For a Google doc version of this lesson, click here (will be asked to create a copy).

Overview

How can social, economic and political systems change? Using a grass-roots model, Dolores Huerta has spent her life teaching people how to stand up for themselves and make improvements on systems that oppress.

Learning goals

Students will:

• Learn about Dolores Huerta’s role as an organizer, leader and activist
• Learn how to express understanding of her life’s work through art.

Estimated time

Grades 6-12

Subjects

Media literacy, civics, social studies, ELA

Background

Dolores Huerta is a community organizer, labor activist, civil rights leader and advocate for social, economic and environmental justice. She has spent her life fighting for the rights of farm workers, women and immigrants. Huerta (1930- ) continues to work using a grassroots model, training activists to canvass, which in turn encourages people to unionize and take action against the inequalities present within the workforce on the basis of gender, social class and legal status.

The image above depicts Dolores Huerta speaking at a major fundraising center for the Petaluma Day Labor Center in 2014, after the release of Dolores, a film dedicated to honoring her legacy as a strong woman who battled against labor injustice, racism, and misogyny. Photo courtesy of Ilka Hartmann.

Watch video (edited for time): A Conversation with Dolores Huerta

Edited from American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA, and Washington, DC, PBS News Hour. May 30, 2012. Full video can be found here. A transcript of the video can be found here (copy will need to be created).

Warm-up activity:

1. Watch the segment on Dolores Huerta. Click on the link from the Library of Congress to learn more about Dolores Huerta.
2. Respond to the following prompt (alternatively, use question for class discussion):

• What about Dolores Huerta stood out most to you and why?

1. Examine the poster below about fair labor and farm workers’ rights. Then respond to the following questions (alternatively, use questions for class discussion):
   1. What do you think the purpose of this poster is?
   2. What is the main title of this poster? How does the title reflect its intended goals?
   3. Describe the image on the poster. How does the image target the underlying themes of the poster?
   4. What other words on the poster support its purpose?

Sances, Jos., Artist. Si, se puede! — An evening in solidarity with Dolores Huerta. 1990. https://guides.loc.gov/this-month-in-business-history/april/dolores-huerta-born

Main activity: Create an activist poster

Activism can be defined as the use of action to initiate social or political change. Dolores Huerta works as an example of what an activist represents. In this activity, you will be an activist tasked with creating a poster that can be used as a form of disseminating information.

Materials

Materials for creating a handmade poster, or creating an electronic poster on Google docs. If you use a photo from the lesson, be sure to credit the source or photographer directly under the photo.

• Paper
• Markers, crayons, paint (use any medium available)
• Ruler
• Scissors (if cutting out photos from the lesson)
• Glue sticks
• Student handout

Directions

Use the table below (student handout version here) to:

1. Come up with a purpose for your poster — this is the thesis! What main point do you want to communicate, or encourage people to think about or do? Look back at your own writing!
2. Gather evidence using the information in the lesson and your own writing.
3. Come up with a title for the poster (from your purpose) and the words (subtitles) that will be added to your poster (from your evidence).

Follow the examples provided.

Purpose Title of Poster Evidence Words on Poster (Subtitles)

Ex: To honor Dolores Huerta, “A Tribute to Dolores Huerta.” Huerta is a lifelong community activist and she teaches people how to organize and stand up for themselves. “Inspires us all” "Grassroots efforts”

Ex: To encourage activism about climate change (or any topic you care about). “We Must Act Now!” Huerta says we each have power and must organize and stand up for ourselves and for what is right. “Stand up” “Protect planet Earth”

Your work here:

1. Create a piece of art (about ¾ of your paper size) for your poster or use an image from the lesson or from the Library of Congress's research guide on Dolores Huerta .
2. Add your main title (large). Add your image. Add your subtitles.
3. If there is time, create a gallery walk of all the activist posters and leave feedback (on post-it notes) on at least 3 posters (positive feedback only. Share glows that can be seen across all crafted posters).

Extension activities:

1. Read “Hearsay News” which covers “Dolores,” the movie on Huerta’s life.

by Ilka Hartmann. Hearsay News. November 13, 2017.

2. Take a look at Harvest of Shame, a video lesson on Journalism in Action.

3. Making connections: Take a look at the lesson Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and Migrant Workers on Journalism in Action, our website that explores how journalists covered key issues in history, including migrant farm workers, and watch the accompanying video.

Standards

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3)

D2.Civ.2.6-8. Specific roles played by citizens.

D2.Civ.5.9-12. Citizens’ and institutions’ effectiveness in addressing social and political problems.

Common Core

RI.6.3 RI.8.3 Analyze connections between individuals, ideas, or events.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a source; providing an accurate summary.

Dina Weinberg has worked with children and teens in public and private schools for the past 25 years. She taught middle school English, worked as a teaching artist on large scale collaborative mural projects, created and led a Seed to Table Garden program and taught fine art to children for the last 20 years. Her approach to teaching and learning stems from her belief that every person has the right to grow in a fulfilling, enjoyable, and safe way. Dina currently works one-on-one with students on expository, personal, and historical writing skills; math and science, and building organizational skills.  She is the mother of two grown daughters and lives in Bronx, New York, with her husband.

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