The state of CA has awarded a $7 million grant to The Dolores Huerta Foundation to contribute toward The Dolores Huerta Peace and Justice Cultural Center. In celebration, a press conference was held on Sept. 19 at 10 a.m. in the Laborers Union Hall at 2201 H. St. Bakersfield, CA and in attendance was Dolores Huerta herself.

Before the press conference, Dolores Huerta and members of her foundation looked around at the land where the center would be built. The 32,000-square-foot building will be at 2105 Eye St. in downtown Bakersfield.

At the Laborers Union Hall, Camila Chavez, daughter of Huerta, State Senator Anna Caballero, Assembly Members Dr. Jasmeet Baines and Sabrina Cervantes, and California State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas all spoke about the importance of having a building to honor the history of immigrants in the San Joaquin Valley area.

Senator Anna Caballero thanked Governor Gavin Newsom and Rudy Salas for supporting the development of the building. Caballero when shared her hopes for the center when she said, “I’m particularly exciting about the youth leadership development programs and equitable educational opportunities to address discriminatory practices and alarmingly high illiteracy rates.”

Dr. Jasmeet Baines then spoke about why she thinks building is significant. She said, “If we don’t invest in a place that represents our history, we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes.”

The sentiment of unity was continued by Huerta herself when she said, “We want this center to be dedicated to the working people that feed us.” She mentioned that the center is to honor many different groups such as, the Indigenous, Native Americans, Mexicans, Okies who came from the South because of the Dustbowl, Filipinos, Koreans, Japanese [and other Asians.]”

Huerta touched upon the importance of farmworkers when saying, “Often, we talk about essential workers during the pandemic and yes, our health workers, our firemen, our police men are essential workers, but the most essential workers of all are the farmers… because they feed all the other essential workers as well as the rest of the country.”

Toward the end of the conference the team behind the center demonstrated an interactive AI generated hologram of Dolores Huerta that will be housed in the center.

The Dolores Huerta Peace and Justice Cultural Center is projected to break ground in 2024 and be completed in 2026.