Latino USA continues to celebrate its 30th anniversary, bringing you conversations with some of the most influential Latinos and Latinas of the last three decades.

In this episode, Maria Hinojosa catches up with lifelong labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta.

The mastermind behind the iconic rallying cry “Sí se puede!,” Dolores has decades of experience organizing and fighting for better conditions for workers.

She was born in the small mining town of Dawson, New Mexico in 1930, then she moved to California with her mom and siblings after her parents divorce.

Dolores was molded by California, where she was a teacher and eventually entered the world of organizing. She founded the Agricultural Workers Association and later she was introduced to labor rights icon Cesar Chavez.

In 1962, they both launched the National Farm Workers Association, which later would become the United Farm Workers Union.

Later Dolores and Cesar would be a part of the historic Delano grape strike. The strike began in 1965 and ended five years later with grape growers agreeing to union contracts that would ensure both better salaries and working conditions.

She has received countless awards throughout the years, including the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States, which President Barack Obama presented to her in 2012.

In this conversation Dolores speaks about politics, the current state of organizing, what she hopes her legacy will be, sex, passion and so much more.

Featured image by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP.

Editorial note: This interview was recorded in September of 2023 before the current crisis in Gaza began.