STOCKTON — Paying homage to a civil rights icon, Delta College will formally dedicate the newly renamed Dolores Huerta Plaza on Thursday, Sept. 19.
It’s just one in a series of events recognizing Latinx Heritage Month.
The dedication will include the unveiling of a plaque in honor of Dolores Huerta, who attended Stockton College — as Delta College was formerly known — on the road to becoming a passionate advocate for the rights of farmworkers and the disenfranchised.
The event is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Plaza. Live music will be provided along with food (free for students with a Mustang ID). The public is welcome.
Here are some of the other events happening in September and October for Latinx Heritage Month (“Latinx” is a gender-neutral term for Latino or Latina).
u In recognition of Constitution Day on Sept. 17, the film “Mendez vs. Westminster: For All the Children” will be shown at noon in the Tillie Lewis Theatre. Sylvia Mendez, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, will discuss her family’s fight to end school segregation.
u“La Vida Loca,” a one-man show written and performed by Carlos-Manuel Chavarria, tells the story of a gay Mexican immigrant in California, exposing discrimination and prejudice in a comical, serious and sometimes confrontational way. The show is scheduled for 6 p.m. Oct. 4 at the Tillie Lewis Theatre.
uThe annual Indigenous People’s Day Dance will take place at 12:30 p.m. Oct. 10 on the President’s Patio, in front of Goleman Library. Learn about rich native traditions through performance and discussion.
u A new exhibition, “Latinx: Art Beyond the Border,” will open Oct. 17 at the L.H. Horton Jr. Gallery. A reception is scheduled for 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The exhibit runs through Nov. 7.
 Born in New Mexico, Huerta spent much of her childhood in Stockton in a diverse agricultural neighborhood. She soon took on a leadership role founding the Agricultural Workers Association, and in 1962 launched the National Farm Workers Association with Cesar Chavez.
 She went on to spend decades advocating for the rights of farm workers, women and those who identify as LGBTQ.
 In a visit to Delta College in February of 2017, Huerta spoke about her time in Stockton and how the city’s diversity shaped her life.
 “I was so blessed,” she said. “… I think that really prepared me for the world and helped me to be able to identify and be able to relate to so many different ethnic groups.”
 The Dolores Huerta Plaza is on the northeast side of campus near Delta’s Science and Math Building.