Jane Fonda and Eva Longoria Lead Hollywood Tributes to Dolores Huerta, Dead at 96
Jane Fonda and Eva Longoria led Hollywood’s tributes to Dolores Huerta, the labour and civil rights leader who co-founded the United Farm Workers, after her family announced that she had died on Wednesday, 28 October, aged 96, IANS reported.
Huerta died of cancer on Wednesday morning at her home in Bakersfield, California, surrounded by loved ones, family spokesman Erik Olvera said, according to the South China Morning Post. Her family said: “We are deeply saddened to announce that our beloved mother, Dolores Huerta, has passed away today at the age of 96.”
Fonda: “courage and feminism personified”
Fonda said she was heartbroken, describing Huerta as “courage and feminism personified” in an Instagram post reported by IANS. She recalled Huerta as often the only woman in negotiating rooms, who won contracts covering healthcare, retirement benefits and safer working conditions.
Fonda shared photographs from a 2019 rally in Washington DC and said she and activist Nalleli Cobo pledged to carry on “the Dolores mantra”, IANS reported. “Every time we say ‘Si se puede’ she will be with us,” Fonda wrote.
Longoria: “my mentor, my teacher of life”
Longoria wrote that she could not imagine a world without Huerta in it, calling her far more than an icon, IANS reported. “She was my mentor, my teacher of life,” Longoria wrote, adding that Huerta taught her that a life of purpose is a life of service.
“There will be an enormous void without her,” Longoria wrote. “Gracias, Dolores. Por todo. Sí, se puede. Siempre.” Singer Becky G also paid tribute, writing in a post reported by Rolling Stone: “A true legend. A fierce & courageous woman with such a gentle heart.”
A hero to a president
Former President Barack Obama, who presented Huerta with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, called her “a hero of mine”, CNN reported. Obama noted that the “Yes, we can” slogan of his 2008 campaign came from her “Sí, se puede” — a credit he said he too often received. “As usual, Dolores got there first,” he said.
The United Farm Workers said the greatest tribute to Huerta’s life was for her organising work to continue, CNN reported.
The work behind the slogan
Huerta co-founded the union that became the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez in the 1960s and served as its vice president for nearly four decades, Reuters reported. As chief negotiator, she helped win job security, healthcare, retirement plans, guaranteed rest periods, clean drinking water and protection from pesticides for farmworkers. She was arrested 22 times during demonstrations, TheWrap reported. Earlier in 2026, she had also spoken publicly about abuse she said she suffered within the movement, in reporting by The New York Times widely noted in obituaries. She remained active into her 90s through the Dolores Huerta Foundation.
Sources: Reuters, IANS, CNN, Rolling Stone, TheWrap and the South China Morning Post, 28–29 October 2026.