When Dolores Huerta joined with César Chávez in 1962 to form what would become the United Farm Workers, their task was a tough one.

Today, with unions under attack by those who want to curtail their rights, those problems continue, Huerta said. Now, it’s up to organizers to get the message out.

“As an organizer, I cannot resist. My people have power,” Huerta said at Wednesday’s opening of the “César E. Chávez: A Legacy of Service” photo exhibit at the Broome Library at CSU Channel Islands. “Back when we started, people wondered how we could organize farm workers. They don’t speak English, they aren’t citizens and they don’t have any money. But you have the power. You have to do it together.”

Huerta led a panel of artists and educators who looked back on the contributions of Huerta, Chávez and the National Farm Workers Association, which became the UFW.

Audience member Jose Garcia, of Santa Paula, addressed the panel about his difficulties organizing workers as part of the Laborers International Union of North America.

“I’m an organizer, and we really need to push education and to take the fear away from their minds,” he said. “We need to let people know the movement is still alive.”

Jess Gutierrez, who is displaying his photos of Chávez and Huerta in Ventura County, pointed out that Laborers International and other unions were able to spearhead the successful defeat of Proposition 32 in November, which would have ended payroll deductions for unions to use to support political candidates.

“We saw what we’re capable of,” he said. “Prop. 32 would have killed us.”

Xico Gonzalez, an artist and teacher from Sacramento, noted that there is a responsibility for educators to include information about Chávez, Huerta and the UFW in their curriculum. He had his Chávez posters on display.

Veronica Valadez, a teacher at Montalvo Elementary School in Ventura, said she teaches her first-graders about the farm workers movement but regrets the lack of information she received in her own education.

“I began to learn about César Chávez and Dolores Huerta and the Chicanos who paved the road. Why did I not know this? I felt as though I’d just learned I was adopted, and I had to learn about my true heritage,” Valadez said.

Panel member Barbara Macri-Ortiz said she became an attorney because of Chávez.

“I’m blessed to have worked with César and Dolores. I became a lawyer by default. I was an organizer first,” Macri-Ortiz said. “People seldom get justice in court. That is the exception not the rule, so we have to get our clients what they need.”

Panel member Paul Flores, a poet and teacher, said he would like to see César Chávez’s birthday March 31 become a national holiday.

“Everyone in the U.S. should learn about César Chávez,” Flores said. “I teach workshops at schools with Latino youth, and they don’t know about César Chávez.”

Huerta, now 82, remains committed to a number of causes.

“We do have a culture of violence. Congress barely passed the Violence Against Women Act. Before, it was almost unanimous,” she said.

As for immigration reform, Huerta said perhaps it’s time to go back to one of Chávez’s favorite tactics.

“César would talk about fasting as an offering. Does anyone want to give up eating one day or one meal?” she asked.

The exhibit of Gutierrez’s and Gonzalez’s work will be available at the Broome Library until Aug. 1. The opening reception was coordinated by history professor Frank Barajas.

As the event wound down, Huerta led the crowd in chanting, “Viva César Chávez. Viva César Chávez. Sí, se puede.”

Gutierrez stood and said, “No disrespect for César, but (Huerta) is the other half. Viva Dolores Huerta. Sí, se puede.”

Yes, we can.