Dolores Huerta, the civil rights icon who co-founded the United Farm Workers and popularized the rallying cry 'Sí, se puede!', died at age 96 on Wednesday. Dolores Huerta tributes poured in from political leaders and fellow activists across the United States.

A life built in California's central valley

Huerta built the United Farm Workers union from California's central valley, where she laid its foundations. There she also helped organize the 1965 Delano grape strike, a national boycott of table grapes that won pickers better wages and working conditions.

Honors carrying her name reach well past that valley:

• •Several schools in California bear her name, and murals across the state depict her
• •Her portrait hangs at some US embassies, and schools in several US states are named after her
• •In 2018 California declared 10 April, her birthday, Dolores Huerta Day

• •She helped negotiate national immigration policy
• •She remained, until her death, intimately involved in promoting civil and labor rights

'Fought for farm workers to the very end'

The union she helped build led the tributes from the labor movement. "Dolores fought for farm workers to the very end of her life," said UFW president Teresa Romero, who called for the organizing to continue in her memory.

Hector Sanchez Barba, president of Mi Familia Vota, said Huerta dedicated her life to ensuring that every voice – especially those too often silenced – was heard, and that "Sí, se puede" is "a living call to action that continues to unite and inspire millions across the world."

Political leaders respond

Condolences came from some of California's biggest political names, including Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, Governor Gavin Newsom and former vice-president Kamala Harris.

• •Pelosi called Huerta a dear friend, writing: "Dolores was a dear friend, and we all responded to her rallying cry, 'Sí se puede.'"
• •Harris said she was "proud to organize alongside my dear friend to champion working families and immigrant rights."
• •Newsom said "California – and the United States – would not be what we are today without her resolute spirit."
• •Alex Padilla, US senator representing California, echoed: "The best tribute we can pay is to carry on the work," by standing with workers and defending civil rights.
• •Xavier Becerra, former California attorney general and former US health secretary now running for governor, wrote: "¡Adiós, Dolores! You were everywhere. You did everything."

Alexandria Ocasio Cortez noted that "For decades after the Delano Grape Strike, she continued to organize for the rights of working people, women and immigrants," adding that Huerta fought for the idea that "when ordinary people come together, they can change the course of history." Lawmakers also thanked Huerta for her efforts to promote female candidates to public office.

Mentorship and a complicated legacy

State senator Eloise Gómez Reyes, who brought the 2018 legislation marking 10 April as Dolores Huerta Day, said Huerta taught generations that ordinary people, working together, could challenge powerful institutions, overcome injustice, and build something better.

Barack Obama's labor secretary Hilda Solis – the first Latina to hold a cabinet post – credited Huerta's mentorship. "Growing up in the San Gabriel Valley, I rarely saw Latinas in positions of leadership. Dolores was one of the few women" who showed her what was possible, Solis said. Actor Rosario Dawson, who portrayed Huerta in a 2014 César Chávez biopic and co-founded Voto Latino, called her a mentor and a beacon of light: "Her guidance transcended generations, nationalities, and borders... She never backed down."

Huerta spent years regarded as the number two to UFW co-founder César Chávez, yet fought sexism inside the movement and frequently had to give Chávez the credit for her work. Earlier this year, after a New York Times investigation documented Chávez's sexual abuse of women and girls, Huerta disclosed that he had raped her. "I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for," she said of her silence.

After Huerta shared her story, officials across the US looked to renaming streets that once bore Chávez's name with Huerta's, and murals of Chávez were replaced.

Romero said the greatest monument to Huerta's memory is for the union she helped found to continue to grow.