Speed of Life

by Gregg Chadwick Hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We touched base with many of you during the past week and got a good dose of holiday cheer.  When asked what I am thankful for - I of course start with family and friends but just as importantly I am thankful for the wonderful diversity found in my home state of California and across the US. Childhood memories are entwined in our holiday traditions. Often, I think of my Dad's parents and the time we took a road trip deep into the South during the Civil Rights era. At a road stop somewhere along I95, in Georgia I think, my Grandma Chadwick saw me staring at a crude racist, epithet scrawled on a sign. She put her arm around me and said to me "Don't mind about those words. Those words aren't true. God loves everyone one of us - equally." It was one of the first and one of the best lessons about civil rights and equality that I have ever learned.  Watch The Snowy Day 1. The...

NOH8Campaign   NOH8 Campaign Showing our support & solidarity for the brave # LGBT community in Russia. # NOH8WorldWide ! pic.twitter.com/hyT2FkUsGD Details

Communicating the loss of a loved one is never easy. It is best done in person but words alone can also provide light in a difficult time. With deep sadness I have to send  on  news about the death of our beloved family member Hannah Johnson. Hannah passed away Sunday night in a traffic accident, and her husband Matt is fighting for his life in a hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. ( Update on Hannah's Husband Matt:  Matt is coherent, awake, conversant and stood up today!!) Hannah believed deeply that all are created equal and that we all deserve an equal share of human rights. Hannah worked tirelessly for marriage equality in California and New Jersey.  Pictured in this New York Times photo from 2009 is my courageous family member Hannah Johnson tearing up as she applauds a New Jersey Senate committee vote on a bill to legalize gay marriage.  The struggle continues in New Jersey and in California photo  by Richard Perry / New Yor...

Marriage Equality is on the ballot in four states this November: Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington.  The Four 2012   has created an active, evolving campaign that brings the issues around Marriage Equality to light. Each day a new video or graphic will be posted and supporters of Marriage Equality are encouraged to  repost the content via Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, blogs and emails.  Bruce Springsteen and Lady Gaga are featured in supportive ads on  The Four 2012   website . The Springsteen graphic created for the campaign reads:   Listen to The Boss  "The marriage-equality issue should be recognized for what it truly is - a civil rights issue that must be approved to assure that every citizen is treated equally under the law." I couldn't agree more with that statement and urge those who support equal treatment for our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters to let their voices be heard now. -Bruce Springsteen ...

by Gregg Chadwick Must watch video from 1964 of a young David Bowie standing up for the rights of all. The recent news stories about Mitt Romney's extreme bullying and cruelty during his high school years comes to mind.: "A high school classmate of presidential candidate Mitt Romney told ABC News today that he considers a particular prank the two pulled at Michigan’s Cranbrook School to be “assault and battery” and that he witnessed Romney hold the scissors to cut the hair of a student who was being physically pinned to the ground by several others. 'It’s a haunting memory.  I think it was for everybody that spoke up about it …  because when you see somebody who is simply different taken down that way and is terrified and you see that look in their eye you never forget it.  And that was what we all walked away with,' said Phillip Maxwell, who is now an attorney and still considers Romney an old friend." Romney's actions show an almost pathologica...

MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA ISSUES STATEMENT ON CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT’S PROP. 8 RULING LOS ANGELES  – Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa issued the following statement today on the California Supreme Court’s decision to allow the sponsors of Proposition 8 to defend the ballot initiative in federal court: "Today's California Supreme Court ruling is the latest step in guaranteeing that all gay and lesbian Americans have the fundamental right to marry the person they love.  The Court's ruling that proponents of Proposition 8 may defend the initiative before the 9th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals gives the federal court the opportunity to right this injustice. I am confident that the 9th Circuit Court will affirm marriage equality and right the damage Prop. 8 has done to our fellow Californians and their families.  I look forward to the day when all Americans enjoy the freedom to marry." More at: Villaraigosa on Prop 8 Ruling

"Performing in Madison, Wisconsin and seeing 100,000 people in the streets demanding justice inspired me to record an album of union fighting songs. I've been a proud union man for 22 years and my mom was a union public high school teacher, so for me this fight is very personal. Unions are a crucial counterweight to the raw corporate greed that torpedoed our economy, threatens our environment and wants to strip away decades of social progress. From Cairo to Madison, workers are pushing back and tyrants are falling. Here's a soundtrack for our fight." -Tom Morello The full length UNION TOWN EP will be released digitally May 17th with all proceeds going towards pro-union struggles. On February 21st of this year, Tom Morello performed at the Capitol Square in Madison, Wisconsin in protest to an anti-union bill put forward by Governor Scott Walker. Morello explains in his editorial about the experience, “Frostbite and Freedom: Tom Morello on the Battle of Madison...

photo by Gregg Chadwick "There are few moments in our lives that call for greater compassion and companionship than when a loved one is admitted to the hospital. In these hours of need and moments of pain and anxiety, all of us would hope to have a hand to hold, a shoulder on which to lean – a loved one to be there for us, as we would be there for them." - President Barack Obama, April 15, 2010 President Obama issued a directive to the Department of Health and Human Services to work to prohibit discrimination in hospital visitation. On April 15, 2010 President Obama directed Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius to "initiate rulemaking to ensure that hospitals that participate in Medicare and Medicaid respect the rights of patients to designate visitors. The President further advised that the rule should ensure that participating hospitals may not deny visitation privileges based on factors including sexual orientation or gender identity." Today, January 19...

photo by Richard Perry / New York Times Pictured in this New York Times photo from 2009 is my courageous family member Hannah Johnson tearing up as she applauds a New Jersey Senate committee vote on a bill to legalize gay marriage. The bill passed a committee vote but stalled in the Senate. The struggle continues in New Jersey and in California. (San Francisco, CA, August 16, 2010) — Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Proposition 8 proponents’ motion to stay U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker’s decision, which means that same-sex couples in California will not be able to marry while the case is on appeal. However, the Ninth Circuit put the appeal on a fast track and specifically directed that the Prop 8 proponents address "why the appeal should not be dismissed for lack of Article III standing” in their opening brief. ________________________________________ Statement on the from NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell ”Every additional day that couples must...

The evidence presented at trial and the position of the representatives of the State of California show that an injunction against enforcement of Proposition 8 is in the public’s interest. Accordingly, the court concludes that the public interest counsels against entry of the stay proponents seek. None of the factors the court weighs in considering a motion to stay favors granting a stay. Accordingly, proponents’ motion for a stay is DENIED. Doc #705. The clerk is DIRECTED to enter judgment forthwith. That judgment shall be STAYED until August 18, 2010 at 5PMPDT at which time defendants and all persons under their control or supervision shall cease to apply or enforce Proposition 8. IT IS SO ORDERED. VAUGHN R WALKER United States District Chief Judge Full Decision at: Same Sex Marriage Stay Denied

Went to a small club last night with a quartet of friends and found a musical epiphany - Joe Greene and the Heavy Steppers. Much more to come next week ... Joe Greene and the Heavy Steppers on iTunes

Losing my religion for equality Jimmy Carter July 15, 2009 from The Age Women and girls have been discriminated against for too long in a twisted interpretation of the word of God. I HAVE been a practising Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around the world. So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention , after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention's leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be "subservient" to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service. This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. Women are prevented...