
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