Labor legend Dolores Huerta stepped back into the public spotlight, appearing at a mural unveiling just weeks after explosive allegations involving United Farm Workers co-founder Cesar Chavez sent shockwaves through the labor movement.
The 96-year-old icon attended the Saturday debut of “Walking into History,” a towering new mural honoring her decades of activism. The piece was unveiled outside the historic Barclay Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles and created by muralist Robert Vargas.
The appearance comes roughly two months after a New York Times investigation reported allegations of sexual abuse tied to Chavez and women associated with the farmworker movement.
In March, Huerta herself went public in a statement published by The New York Times, saying Chavez sexually assaulted her in the 1960s and that two pregnancies resulted from those encounters.
“I can no longer stay silent and must share my own experiences,” Huerta said in that statement, explaining she had kept silent for nearly 60 years out of fear it would damage the movement she helped build.
The Times reporting also included allegations from other women who said they were sexually abused as girls in the 1970s while connected to the United Farm Workers organization.
Saturday’s event took place at 10 a.m. behind the Barclay Hotel at 103 W. 4th St. in Downtown LA, drawing a high-profile crowd of labor and political figures.
The mural’s artist, Vargas, is widely known for massive Southern California works, including tributes to Dodgers great Fernando Valenzuela in Boyle Heights and Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani in Little Tokyo.
Organizers said the project was backed by labor unions, advocacy groups, and donors connected to the Dolores Huerta Foundation.
Huerta is also credited with coining the rallying cry “Si, se puede,” later popularized globally as “Yes, we can” by Chavez and former President Barack Obama.
Before becoming one of the most influential labor activists in American history, Huerta earned her teaching credentials and worked as an elementary school teacher in California.
