“A Street Called Dolores Huerta” by Nikki Darling
This poem by Nikki Darling was written ca. 2019 to honor Dolores Huerta.
It’s prescient. Points to abuse of women by men, most often hidden. The shame of Cesar Chavez is now bravely brought to light by Dolores Huerta. The pain.
Her immense courage!
“A Street Called Dolores Huerta”
by Nikki Darling
I grew up driving down streets
that had the names of great men.
Men I admired.
Men who inspired me
to look inward and find
my courage, voice and value.
I grew up driving down streets
named after men.
Great men.
Men I should seek to find.
Men I should hold other men accountable to.
There are great men.
Your violent words and actions
do not and will not find a place in my life.
The names of these men
showed me what men could be.
What men were capable of.
I grew up driving down streets
named after men.
These men however, despite their greatness,
I was driving down streets
I could never grow into.
I could never be, you see, a great man.
What then would it be
to drive down a street named Dolores Huerta?
What would it feel like
and where would it go?
Would it cross seventeen
when I hated who I saw in the mirror?
Or the corner I turned
when at 31 I finally had the courage
to dump an emotionally abusive man?
Who would drive it?
The mothers who get up at 5 a.m.
to take their children to relatives
willing to watch them
while they went to work
to put food on a table
from an employer
who did not offer childcare?
Would it be tended
by the hands of women
bloody from years of bending over
to pick strawberries?
Would it cross the place
my car broke down at 19
and I had to hike home
covered by a blanket
afraid that men might see me?
Would it cross the place
other women came together
to weave a wider road?
My guess is it would not be tended regularly
and perhaps the journey would be rough
from potholes and city neglect,
but it would be travelled.
It would take me somewhere.
What would it be like
to drive down a street named Dolores Huerta?
It would be like taking a journey
down a road I knew was meant for me.
A road I knew had been travelled
before my arrival.
A street that although at times difficult
would lead me someplace finer
and that perhaps my traffic
would demand new and better roads.
I have driven down streets
named after great men.
A street named Dolores Huerta
would be a street worth seeing.
It would be valuable.
It is necessary and urgent.
Let us come together and build it.
We need desperately someplace to go.
###
Too often, our cities and their streets are dedicated to the “memories” of mythologized powermongers, not to the lovers of life. They tend to be men, although there are women who seek to accrue worldly power, rather than to distribute divine love.
In any case, those who are humble and grateful for what they have, and are thankful for the opportunity to be of service to our Creator, and by extension, to life in all its forms and manifestations, often go unheralded and unrewarded, in the worldly ways in which the commanders and conquerers revel. That should not deter us, we who look to operate from the heart and to give to “nuestros familiares”, whomever they may be and wherever we may find them. Spirit will assist us, and show us the way, when we open ourselves to its benificent influence and guidance. The ‘still, small voice” speaking within the core of our beingness can lead us to that place that is spiritually best for us, as eternal souls, when we trust in it and have faith in its rightness. The road to the heavenly heights lies within each of us, so be brave and be yourself. May The Blessings Be!
I LOVE Nikki Darling’s poem, “A Street Called Dolores Huerta” . In it she points out that there are many, many great women whose names and contributions are unknown. In spite of quality or quantity of, women’s contributions to society, humanity, health and peace there is little to remind us of them or to honor them, but frequent street signs leading us to remember and to therefore believe in “the greatness” in men of whom we may know nothing.
Thank you Adan