Speed of Life

Vice President Kamala Harris shares stories of her mother. 

"The world is a dangerous place...not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it" -Albert Einstein In the light of the horrific, fascist, white-supremacist violence against peaceful folks in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 12, 2017, I find this film produced by the US War Department during WWII to be instructive. Clips from the film are appearing on social media sites. The full film is presented here. From IMDB: "Financed and produced by the United States War Department in 1943, and shot at the Warners studio, although it was distributed through all of the major studios' film exchanges and also by National Screen Services free to the theatre exhibitors: A young, healthy American Free Mason is taken in by the message of a soap-box orator who asserts that all good jobs in the United States are being taken by the so-called minorities, domestic and foreign. He falls into a conversation with a refugee ...

Peter Gabriel and Youssou N'Dour Perform Gabriel's Song Biko at Friends United Against Malaria - Genève, Switzerland on 08/10/2005. Today, September 12, 2011, on the anniversary of Steve Biko's death at the hands of the South African security police, I reflect on the impact Mr. Biko had on South Africa and the world. I stand with Artists for a New South Africa and proclaim, "Biko lives on!" On September 12,1977 Steve Biko died in in police custody in South Africa. The leader of the black consciousness movement in South Africa, Steve Biko, was 30 years old. Mr Biko had been in custody since August 18, 1977. He was the 20th person to die in custody during an 18 month stretch in 1976-1977. Steve Biko left a wife and two children. Steve Biko's Biography Steve Biko was born in South Africa in 1946. He became active in the anti-apartheid movement in 1960s when he was studying medicine at the University of Natal. Steve Biko organized the South Africa...

Roman Ruins at Leptis Magna, Libya Photo: ALAMY As the fighting continues to rage in Libya, the gaze of the West seems to have turned to Abbottabad. The dedication of artists like Sam Brookes turns our heads back to this story of pain, heroism and ultimately triumph. More at: The Music of Sam Brookes .

Ai Weiwei with musician Zuoxiao Zuzhou in the elevator when taken in custody by the police, Sichuan, China, August 2009 100 cm x 130 cm color photograph Courtesy Ai Weiwei and Christine König Galerie, Vienna “We can perhaps bet on art to win over tyrants. It is the world’s artists, particularly those courageous enough to stand up against authoritarianism, for whom we need to be concerned, and for whose safety we must fight.” - Salman Rushdie On April 3, 2011, the internationally recognized Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was detained by Chinese officials at the Beijing airport while en route to Hong Kong, and his papers and computers were seized from his studio compound. The international arts community has rallied around Ai Weiwei's unjust incarceration and an online petition is being sponsored by museum directors and cultural figures across the globe: 'By using Ai Weiwei’s favored medium of “social sculpture,” we hope to hasten the release of our visionary friend." Please ta...

Gregg Chadwick A Persian Vigil (for Marjane Satrapi) 24"x48" oil on linen 2009 Tomorrow is the 4th of July in the United States. As I think in red, white and blue, more than a hint of green enters my thoughts. Today in the New York Times, Marjene Satrapi writes longingly and powerfully about her true home in Iran: It’s likely needless to remind you that this was not the first time Iranians showed how much they love freedom. Look only at the 20th century: They launched the Constitutional Revolution of 1906 (the first in Asia); nationalized the oil industry in 1951 (the first Middle Eastern country to do so); mounted the revolution of 1979; and engineered the student revolt of 1999. Which brings us to now, and that deafening cry for democracy. Almost 20 years ago, when I started studying art in Tehran, the very idea of “politics” was so frightening that we didn’t even dare think about it. To talk about it? Beyond belief! To demonstrate in the streets against the president? Surr...

Revolution '09 موج سبز , originally uploaded by greggchadwick . Gregg Chadwick Revolution '09 موج سبز 48"x36" oil on linen 2009 (in progress - the revolution and the painting) An Iranian citizen writes from Tehran: (from Andrew Sullivan) "I remember September 11, 2001. I remember watching TV all day worried and sad. I remember holding candlelight vigils with my friends for the victims. Then George W. Bush went on to declare us as one of the “Axis of Evil.” I remember asking myself, “Why?” Not a single one of the terrorists was Iranian, and I wondered why he didn’t bother to make a distinction between the government and the people. In fact, in all of the Middle East I don’t think there is a more pro-American nation than Iran, but no one made such a distinction. Consequently, the Iranian people were viewed with an aura of suspicion in every airport and embassy around the world for the rest of the Bush administration." "But all of that unfounded ...

New Video from today in Iran - Sunday, June 21, 2009