"Sí, se puede" (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

for "Yes, you can"; ) is the motto of the

United Farm Workers The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the National Farm Workers Associatio ...

of America, and has since been taken up by other activist groups. UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta created the phrase in 1972 during

César Chávez Cesario Estrada Chavez (; ; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta and lesser known Gilbert Padilla, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), ...

's 25-day fast in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. "Sí se puede" has long been a UFW guiding principle that has inspired the accomplishment of goals. The phrase is a federally registered trademark of the UFW. It has been widely adopted by other labor unions and civil rights organizations, and drew widespread political and media attention as a rallying cry during the U.S. immigration reform protests."The earth is shaking as immigrants rise up around the country with their voices singing "Sí se puede"—Yes, we can. This uprising is in the best tradition of the American Dream and the civil rights struggle for freedom." The slogan has also been used in other countries, such as Spain and Venezuela.

English translation

"Sí se puede" is usually translated in English as "It can be done", or "Yes you can". The more literal translation that the United Farm Workers uses is "Yes, it can be done!"

Other uses

The slogan is featured extensively in the 2002 Disney Channel film '' Gotta Kick It Up!'' President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

adopted the English version "Yes, we can!" first during the

Democratic Party of Illinois The Democratic Party of Illinois is the affiliate of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the oldest extant state party in Illinois and one of just two recognized parties in the state, alon ...

primaries Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...

leading up to 2004 Illinois elections to the US Senate, and it became a slogan of his 2008 presidential campaign. "Yes, we can!" was the theme of Senator Obama's speech following his second-place finish in the 2008 New Hampshire primary. The phrase was also used in the song " Yes We Can", which was performed by numerous celebrities in support of Obama. (Huerta endorsed

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

in her campaign for the Democratic nomination for presidency in 2007.) "Sí, se puede!" is the name of the 6th Episode in the 3rd Season of Showtime's TV Series ''

Dexter Dexter may refer to: People * Dexter (given name) * Dexter (surname) * Dexter (singer), Brazilian rapper Marcos Fernandes de Omena (born 1973) * Famous Dex, also known as Dexter, American rapper Dexter Tiewon Gore Jr. (born 1993) Places United ...

''. "¡Sí, se puede!" was a slogan used by Spanish left wing anti-austerity party, Unidas Podemos in the buildup to the 2019 Spanish general election held on 28 April 2019. "¡Sí, se puede!" "yes we can" became the slogan and rallying cry of

Juan Guaidó Juan Gerardo Antonio Guaidó Márquez (born 28 July 1983) is a Venezuelan politician and opposition figure. He belonged to the social-democratic party Popular Will, and was a federal deputy to the National Assembly representing the state of V ...

during the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis. During the Israeli legislative election campaign of 2009,

Shas Shas () is a Haredi Judaism, Haredi religious List of political parties in Israel, political party in Israel. Founded in 1984 by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a former Israeli Sephardic Jews, Sephardi chief rabbi, who remained its spiritual leader until ...

used a

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language unti ...

version of the slogan: "כן. אנחנו יכולים" (''ken, anakhnu yekholim''). The slogan is referenced in the 2023 film ''

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and introduced on March 9, 1959. The toy was based on the German Bild Lilli doll, Bild Lilli doll which Hand ...

'' (which, coincidentally, stars

America Ferrera America Georgina Ferrera (; born April 18, 1984) is an American actress, director and television producer. She has received List of awards and nominations received by America Ferrera, numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golde ...

, who was also in ''Gotta Kick it Up!''). "¡Sí Se Puede!" is the name of the song from the episode "Summer of Cumple" of the

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

animated series, ''

Primos PRIMOS is a discontinued operating system developed during the 1970s by Prime Computer for its minicomputer systems. It rapidly gained popularity and by the mid-1980s was a serious contender as a mainline minicomputer operating system. With t ...

''.

AeroMexico's trademark application

After AeroMexico, a Mexican airline, had filed a

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

application for "Sí se puede" with the US Trademark Office, lawyers for the United Farm Workers defended the phrase as the intellectual property of the UFW. After litigation, AeroMexico agreed not to use the phrase and abandoned its trademark application.

References

External links

"Si Se Puede Cambiar"
video on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Si se puede History of Mexican Americans Political catchphrases Spanish words and phrases United Farm Workers Cesar Chavez Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign 1972 quotations Dolores Huerta