Wednesday night, October 1, 2014 more than 600 progressive activists lit up the Sunset Strip, celebrating at the House of Blues and presenting the 2014 Spirit of Courage awards to Tom Morello and the Rev. Frank Schaefer.
The Spirit of Courage Award is presented, on behalf of our more than 900,000 members each fall to someone who exemplifies Courage in the fight for a more fair and just society. This year’s sponsors included Live Nation, Bruce Springsteen, Rolling Stone Magazine, Michael Kors, David Geffen, Janet and Tom Unterman, Jamie and David Wolf, Karen and Lindsay Gardner, Lisa Ling and Paul Song, UDW, UFCW, Unite HERE and more.
The Spirit of Courage Award for defending LGBT rights was presented by Stuart Milk, nephew of the late Harvey Milk, to the Rev. Frank Schaefer for his courage in standing up for marriage equality.
And, the Spirit of Courage Award was presented by CFT President Joshua Pechthalt to Tom Morello for his courage standing up for free speech, economic justice and human rights.
Tom Morello rocked the house along with a group of progressive-activist musicians who joined in the fun, including Anti-Flag, Boots Riley, Miles Solay of Outernational, Wayne Kramer, and Chad Smith. The encores rang out one after another, with the entire crowd (some even up on the stage) joining Tom and his band in a rousing and moving version of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land.”
It was the Fourth Annual Spirit of Courage celebration, a fun evening uniquely designed to lift up our honorees and their work as examples of courage, and to support Courage Campaign and Courage Campaign Institute. Watch your email for details about next year’s celebration!