Dolores

Power and important woman and a mediocre film.

It had a good beginning and a stronger middle section, but then the film lost steam and dragged in the last quarter. It could benefit from cutting 10 or 15 minutes.

That being said, she's a wonderful historical figure, and I'm happy that I was able to learn more about Dolores Huerta.

Dolores Huerta co-founded the United Farmworkers with Cesar Chavez. You probably have heard of Chavez but may not know of Huerta. She really did as much work or more than Chavez and did not get enough credit for her contributions. She deserves this documentary about her life. I learned so much more about her than I already knew. Her family's sacrifices are explored as well as her accomplishments and activism that went beyond the Farmworkers Union when they failed to elect her as President after Chavez died.

I was deeply moved by this film. What a great woman, Dolores! She showed us a greater and bigger heart than any man in America. She sacrificed her family and children for so many years just concentrated herself in helping the Mexican labors who worked in the field, but were all treated unfairly and poorly by the growers. She said in this film that when she was young, she wanted to be a dancer, she loved music, but for a greater calling, she has become a dancer for life, a dancer against the injustice. Her commitment in the Latino farmers was even greater and stronger than what Chavez did, but America is a typical male chauvinist pig country; her profound disgust against the Republican Party was nothing personal but through what she has seen and experienced from this corporate-rich-people-big-business friendly Party and its Party members, how they've treated her and her Latino people in this country. She was almost beaten to death by a white policeman, with 3 ribs broken by his baton, and resulted her damaged spleen removed. America got a lot of dirty laundries in her short 200+ years history. People other than the whites are still suffering social injustice today. We need more great heroines like Dolores to be the voice of the suppressed and unfairly treated in America. Shame on you, Arizona. Shame on you, Fox Channel. God bless her, and we are forever indebted to her for what she did, making America a better place to live.

I watched Dolores for my campus sustainability class last week and could not recommend it enough. The fight for the rights of farm workers is well known but Dolores Huerta, one of the main stars of the movement, remains underrepresented despite her tireless, invaluable work. I recall learning about Cesar Chavez and the movement in middle school but I do not recall anything about Dolores Huerta, his equal partner in the fight. Unfortunately, my experience is not unique. This film is an incredible historical and personal account of Dolores Huerta's work for farmer's rights that highlights the injustices of representation of both farm workers and women. It's a film about the fight for underrepresentation on a multitude of fronts. It's informative, it's moving, and it's important.

To further explore the topic I took a look inside my own fridge to better understand the role farm workers play in my life on a personal level. I found mushrooms and jalapeños from Pennsylvania, limes and strawberries from Mexico, and tomatoes from Canada. I live in Minnesota which means that these foods went through a lot to get to me. A lot of work and a lot of hardworking people-- in the fields, packaging, shipping, etc, to supply my local grocery stores with basic produce I take for granted everyday. I encourage you to watch this movie, to look at where you get your food from, and to take time to appreciate it and the people that are doing it all for you in conditions we couldn't imagine. It's hard to be a conscious consumer in such a globalized and convenience-focused world but it's so important. Buy locally when you can, be conscious when you can't, and give thanks and support always. We need food and we need farm workers and they deserve rights.