¡HUELGA! A Virtual Premier
Oregon Latinx Leadership Network is proud to present
¡HUELGA!
By Maya Malan-Gonzalez
Direction by Mandana Khoshnevisan
A Virtual Premier on Saturday February 6th 2021, 7 PM
“The great social justice changes in our country have happened when people came together, organized, and took direct action. It is this right that sustains and nurtures our democracy today.” – Dolores Huerta
Written with a nod to El Teatro Campesino’s Actos & Brechtian direct address, this “actos” style play, produced by Teatro Milagro, will travel back in time to 1962 to share the beginning of the farmworkers movement and then highlight the amazing journey of one woman who continues to make history. Dolores Huerta’s innumerable successes often went uncelebrated in the past until she changed the normative ideas about women in leadership. In 2012, when she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama, also gave an acknowledgment to the fact that Dolores coined the famous phrase “Si, se puede, yes, we can!”
The ensemble cast, which includes Aurora Hernandez as Dolores, Ajai Terrazas Tripathi as Bobby Kennedy and Fred Ross, Pedro Adan Dominguez as Cesar Chavez and Tricia Castañeda Guevara as The Eagle and Gloria Steinem, also play dozens of other characters in this fast-paced, sometimes irreverent retelling of the history of the UFW and its co-founders Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez. Susana Jacobo joins the cast as La Musica, to provide traditional folk songs for the marches and movements. Direction is by Mandana Khoshnevisan, who also directed Teatro Milagro’s popular productions of Judge Torres, HUINCA and Blast Off! Lawrence Siulagi provides the magic behind the curtain with sound design and film editing for this video play production.
The production will be made available to school and community groups through an online video platform. School performances are also accompanied by workshops or residencies that focus on social justice theatre, environmental justice activities and sexual health education for young adults and teens. For more information about how to book a performance or workshop with Teatro Milagro, contact Dañel Malan, Artistic Director at malan@milagro.org
The virtual tour of Teatro Milagro’s ¡HUELGA! is made possible in part with support from the Charlotte Martin Foundation, Juan Young Trust, EC Brown Foundation, Community Foundation of Southwest Washington, Oregon Arts Commission, Templeton Foundation, Portland Clinic Foundation, Ford Family Foundation, Ronald Naito Foundation, Templeton Foundation, Carpenter Foundation, WESTAF and the National Endowment for the Arts.
¡HUELGA! Background History
Dolores found her calling as an organizer while serving in the leadership of the Stockton Community Service Organization (CSO). During this time, she founded the Agricultural Workers Association, set up voter registration drives and pressed local governments for barrio improvements.
It was through CSO founder Fred Ross, Sr. that she would meet a likeminded colleague, CSO Executive Director César E. Chávez. The two soon discovered that they shared a common vision of organizing farm workers, and as a result, in the spring of 1962 César and Dolores resigned from the CSO, and launched the National Farm Workers Association. Dolores’ organizing skills were essential to the growth of this budding organization.
The first testament to her lobbying and negotiating talents were demonstrated in securing Aid For Dependent Families (“AFDC”) and disability insurance for farm workers in the State of California in 1963, an unparalleled feat of the times. She was also instrumental in the enactment of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975. This was the first law of its kind in the United States, granting farm workers in California the right to collectively organize and bargain for better wages and working conditions.
Robert F. Kennedy acknowledged her help in winning the 1968 California Democratic Presidential Primary moments before he was shot in Los Angeles. Throughout the years she has worked to elect numerous candidates including President Clinton, Governor Jerry Brown, Congresswoman Hilda Solis and Hillary Clinton.
While directing the first National Boycott of California Table Grapes out of New York she came into contact with Gloria Steinem and the burgeoning feminist movement who rallied behind the cause. Having found a supportive voice with other feminists, Dolores consciously began to challenge gender discrimination within the farm workers’ movement.
At age 58 Dolores suffered a life-threatening assault while protesting against the policies of then presidential candidate George Bush in San Francisco. Following a lengthy recovery, she took a leave of absence from the union to focus on women’s rights. She traversed the country for two years on behalf of the Feminist Majority’s Feminization of Power: 50/50 by the year 2000 Campaign encouraging Latina’s to run for office. The campaign resulted in a significant increase in the number of women representatives at the local, state and federal levels.
At 89, Dolores Huerta continues to work tirelessly developing leaders and advocating for the working poor, women, and children. As founder and president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation, she travels across the country engaging in campaigns and influencing legislation that supports equality and defends civil rights.
She has received numerous awards: among them The Eleanor Roosevelt Humans Rights Award from President Clinton in l998, The Kern County Woman of The Year Award from the
California State Legislature, The Ohtli Award from the Mexican Government, The Smithsonian Institution – James Smithson Award, and Nine Honorary Doctorates from Universities throughout the United States, just to name a few. In 2012 President Obama bestowed Dolores with her most prestigious award, The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.