Transcript
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (0:01)
Hey, listeners, it's me, Julia. We're back for season three of Wiser Than Me. We've got so much more wisdom to share from the legendary old ladies featured this season. You know, so many of our guests have written memoirs reflecting on their experiences, and by putting it all into writing, they've uncovered a better understanding of what truly matters. Jane Fonda calls it a life review and wisely says, to know where you want to go, you. You first have to understand where you've been. So brilliant. Right? That's why we've created a special Wiser Than Me notebook so you can kickstart your own life review and write down some of the nuggets of wisdom these women share in each new episode. We just added these groovy hardcover notebooks to our merch shop. To buy yours, head over to wiserthanmeshop.com today.
Dolores Huerta (0:55)
Lemonade.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (1:00)
Hi there, Wiser Than Me, listeners and dear friends. I just quickly wanted to let you know that this episode of our show was actually recorded before the big and consequential election that we just had. And I gotta say, I am truly glad that this is the episode that we're sharing today because our guest is a living reminder of the resilience it takes, win or lose, to keep on, keep on organizing and fighting for the things that you believe in. I mean, she is really. Wisdom and action. It is so fortuitous that this is the episode that comes out this week. So anyway, I hope you enjoy the conversation and thanks so much for listening. When I was very young, I remember going to the grocery store with my mom and grabbing some grapes because, I mean, who doesn't love grapes? And my mom told me, julia, Julia, no, no, no, we can't buy those. And she explained that we were supporting the United Farm Workers and I had to put the grapes back. So I did. And in fact, putting those grapes back might have been the first activist thing I ever actually did. Now, a few years later, I like to think of myself as an activist because I think that's a great thing. It's an honorable thing to be. When I was pregnant with our eldest son, I was thrilled to March in Washington D.C. in support of reproductive justice for women. That march and rally drew several hundred thousand people to D.C. because we are all afraid the High court, with its then new conservative majority, might, God forbid, overturn Roe v. Wade. Seems almost quaint now, right? Since then, I've marched and protested along with actual professional activists for lots of causes that I believe in. Remember the huge women's rallies that were held all over the country when Donald Trump was inaugurated in 2017. I think people have kind of forgotten that. Nearly 5 million people, outraged by Trump's misogyny and racism, organized marches all over the United States. That was the single biggest protest in the history of the. The LA protest was the biggest of all, with an estimated 750,000 people in the streets of downtown LA. And that's a real 750,000, not a Trump 750,000. And there was a huge stage built, like, at an intersection, you know, kind of like a rock and roll concert stage with giant screens and speakers and everything. And I got to get up there and give a big rah rah speech, which was just so exciting. And I spoke right before they brought Helen Reddy up to sing her hit song, I Am Woman, which has become such an anthem for the feminist movement. I saw her there next to the stage, and she looked great, but she seemed a little bit confused because, as you might remember, she was suffering from dementia. And, you know, of course, all these people and lights and noise, I mean, that had to be really difficult for her. So she came out to a tremendous ovation. And the band cranked up I Am Woman and she started to sing it, but pretty soon it was clear that she couldn't remember the words. And, you know, this might have been absolutely tragic, but an amazing thing happened. The crowd started to sing it for her. The crowd just carried her with it. And when they got to the chorus, it was thousands of women in unison singing, yes, I am wise but it's wisdom born of pain Yes, I paid the price but look how much I've gained if I have to I can do anything I am strong Strong I am invincible Invincible I am woman and God, we were just. We were so all in tears, of course, and it just. It makes me cry now. It was just one of those incredible moments shared by three quarters of a million generous people in la. I mean, what did it accomplish? It's kind of tough to say, right? I mean, maybe it was one tiny, tiny step forward, showing women how much power we have, more than we know when we carry each other forward, the way that that crowd carried Helen Reddy. But the true professional activists, the organizers, the pros, the Martin Luther King's, Gloria Steinem's, Gandhi, they have to take all of that frustration, righteous anger, energy, and they have to channel that into real change. That takes more than passion and emotion. That takes talent, skill, and most of all, hours and hours and years and years of work. These people are a miracle. I think I really do. Without them, it's all darkness. How lucky, how blessed we are then to talk today with Dolores Huerta. I'm Julia Louis Dreyfus and this is Wiser Than Me, the podcast where I get schooled by women who are wiser than me. So this morning for breakfast I had some yogurt with raisins and fruit and a little veggie scramble. It was all incredibly delicious. It was also the product of really hard work. Getting food from the farm to the table is. It's actually kind of a miracle. And the conditions of those whose labors accomplish that miracle isn't something that we think about nearly enough. When I had a small child of my own and we were looking for an elementary school for him, we toured a school in Santa Monica. And I'll never forget this because when we got to the second grade classroom, they had a big rug with the lyrics all you need is love on it and a huge poster on the wall of Cesar Chave. And my husband and I looked at each other and we said, this is our school. Unfortunately though, there wasn't a poster of Dolores Huerta. But there sure should have been. Let me back up. It's 1962, the space race is heating up. Johnny Carson is the brand new host of the Tonight Show. The Beach Boys have just released Surf and Safari, their first album. But today's guest didn't give a rat's ass about any of that. She was thinking about Chicano and Filipino farm workers and laborers in California working 16 hour days for criminally low pay with no clean water, no toilets, no decent housing or even the most basic health care. And their big agricultural company bosses who didn't want to change a thing. At just 32 years old, Dolores co founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez and became one of the great organizers in American history. From 1965 to 1970, she organized the grape strike and boycott which in California and spread all the way across the nation to that supermarket when I was shopping with my mom. That boycott was a huge victory for farm workers, winning them better pay, benefits and protections. And led to the passage of the Agricultural Labor Relationships act of 1975, establishing the rights of farmworkers to collectively bargain, the first law of its kind in the United States. Dolores has been arrested over 20 times, intimidated, assaulted and nearly killed by police. Police. And still here she is, undeterred. She still attracts controversy. In fact, not long ago, Arizona and Texas schools both pass policies that omit her life's work from their American history. Curricula Are you believing what I'm saying? Cesar Chavez's words about Dolores still ring true. Her presence made it acceptable for women to join the picket line, encouraging wives and daughters to stand up and be part of the movement. Every story of the great Cesar Chavez should also include his partner, his equal, Dolores Huerta. She's the recipient of many deserved honors, including the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and was the first Latina in history to be inducted into the National Women's hall of Fame. Oh, yes. And of course, she's a mother to 11 children. What can't this woman do? She's a true champion of civil and workers rights, and we all need to be trumpeting her story. I am beyond honored to welcome today a woman who is so much wiser than me, Dolores Huerta. Dolores, welcome, welcome, welcome.