Trigger Warning: We should mention that parts of this story might be disturbing for some of our listeners.
For decades, Cesar Chavez’s name has been synonymous with the fight for workers’ rights and the strength of people-led movements. Across the country, schools, buildings, and streets bear his name.
Alongside Cesar Chavez always stood Dolores Huerta. She’s a co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association, she coined the famous phrase “si se puede,” which is now synonymous with liberation, and together they led a movement that elevated the rights of farmworkers and profoundly transformed working conditions in the United States.
Chavez is a complex icon. Both heralded as a champion of Latino farmworkers, and also a man who vocally campaigned against, and even reported, undocumented workers. But a New York Times investigation now also reveals a trail of sexual abuse allegations—including that Dolores Huerta was raped by him, twice, in the 1960s.
In this episode, Dolores gives Latino USA’s Maria Hinojosa her first interview after The New York Times investigation was published. She talks about being sexually assaulted by Cesar Chavez, her response to the New York Times reporting and the ‘dark sacrifices’ she felt she needed to make for the survival of the movement.
Featured collage by Anhelo Reyes. (Photos by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for TIME, Harvey Wilson Ricahrds Media Archive, and United Farmwrokers’ X account)
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Episode credits:
Host: Maria Hinojosa
Producer and reporter: Monica Morales-Garcia, Adreanna Rodriguez, Fernanda Echavarri, Peniley Ramirez
Production assistant: Reynaldo Leanos Jr, Roxana Aguirre and Julieta Martinelli
Editor: Fernanda Echavarri and Peniley Ramirez
Fact Checker: Roxana Aguirre
Social Media: Luis Luna, Adreanna Rodriguez and Anhelo Reyes
Engineer: Stephanie Lebow
Managing Editor: Fernanda Echavarri
Executive Producers: Peniley Ramirez and Maria Hinojosa
