Delores Huerta

I attended the Delores Huerta speech in the University Center on March the 29th. I really enjoyed this speech and I can see why she is so successful with the civil rights movement. She is very well spoken and passionate about what she does. Other than that she is an adorable lady that has a very inviting personality. Throughout the speech she touched on an array of different subjects. The main subject that she was speaking about was the HR4437 legislation that is slithering its way through the Senate right now. Mrs. Huerta called the Bill what it is “a racist bill that makes felons of people that only help America”. I felt that this woman is extremely dedicated to the cause and has gone on to help other organizations with her expertise.

She spoke about how she had been arrested 28 or so times for civil disobedience. She also spoke of being severely beaten by the San Francisco Police that ended in having her arms broken, ribs broken, as well as her spleen burst because of her beatings from the police. She also said that she chained herself to a city bus in protest for better accessibility for peoples with disabilities. I thought that it was really neat to hear her talk about how now she does not get harassed as much because she is an old lady and cops do not want to hurt her.

The most interesting topic that I felt she spoke about was changing the “Machismo” of how the way men act. She said that the machismo of men is something that is getting in the way of progress. This machismo makes men reliant on women and is not good for women. The machismo makes women into domestic slaves and keeps men from their responsibilities to their families. I

Thought that it was great of her to say this because a lot of my male friends are domestically challenged. They do not know how to cook, do laundry, or clean up after themselves. The lack of these domestic necessities that forces their wives to clean up after their husband, Cook their meals, and clean their clothes, as well as look after the children because the machismo part of the society says that it is not macho to do these sort of domestic chores. I really liked this speech a lot and would like to attend more speeches that she will give in the future.