Cat Oriel on Dolores Huerta

Credits

Director: Julie Hébert
DP: Sevdije Kastrati-Dill
Producer/Sound: Courtney Graham
Editor: Emily Mendez
Mix: Daniel Raphael

Topics

Activism

“Sí, se puede. Yes, we can.”

Cat Oriel tells the powerful story of the one and only Dolores Huerta, an elementary school teacher who co-founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez, and became a social justice warrior for over eight decades for the rights of workers, immigrants and women. Dolores has been honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and was the first Latina inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. She originated the phrase, “Sí, se puede.” Yes, we can. At 90 years old she’s still organizing, fighting for equal rights for all people. Cat’s personal account of meeting Dolores and carrying on her story will warm your heart.

Storyteller

Cat Oriel

Catherine “Cat” Oriel is a Filipina-American originally from Los Angeles, CA. She is a rising junior majoring in Journalism and Mass Communication at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She is the head graphic design artist for the GW Program Board and a culture reporter for the GW Hatchet. She became involved with Look What SHE Did! in the Spring 2017 and joined the team as a youth advisor and blogger after hosting a LWSD! event at her alma mater, The Archer School for Girls.

Featured Woman

Dolores Huerta

Dolores Huerta is a civil rights activist and community organizer. She has worked for labor rights and social justice for over 50 years. In 1962, she and Cesar Chavez founded the United Farm Workers union. She served as Vice President and played a critical role in many of the union’s accomplishments for four decades. In 2002, she received the Puffin/Nation $100,000 prize for Creative Citizenship which she used to establish the Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF). DHF is connecting groundbreaking community-based organizing to state and national movements to register and educate voters; advocate for education reform; bring about infrastructure improvements in low-income communities; advocate for greater equality for the LGBT community; and create strong leadership development. She has received numerous awards: among them The Eleanor Roosevelt Humans Rights Award from President Clinton in 1998. In 2012 President Obama bestowed Dolores with The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.