Speed of Life

"My heart goes out to the other mothers who are still aching for their children. I pray for them to have strength, and that they encounter people who can help carry their spirits, like the other women in the detention facilities did for me. In the face of such cruelty, it made all the difference." - Mirian G. by Gregg Chadwick Families Belong Together March - Los Angeles, June 14, 2018 photo by Gregg Chadwick My family joined the thousands who gathered, listened and marched nationwide yesterday to protest the Trump Administration's inhumane separation of children from their parents when they seek asylum in the United States. The ACLU explains: "Homeland Security – in collaboration with Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department – is cruelly separating families at the border for no legitimate reason. Immigration authorities have separated THOUSANDS of children from their families. Some children, like the son of someone in our lawsuit, are as young as 18 mont...

Rachel Carson's Powerful Legacy Rachel Carson photo courtesy of rachelcarson.org Today I would like to honor the groundbreaking environmentalist Rachel Carson, whose book  Silent Spring  sounded one of the first alarms about the detrimental effect of pesticides on the eco-system. The natural world was my first love as a kid and reading Carson's work was instrumental in spurring me on to look deeply at and respect the complexities of our endangered environment. Carson's interest in conservation began with her early work as a marine biologist, which led to her award winning book,  The Sea Around Us . Subsequently, nature writing provided a powerful vehicle for Carson to bring mainstream attention to the chemicals being dumped daily into our streams and rivers. Her work inspired global bans of the pesticide DDT  and helped foster the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States. I encourage you to honor Rachel Carson's legacy by spen...