Remembering John Burton

“If you’re going to have power, use it to empower those who gave it to you.”

We honor and uplift the spirit of John L. Burton, a lifelong champion for immigrants, farm workers, and the poor. John L. Burton (December 15, 1932 – September 7, 2025) stood shoulder to shoulder with Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez to demand dignity and justice for communities who sustain California.

In 1966 Burton marched with the United Farm Workers on the historic pilgrimage from Delano to Sacramento, joining Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez in calling on lawmakers to protect the rights of agricultural workers. That same decade he worked alongside Dolores in the Capitol to help secure legislation that extended unemployment insurance, disability pay, and retirement benefits to farmworkers — rights they had been denied for generations. By insisting that immigrant workers were included in these protections, Burton helped make a lasting impact on families across California’s Central Valley.

Throughout his long career in public service, Burton often used his position to lift up the voices of organizers on the ground. He understood that change did not start in Sacramento or Washington, but in the marches, the strikes, and the organizing led by people like Dolores Huerta and the countless farm workers who demanded justice.

As Burton once said: