DOLORES, the energetic, sweeping story of iconic labor leader and feminist pioneer Dolores Huerta opens in theaters today. Huerta  fought for racial and economic justice alongside Cesar Chavez but has never enjoyed the same recognition- until now. Directed by Peter Bratt, the film comes from PBS Distribution and premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

History tells us Cesar Chavez transformed the U.S. labor movement by leading the first farm workers union. But missing from this story is his equally influential co-founder, Dolores Huerta, who tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice alongside Chavez, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the twentieth century.

Like so many powerful female advocates, Huerta and her sweeping reforms were and still are largely overlooked. Even as she empowered a generation of immigrants to stand up for their rights, her own relentless work ethic was constantly under attack. False accusations from foes and friends alike, of child neglect and immoral behavior from a woman who married three times and raised 11 children, didn’t dampen her passion or deter her from her personal mission. She remains as steadfast in her fight as ever at the age of 87.

Peter Bratt

Bratt’s provocative and energizing documentary challenges this incomplete, one-sided history and reveals the raw, personal stakes involved in committing one’s life to the fight for justice. Interweaving archival footage with interviews from Huerta and her contemporaries, the film sets the record straight on one of the most effective and undervalued civil and labor rights leaders in modern U.S. history.

Dolores Huerta is among the most important, yet least known, activists in American history. Her enormous contributions should no longer be unrecognized.