Dolores Huerta leaves behind a legacy of women's liberation. CALÓ News exists because of it

On Wednesday morning, as we woke to news of the passing of the unstoppable force that was Dolores Huerta, the immediate assigning of stories, publishing of breaking news obituaries and scheduling of social media content took over. It happened to us just as it did in news outlets across the country.

And when that rush subsided, roughly an hour later, the sensation of losing one’s fiercest advocate crept in.

For our readership who may be unaware, we are a majority women-run newsroom. From our leadership team to our talented fellows, this small operation runs primarily on a Latina-fueled editorial force — where every single pitch, article, visual and reel that has a CALÓ News logo attached to it is debated, dissected, analyzed, verified and backed by mujeres who are tethered to the communities we cover.

Empowered by a team of media and organizing professionals at the Latino Media Collaborative (LMC), we push our narratives beyond that of traditional news outlets. We seek out the voices being oppressed by a government fueled by a Miller-designed eugenics machine operating under the guise of national security. We spotlight the community members working tirelessly to build sanctuary spaces for those whose bodies and identities are deemed expendable. We center the needs of our gente, collaborating and partnering with those who ensure essential information reaches those most in need of it. 

We champion the fight to live unapologetically as our most authentic selves, without fear.

And we’ve done this all — and will continue to do it all — on the back of Dolores.

Her leadership created space for everyone, but especially Latinas. She opened doors, spoke before legislators and led walkouts and boycotts so we could enter spaces not built for us. Without her guidance and advocacy for women's liberation and breaking down gender barriers, many of us wouldn't be in the positions we hold today.

A champion of efforts to empower Latinos across the board, she remained a staunch advocate of media that strengthened our communities and that kept them informed. In 2023, she joined our team in Sacramento for the Latino Media Summit hosted by LMC, where she spoke about the realities of migrants arriving in the U.S. and how their livelihoods are twisted into narratives that often criminalize them.

She applauded the work Latino media outlets were doing for our communities.

“And why is it so desperately needed? Because as a population we are growing so fast and so many of our people, so many immigrants are coming to the United States of America and they don’t really understand how important their presence is, their participation is. And the only way they can really learn that is through our Latino media,” Dolores shared at the time with our community health reporter, Amairani Hernandez.

She showed us kindness then, the way she did everyone she interacted with and everything she got her hands on. A loyal, fierce stronghold of a woman who sought to leave every space she entered with a touch of strength wrapped in empathy, ensuring the resistance — in every facet — remained strong.

On Wednesday evening, the Dolores Huerta Foundation hosted a vigil in Bakersfield to honor her life and legacy. Hernandez was present once again, standing with the community not just as a reporter who crossed paths with Dolores at events and during interviews, but also as a woman, a mother, a Latina who is prospering thanks to this civic leader's devotion and commitment.

No fight is without its intersectionality and she understood that. She lived through abuse at the hands of men both within and outside of the labor movement she helped define; lifelong discrimination due to systems designed to uphold the civil liberties of cis-white men; and mistreatment alongside organizers and community activists who sought to dismantle voting repression infrastructure around the same time Dr. Martin Luther King was channeling that same fight.

She went from organizing laborers and community members in the 50s and 60s to using her strong leadership to amplify the voices of the most vulnerable populations in the 21st Century — pushing for parity in women’s rights, more Latinos in office and in leadership and protesting alongside college students.

The world she left behind is surely not one she envisioned for us. It’s not the one she intended to leave behind for her descendants. But her fighting spirit never faltered.

It never will.

She passed days before the midterm elections. She fought for our right to have a voice and be represented in every aspect of civic life. As we continue to inform our communities about their right to cast their ballot in a free and safe election, we must remind our readers how pivotal their civic participation is — the same way she organized her community throughout her life.

Even as the federal government questions our electoral integrity and pursues efforts to disenfranchise more voters of color, we mustn’t give up hope.

For all the get-out-the-vote events she attended and spoke at, and for all the candidates she supported, whether progressive or not, she always believed with absolute conviction: ¡Sí, se puede!

Gracias, Dolores. May you rest in the power you brought to us and to future generations, so one day they may see a bright day without the fear, oppression and persecution that you fought tirelessly to erode.

You believed in fighting for a better tomorrow, however far away it may seem. Inside the newsroom and out on the streets, la lucha sigue.