Civil Rights Leader Dolores Huerta Dies at Age 96

Civil rights leader and labor activist Dolores Huerta has died at the age of 96, Catholic Standard and Yahoo reported. Catholic Standard reported that Huerta died from cancer following a vigil held in Los Angeles on October 28, 2026. As HEROIC BREAKING NEWS reported earlier, Huerta passed away at her home in Bakersfield, California. [1][2][7][8]

Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association alongside Cesar Chavez and Gilbert Padilla, which later merged to form the United Farm Workers. Catholic Standard and Los Angeles Downtown News noted her decades of work championing the rights and dignity of labor workers in agriculture and other industries. [1][3][4]

During her career, Huerta joined leader Larry Itliong in the 1965 Delano grape strike and directed the national grape boycott from 1966 to 1970. Her efforts pressured California growers to sign union contracts that delivered better wages and safer conditions for farmworkers who faced pesticide exposure and exploitation. She also originated the famous organizing slogan "sí, se puede". [4][6][7][8]

In her later years, Huerta created the Dolores Huerta Foundation in 2002 to foster community organizing. Religious leaders, including Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, paid tribute to her as a heroic defender of human dignity who inspired generations of young Hispanic leaders. [1][6]