Dolores Clara Huerta sits in a recliner in her living room, wearing bright red lipstick, with a grandchild and two great-grandchildren running behind her as she speaks. Clocking in at just 5 feet tall, the labor organizer has been a force for decades, organizing national boycotts, getting arrested for nonviolent protest, negotiating historic union contracts, and coining the phrase “Sí se puede,” which former President Barack Obama famously borrowed for his 2008 campaign.

Huerta, who turned 96 on April 10, the day before our interview, is a mother of 13, a feminist, a civil rights activist—and a survivor. In 1962, she cofounded the National Farm Workers Association (which later became United Farm Workers) with Cesar Chavez, and their decades of committed work resulted in better working conditions and pay for millions across the US. Chavez, who died in 1993, the more famous of the two, saw his name given to streets, buildings, and schools, during his lifetime.