‘Sí, se puede’: New Mexico remembers Dolores Huerta

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A new ofrenda has been put up in Old Town. This one, set up just hours after the announcement of her death, honors worker and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta.

Huerta’s family announced the 96-year-old passed away Wednesday.

“Devastated, hurt. Even though she had a long life, right, and perhaps not unexpected at this point in her life, there’s a sense of loss,” Speaker of the House Javier Martinez (D-NM) said.

‘Sí, se puede’ lives on

Huerta coined the phrase “Sí, se puede,” which means “Yes we can.” First chanted in 1972, the phrase became iconic as hundreds of thousands then chanted it in their own movements. Now, it has a heavier meaning after Huerta’s passing—it’s a promise to make sure her legacy lives on.

The ofrenda is next to the gazebo at Old Town Plaza. It has photos, candles, flowers, heartfelt messages and more. The community is invited to add to it for the next week.

“It’s just such a beautiful offering to be able to do this here in her home state and to help her on her journey. We have some bread that was provided by the local panaderia. We’ve got seeds for her as she’s making her journey to heaven, and candles and pictures and memories,” Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) said.

Stansbury, Martinez and Mayor Tim Keller set up the ofrenda as a way to honor Huerta. They gathered Wednesday and spoke about her legacy and the impact she had.

“She would always come home to her home in New Mexico, and so she was one of us, and she was proud to be from New Mexico,” Keller said. “It’s, of course, her legacy that is the most important thing, a legacy that she leaves with us, that is one of strength. It is also one of compassion. It’s one of power. It’s speaking truth to power, and it’s remembering that we’re truly measured by what we do for the folks who need it the most.”

The ofrenda also holds extra meaning as Día de los Muertos is being observed. Traditionally, Oct. 28 candles are lit and white flowers are placed for souls who passed away suddenly.

“Having an ofrenda is a way to both commemorate and to remember, but also as you said, to support the passage of the soul,” Stansbury said.

Remembering Huerta’s legacy

The worker and civil rights activist worked for decades in the name of equality. She’s considered an icon and a trailblazer, but those who knew her said you’d never know it by just talking to her.

“Being somebody of that stature, it could have been really easy for her to walk around with a posse, with bodyguards, you know, inaccessible. She was the opposite. She led with humility. She led with her heart,” Martinez said.

People who loved her say she worked for what was right until the very end as she came forward with sexual abuse allegations against César Chávez, her organizing partner and fellow co-founder of United Farm Workers, in March. As she broke 60 years of silence, Huerta told media she was afraid the news would set back the farm worker movement.

“It was a moment to stand with survivors and to tell her own story of survival, not to cast a stain on the movement, but just to be honest about her own lived experience and what it means to be a woman in spaces where women have not been safe,” Stansbury said.

“She continued to speak truth to power until the very end, and perhaps even in the most painful of ways for her, right? Given her long relationship with Cesar in the movement, the fact that she still had courage to speak out is an incredible example for the rest of us,” Martinez said.

New Mexico leaders say Huerta’s legacy will live on through the community as she fought for the rights of everyone. As Huerta would always say, “Sí, se puede.”

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