40 Dolores Huerta Quotes on Life, Community and Peace

Dolores Huerta is a pioneering civil rights leader, labor activist and feminist whose work has helped reshape the landscape of social justice in the United States. Huerta's contributions have influenced key labor laws and amplified the voices of those often silenced in American society. She famously coined the phrase, "Sí, se puede," but there are plenty more iconic Dolores Huerta quotes where that came from.

Huerta's early life in a working-class family influenced her commitment to fighting for the rights of marginalized communities. She is best known for co-founding the United Farm Workers and advocating for their rights, fair wages and better working conditions. 

Beyond Huerta's work in labor organizing, she has been a strong advocate for women's rights, racial equality and social justice. Even now, in her 90s, she continues to advocate for social change through her named foundation—focusing on grassroots community organizing. Stay inspired and let these 40 quotes by Dolores Huerta serve as a powerful reminder of the strength of collective action.

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40 Dolores Huerta Quotes

1. "Honor the hands that harvest your crops."

2. "Why is it that farmworkers feed the nation but they can’t get food stamps?"

3. "If people don't vote, everything stays the same. You can protest until the sky turns yellow or the moon turns blue, and it's not going to change anything if you don't vote."

4. "Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world."

5. "Sí, se puede."

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6. "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."

7. "I think organized labor is a necessary part of democracy. Organized labor is the only way to have a fair distribution of wealth."

8. "Let’s teach kids, at the kindergarten level, what the contributions of people of color were to building the United States of America."

9. "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."

10. "We can’t let people drive wedges between us…because there’s only one human race."

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

12. "That’s the history of the world. His story is told, hers isn’t."

13. "If we can just convince other people to get involved, this could make some major changes in our society."

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

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15. "If you haven't forgiven yourself for something, how can you forgive others?"

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

17. "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."

18. "We do need women in civic life. We do need women to run for office, to be in political office. We need a feminist to be at the table when decisions are being made so that the right decisions will be made."

19. "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."

20. "I think that's something that all mothers have to deal with, especially single mothers. We work, and we have to leave the kids behind. And I think that's one of the reasons that we, not only as women but as families, we have to advocate for early childhood education for all of our children."

21. "I always thought it was wrong for me to take credit for the work that I did. I don't think that anymore."

22. " Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world."

23. "Respecting other people’s rights is peace."

24. "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?"

25. "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."

26. "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!"

27. "I quit because I can’t stand seeing kids come to class hungry and needing shoes. I thought I could do more by organizing farm workers than by trying to teach their hungry children."

28. "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."

29. "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."

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

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

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

33. "I think we brought to the world, the United States anyway, the whole idea of boycotting as a nonviolent tactic. I think we showed the world that nonviolence can work to make social change."

34. "Professional farmworkers who know how to do a number of different jobs, whether it be pruning or picking or crafting, they see themselves as professionals, and they take a lot of pride in that work. They don’t see themselves as doing work that is demeaning."

35. "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."

36. "I think the importance of doing activist work is to engage people and give them hope. Hope for a better world, hope for a better tomorrow. Hope that change is possible and that they can be a part of that transformation."

37. "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."

38. "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."

39. "A woman’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."

40. "My mother never made me do anything for my brothers, like serve them. I think that’s an important lesson, especially for the Latino culture, because the women are expected to be the ones that serve and cook and whatever. Not in our family. Everybody was equal."

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