Sacramento –Earlier today, Governor Brown signed AB 2644, the Dolores Huerta Day, by Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-San Bernardino). The bill designates April 10th each year as Dolores Huerta Day in the state and encourages all public schools and educational institutions to observe that date by conducting exercises remembering the life of Dolores Huerta and recognizing her accomplishments and the contributions she has made and continues to make to California.
“Dolores Huerta has worked her entire life in service to others and to improve social and economic conditions for farmworkers and her efforts helped carve the path for the labor movement in the state,” said Assemblymember Reyes. “She is a leader in the fight against discrimination; a defender of civil rights, equal rights and dignity for all.”
The bill and additional resolution given earlier this year are in recognition of her decades of activism for social, labor and civil rights. In 1955 Huerta began her career as an activist when she co-founded the Stockton chapter of the Community Service Organization (CSO). Through a CSO associate, Huerta met activist César Chávez, with whom she shared an interest in organizing farm workers. The pair then co-founded the National Farmworkers Association and fought for farmworker rights during the 1960s, 1970, and 1980s working for the United Farmworkers.
In addition, Huerta’s activism continues on numerous fronts including her advocacy for funding the Youth and Family Civic Engagement Initiative in partnership with the Dolores Huerta Foundation in Bakersfield and the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center in Oakland.
AB 2644 goes into law January 1, 2019. For more information on the bill or to follow it, click here.
Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes represents Assembly District 47 which includes the cities of Fontana, Rialto, Colton, Grand Terrace, San Bernardino and the unincorporated areas of Muscoy and Bloomington.
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