My thoughts on martyrdom as an Activist turned solo traveler:

What Dolores Huerta Taught Me About Healing, Not Enduring Abuse

When Dolores Huerta recently spoke about the abuse she endured from Cesar Chavez during her time building the United Farm Workers, it forced me to confront something I had been carrying for years.

Her silence was not weakness — it was an act of martyrdom for the movement.

And that realization changed how I understand my own experience in organizing spaces — and why I believe so deeply that young activists, especially women, should not be martyrs.

The Hidden Cost of Martyrdom in Activism

For the past six years, I worked in community organizing spaces in Chicago across nonprofits and grassroots groups. I believed in the work completely. I still do.

But across multiple organizations, I saw the same pattern repeat:

• Charismatic, loud men rising to leadership

• Harmful behavior going unchecked

• Women experiencing verbal or physical harm

• Silence justified in the name of “the greater good”

Over time, I realized something deeply unsettling:
The culture of organizing can unintentionally reward the very dynamics it claims to dismantle.

When movements center powerful, idolized leaders, calling out abuse begins to feel like betraying the mission itself. And so the most committed organizers — the ones who care the most — often endure harm in silence.

They become martyrs.

How We Lose Good Activists

I’ve watched some of the most brilliant, compassionate organizers burn out completely. Others developed stress-induced illnesses. Some disappeared from the work entirely.

I was one of them.

I was eventually diagnosed with a chronic illness brought on by stress — the result of working in environments where I was:

• Verbally mistreated

• Overworked and exploited

• Expected to tolerate harm for the sake of the mission

What made it even harder was the cognitive dissonance. I was dedicating my life to organizations whose values aligned with mine — justice, liberation, equity — while internally experiencing dynamics that mirrored the very oppression we were trying to fight.

I now understand that this is how movements lose people.Not because they don’t care.But because they cared so much, they stayed too long.

Why We Need to Stop Glorifying Martyrdom

In many activist spaces, martyrdom is honored. And I understand why. Sacrifice has always been part of social movements.

But what we don’t talk about enough is this:

Martyrdom is not sustainable. And it is costing us our people.

When activists are expected to endure abuse, burnout becomes inevitable. And burnout doesn’t just mean needing a break — it often means people never come back to the work.If we want strong, lasting movements, we cannot build them on the backs of people who are silently suffering.

How Solo Travel Helped Me Break the Cycle

I didn’t come to this realization while organizing.

I came to it after I left.

After years of enduring toxic environments, I made the difficult decision to step away and solo backpack South America. That decision — to choose myself over the work, at least temporarily — changed everything.

Traveling alone gave me space.

Space to reflect.
Space to process what I had experienced.
Space to heal without constant pressure to perform or produce.

Through solo travel, I was finally able to understand that stepping away didn’t mean I had failed the movement.

It meant I was giving myself a chance to return to it — whole.

A Message to Young Women in Activism

If you are a young organizer and you are noticing these patterns, I want to be very clear:

Do not become a martyr.You do not have to endure abuse to prove your commitment.You do not have to sacrifice your health for the cause.You do not have to stay in spaces that harm you just because the mission matters.

Because here is the truth:

We need you in this work — long term.And the only way that happens is if you take care of yourself.

Building Sustainable Movements

If we want to stop losing good activists, our movements need to change.

• There cannot be organizing without aftercare

• There cannot be harm without accountability and repair

• There cannot be constant urgency without rest

We cannot move at the speed of capitalism and expect people to survive it.

Sustainable activism requires sustainability for the people doing the work.

Healing Is Not Leaving the Movement — It’s Protecting Your Place in It

I used to think leaving meant giving up.Now I understand that stepping away to heal is what allows you to come back stronger, clearer, and less likely to replicate the same harmful dynamics.My time solo traveling didn’t disconnect me from the work — it reconnected me to myself.And that is what will allow me to return differently.

Dolores Huerta’s story is powerful. But it’s also a reminder of the cost of silence and sacrifice.

We don’t need more martyrs.

We need more healed, supported, and self-aware activists who can stay in the work for the long haul.If you are feeling burnt out, harmed, or exhausted — take that seriously.

Rest. Step away if you need to. Heal.

Because the goal is not to destroy yourself for the movement.The goal is to build a life where you can continue showing up for it.