Dr. Jamila K. Taylor, president and CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, on the New York Times’ Cesar Chavez investigation that revealed the abuse of labor and civil rights icon Dolores Huerta. 

To our unrelenting warrior, Dolores Huerta. When I read your words yesterday, and the accounts of the other survivors of sexual, emotional, and psychological abuse at the hands of a man our country and movement once revered, my heart broke. It broke for the young woman, labor leader, and activist you were and are, who had to make impossible decisions and put your body, your life, and, dare I say, emotional well-being on the line in service of freedom.

History shows us that women have done this time and again—working to liberate others from a broken system, all while being neglected, unprotected, and left to suffer in silence. And yet, for more than 60 years of your life, as social progress has been won, followed by enormous backlash, you have reminded us that as long as we are here, we have lessons to teach and a charge to keep. You declared, “I will not be silent.”

By speaking your truth, you have given us permission and power to do the same. You have already given this work and world so much of yourself; even in your 96th year, you chose to give us what was yours to keep—more courage.

As president of IWPR, representing the voices of all women who simply want a fair shot in this society—and as a woman whose life and work have been shaped by the courage and fortitude of generations before us—we stand in unwavering solidarity with you, Dolores Huerta.

“¡Sí, se puede!”

Forever.