Sí, se puede (
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
for "Yes, it can be done") is the motto of the
United Farm WorkersThe United Farm Workers of America is a labor union founded by Philip Vera Cruz, Dolores Huerta, and Cesar Chavez. This union changed from a workers' rights organization that helped workers get unemployment insurance to that of a union of farmworkers almost overnight, when the National Farm...
. In 1972, during
Cesar ChavezCésar Estrada Chávez was a Mexican American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers . Supporters say his work led to numerous improvements for union laborers...
's 24 day
fastFast may refer to:* Fasting, abstaining from food* Nacional Fast Clube, a Brazilian football club* A speed racing for dirt horse racetracks* Fast Search & Transfer, a Norwegian company focusing on data search technologies...
in
Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the fifth most populous city in the United States...
, he and UFW's co-founder,
Dolores HuertaDolores C. Huerta is the co-founder and First Vice President Emeritus of the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO , and a prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America.-Early life:...
came up with the slogan.
The phrase 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 2006 U.S. immigration reform protests.
Sí se puede is usually translated in English as "yes, we can", or "yes you can".
Sí, se puede (
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
for "Yes, it can be done") is the motto of the
United Farm WorkersThe United Farm Workers of America is a labor union founded by Philip Vera Cruz, Dolores Huerta, and Cesar Chavez. This union changed from a workers' rights organization that helped workers get unemployment insurance to that of a union of farmworkers almost overnight, when the National Farm...
. In 1972, during
Cesar ChavezCésar Estrada Chávez was a Mexican American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers . Supporters say his work led to numerous improvements for union laborers...
's 24 day
fastFast may refer to:* Fasting, abstaining from food* Nacional Fast Clube, a Brazilian football club* A speed racing for dirt horse racetracks* Fast Search & Transfer, a Norwegian company focusing on data search technologies...
in
Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the fifth most populous city in the United States...
, he and UFW's co-founder,
Dolores HuertaDolores C. Huerta is the co-founder and First Vice President Emeritus of the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO , and a prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America.-Early life:...
came up with the slogan.
The phrase 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 2006 U.S. immigration reform protests.
English translation
Sí se puede is usually translated in English as "yes, we can", or "yes you can". The more literal translation that the United Farm Workers uses is "Yes, it can be done!"
PresidentPresident is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, trade unions, universities, and countries. Etymologically, a "president" is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first president born in Hawaii...
adopted the English version "Yes, we can!" first during the 2004 Illinois Democratic primary race for U.S. Senate, and it became a slogan of his 2008 presidential campaign. "Yes, we can!" was the theme of Sen. Obama's speech following his second-place finish in the 2008 New Hampshire primary.
Following the speech Obama was endorsed by the
Culinary Workers UnionCulinary Workers Union or UNITE HERE local 226 is a private sector local union in Nevada, USA, affiliated with UNITE HERE, a national labor union. With 60,000 members, the Culinary Workers Union represents more members than any other union in Nevada, is the largest union local in a right to work...
in the Nevada Democratic Caucus, though it is important to note that news of the endorsement had already been circulating prior to this speech. The phrase was also used in the song "
Yes We Can"Yes We Can" is a collage-style music video inspired by US President Barack Obama's popularization of the slogan "Yes we can." During the 2008 US presidential campaign following the New Hampshire Democratic Primary, then-Senator Barack Obama, used the similar English translation of the slogan of...
", which was performed by numerous celebrities in support of Obama. Another video created in support of
Obama's 2008 presidential bidBarack Obama, then junior United States Senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States in Springfield, Illinois, on February 10, 2007. On August 27, 2008 he was declared nominee of the Democratic Party for the 2008 presidential election...
, entitled
Sí Se Puede Cambiar"Sí, Se Puede Cambiar" is a song and music video created in support of Sen. Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. However, the video has no official ties to the Obama campaign. The song was written by Andres Useche...
written and performed by
Andres UsecheAndrés Useche is an award-winning writer, film director, graphic artist and singer/songwriter.-Early life:...
and directed by
Eric BylerEric Byler is an American film director, screenwriter and political activist. He identifies as hapa biracial, born to a Chinese American mother and a white American father. He grew up in Virginia, Hawaii , and California. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1994, majoring in film...
was released on
YouTubeYouTube is a video sharing website on which users can upload and share videos. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005. In November 2006, YouTube, LLC was bought by Google Inc. for $1.65 billion, and is now operated as a subsidiary of Google...
on February 22, 2008.
During the
Israeli legislative electionElections for the 18th Knesset were held in Israel on 10 February 2009. These elections became necessary due to the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as leader of the Kadima party, and the failure of his successor, Tzipi Livni, to form a coalition government...
campaign of 2009,
ShasShas is a political party in Israel, primarily representing Haredi Sephardi and Mizrahi Judaism. Following the 2009 elections in which Shas won 11 seats, it joined Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government and holds four cabinet posts...
used a
Hebrew languageHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Culturally, it is considered a Jewish language. Hebrew in its modern form is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel while Classical Hebrew has been used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world for over...
version of the slogan: "כן. אנחנו יכולים".
AeroMexico's trademark application
After
AeroMexicoAerovías de México, S.A. de C.V., operating as AeroMéxico, is an airline in Mexico based in Mexico City, Mexico. AeroMéxico is considered as the most punctual airline in the world. It operates scheduled domestic services and international services to Asia, Canada, Europe, Central America, South...
, a Mexican airline, had filed a
trademarkA trademark or trade mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or services from...
application for "Sí se puede" with the
US Trademark OfficeThe United States Patent and Trademark Office is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.The USPTO is currently based in Alexandria,...
, 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.
"Yes, We Can" was also used as a slogan by Air Canada commercials in the 1980s. "And since Canada is our home,
We can show you a Canada you've never known
Yes we can, Air Canada, yes—we—can!".
Further reading
- ¡SI, SE PUEDE! / YES, WE CAN! Janitor Strike in L.A., by Diana Cohn, illustrated by Francisco Delgado, Cinco Puntos Press, 2002, ISBN 978-0-938317-66-1
- Sí se puede : el movimiento de los hispanos que cambiará a Estados Unidos by Sanjuana Martínez by San Juana Martinez Mexico, D.F. : Grijalbo, 2006 Spanish ISBN 978-0-307-38359-4
External links