ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – In light of allegations made against disgraced labor leader Cesar Chavez, communities have stepped up in solidarity to uplift survivors like Dolores Huerta,who fought side by side with him for the rights of farmworkers. Huerta’s story is taking center stage through an opera composed by a family member and a wave of support from state and city leaders.
For many, Huerta’s story is that of American heroism, strength, and resilience in the face of adversity. “I wrote the opera about Dolores because she’s one of the most important figures in the United States of the 20th and 21st century,” explained the cousin of Dolores Huerta and composer of ‘Dolores,’ Nicolás Lell Benavides.
Last fall, he and librettist Marella Martin Koch brought her story to life on stage through opera, taking the stories he heard as a child to create something for a new audience to discover.
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“She has often been overlooked. So that’s why I wanted to write the opera, not to mention, I think her life warrants something like that. It’s just incredible what she’s been able to do, especially under such difficult circumstances,” Lell Benavides explained…