‘There’s no wall that could contain her’: An LA mural draws crowds for Dolores Huerta vigil – Los Angeles Daily News

‘There’s no wall that could contain her’: An LA mural draws crowds for Dolores Huerta vigil  Los Angeles Daily News

The civil rights icon, who died on Wednesday at 96, spoke at artist Robert Vargas' mural site just months ago. Her voice was loud then. Her spirit was alive and well at a Wednesday night vigil. Dolores Huerta towered over dozens of Angelenos gathered beneath the 5-month-old, hundred-foot tall mural in Downtown Los Angeles, depicting the storied labor leader and progressive activist who died at 96 on Wednesday, Oct. 28. It was here, just in May, where Huerta helped christen the mural, titled “Walking into History, adorning a side of the historic Barclay Hotel on Fourth Street. And it was here, where Huerta’s fighting spirit, even at 96, was on full display, as she called for an end to homophobia and violence against women while lauding gains made by farmworkers through organizing.

That spirit was alive and well as the Wednesday night vigil took root, her eyes watching overhead, as depicted by artist Robert Vargas‘ giant, illuminated piece towered in the darkening L.A. sky. Dozens of onlookers arrived to pay tribute. Cell phones aimed at the mural. A chance to capture the day when the nation lost a civil rights icon. They saw tea lights and white roses from a marigold-strewn altar. Huerta’s dedication to the causes of others echoed throughout the evening. “Although she wasn’t a farmworker, she planted