Dolores Huerta, an accomplished American labor leader and feminist activist, recently visited John R. Lewis high school on February 24th to address a student audience and share her experiences and wisdom.
The event was coordinated by Franconia District School Board Representative Marcia St. John-Cunning, who also happens to be a relative of Dolores Huerta.
Huerta is best known for co-founding the United Farm Workers (UFW) with Cesar Chavez, organizing farmworkers for better wages and conditions during the mid 1960’s. Huerta was also instrumental in passing laws like the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA) of 1975, granting farmworkers collective bargaining rights. Aside from advocating for farmworkers and other laborers, Huerta is also a major advocate for women’s rights, immigrant’s rights, voting rights, minority rights, and LGBTQIA+. Huerta was awarded the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award in 1988, the Ellis Island Medal of Freedom Award in 1993, and the presidential medal of freedom in 2012, among many others.
It was from farmworker strikes and boycotts in the 1960s that the saying “Si se puede” was born. In English, “Si se puede” means “yes we can”. What was originally a rallying cry for unioning farmworkers, now stands as an inspirational quote used everywhere, including in the halls of John R. Lewis High School.
On February 24, John R. Lewis High School had the honor of welcoming Huerta into the building along with FCPS dignitaries. As Huerta walked into the building, she was greeted by our school’s arts department, including performances from our very own Lewis High School orchestra, Winter Cheer Team, and Theater Arts students.
Conductor Rachel Altekruse reflected on the orchestra’s performance of “O’Neill’s Castle,” an Old Irish Tune arranged by Robert Sieving.
“The students enjoyed the opportunity to perform for the school and school board members and show how hard they have been working on music that they’ve been preparing for our State Assessment. We were so incredibly excited and honored that Ms. Huerta personally thanked the Orchestra for their beautiful performance, and that made everyone’s day!” Altekruse said.
Following the orchestra performance was a recital by junior Sadie Rice, senior Laila Elgarhy, and senior Hans Harrer of the theater department. Theater department director Cody Boehm worked with Head Librarian Mimi Marquet to curate the speeches the theater students read.
“I thought it would be interesting to integrate her life’s story to correspond within her speech. [Ms. Marquet and I] chose the speech we did because it was arguably her most famous speech, and we believe that it was the speech that represented all she stood for and achieved as the iconic civil rights leader that she is!” Boehm said.
After the opening theatricals, assistant principal Erik Giblin asked Huerta a series of questions from our student community.
On stage, Huerta revealed that she was especially excited to visit John R. Lewis high school because of her own past collaborations with John Lewis himself. During the 1960’s social justice movements, Huerta worked with John Lewis in organizing marches and advocating for workers rights and civil rights, showing just how deep the legacy of collaboration between these two historic individuals ran.
At the end of Huerta’s stage appearance, she led a chant of “Si se puede” and “Make good trouble,” evoking the spirit of her movement and that of John R. Lewis. Huerta stated that she was extremely proud of our school’s name change from someone known for his discriminatory views on race, to someone known for his advocacy on justice, equality, respect, and peace.
A post-show interview with Giblin further reveals just how influential Huerta’s visit to the school was and what we should learn from her legacy.
“Dolores Huerta is not only a personal hero of mine, but she also is a champion of civil rights who has made a huge impact on our society for the lives of many, many people–countless people.” Giblin said.
Giblin stressed that Huerta’s visit to Lewis was a team effort. Aside from Marcia St. John-Cunning, hardworking Lewis staff members helped with coordination, research, and speech writing efforts, making Ms. Huerta’s visit such a success: Principal Matthew Johnson, librarians Marquet and Kellie Burke, Lewis Leadership director Deborah Sran, History of the Americas teacher Charles Daly, Leadership Lab instructor Xiomara Hernandez. Aside from Altekruse, Ucekay, and Boehm’s management and direction of performances, Giblin would also like to thank Mr. Greg Pickett, and Mr. Adam Schechter for their contributions behind the scenes to make sure this historic moment of Lewis history does not go undocumented.
“The legacy of Miss Huerta is of uplifting people, and of not being afraid to do so. I think that the best way we can honor Ms. Huerta’s legacy is to speak truth based on our own experiences, to uplift people, especially people who may feel sad or depressed, or maybe facing very difficult circumstances, so they too, can accomplish what they need to do.” Giblin said.
Concluding this momentous event, Dolores Huerta’s visit serves as a good reminder for everyone to stay true to both the values of “Si se puede”, and “Make good trouble”, to progress forward with the vision of a future where all injustices within our society are gone and everyone, regardless of their race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation, would be treated equally in a world built on respect, love, and peace.
