By Tammy Davis
OUR VOICE COUNTS
“Live for today!” “Don’t let the past define you but rather guide you.” “Look to the future.” Most of these expressions are for when we are attempting to deal with emotional trauma from our past and we are trying to forget about something and “move on.”
What about when the things we did in the past helped to provide a better life for us today and the choices we are making at this moment are building a strong tomorrow for ourselves, our families, and our communities? That’s the example Dolores Huerta, president/founder, Dolores Huerta Foundation, set for herself, her family, and her community. Dolores has been an activist since a young age. She had a vision, believed in herself, made personal sacrifices, and provided for some groundbreaking and longstanding civil rights for farm workers, women, children, and families. She is most easily recognized with the work she accomplished with Cesar Chavez in the 1960s for United Farm Workers of America. She was and is much more than that. Dolores is a Presidential Medal of Freedom Honoree, awarded to her by President Barack Obama in 2012, in which Obama acknowledged also that his campaign slogan, “Yes We Can, Si Se Puede,” was created by Dolores Huerta. Dolores Huerta has offered to our communities a sense of inspiration to believe in yourself and don’t give up!
Dolores Huerta and her life is a prime example of how we can live wholly in the present, understanding the value and guide our past can be for us and how we can make choices today that we will all be proud of tomorrow. Si Se Puede!
