Labor Icon Dolores Huerta, 95, Reveals She, Too, Was Raped by Cesar Chavez; Speaks to Maria Hinojosa

Support our work

A major New York Times investigation details the late co-founder of the United Farm Workers Cesar Chavez's sexual abuse of women and girls. The revelations about Chavez's history of grooming and abuse have sent shockwaves through the labor movement and California, where officials are already moving to cancel or rename public celebrations planned in his honor. Chavez is also accused of sexually assaulting fellow labor rights icon and United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, now 95. Huerta says the assaults led to the births of two of her children. She concealed the pregnancies and had kept the children's paternity secret until now.

Huerta spoke for the first time at length about her new public disclosures in an exclusive interview with Latino USA host Maria Hinojosa, who joins Democracy Now! to discuss how Huerta is "not only coming to terms with her own assaults, [but also] coming to terms with the fact that the movement and the person who she admired as part of the movement is essentially being covered up, disappeared."

Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.

Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest