Movie shows life of Dolores Huerta

By Pamela Pollack-Fremd

SAN DIEGO — Dolores, a documentary written and directed by Peter Bratt and produced by Bratt with Brian Benson, is an emotional trip down memory lane because it’s a reminder of the many social movements in the 1960s: civil rights, anti-war, social justice, and women’s rights.

This documentary is about Dolores Huerta, a Chicana who grew up in a middle class family in Stockton, California.  Despite being recently divorced and having small children, she became involved in the fight to improve working and living conditions in the agricultural fields of California.

Huerta and the others had little success until she met Fred Ross, a community organizer.  Fred showed them how to begin a grass-roots movement to organize the farm laborers.  She joined the Community Service Organization (CSO) and met Cesar Chavez.  These two had the same goals.  Despite opposition from the CSO and other labor unions, Dolores and Cesar created a separate union for farm workers; they started the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later became the United Farm Workers union (UFW).

Dolores realized that all immigrants could and did face racism and economic enslavement.  She believed that the only way to fight that was to join together across ethnic groups to organize and support each other, and that was what the UFW tried to do.

When Cesar Chavez died in 1993, many wondered if the Executive Board of the UFW would elect Dolores as President of the union.   Unfortunately, they did not, and instead chose Arturo S. Rodriguez.  Dolores felt marginalized and eventually left the union.  In 2003, Dolores went back to community organizing and created the Dolores Huerta Foundation, pursuing her goal of social justice.

This is documentary is information heavy.  One would need to see it several times to absorb all of the interesting tidbits presented. The film includes wonderful music and dancing, and there are photos and videos of Dolores with such renowned figures as Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, Bobby Kennedy, Joan Baez, and Gloria Steinem.  It is a reminder of more idealistic times.

Dolores will open with four showings at the Landmark’s Ken Cinema on Friday, September 22, have four more showings on Saturday, September 23, and will have three showings per day Sunday, Sept. 24, through Thursday, Sept. 28.

*
Pollack-Fremd is a freelance writer who specializes in coverage of the cinema.