Since my February 13 article on the emerging national campaign to get President Obama to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Fred Ross, momentum has spread like wildfire. In just 3 weeks, 163 volunteer organizers in 21 states have organized a broad multi racial and generational coalition from the constituencies Ross long fought for. Here is the current list of endorsers—which expands by the day.

Leaders Endorsing Presidential Medal of Freedom for Fred Ross Sr.*

(PARTIAL LIST 3-3-13)

LABOR

Dolores Huerta, co-founder, UFW
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich
Former Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis
Lee Saunders, President, AFSCME
Larry Cohen, President, CWA
Allan Clark, President CSEA
Joe Hansen, President, UFCW & Change to Win
Mary Kay Henry, President, SEIU
Robert McEllrath, President ILWU
Terry O’Sullivan, President, Laborers
Arturo Rodriguez, President, UFW
D. Taylor, President UNITE HERE
John W. Wilhelm, Assistant to the President for Benefits, UNITE HERE
Sherri Chiesa, Secretary Treasurer UNITE HERE
Tho Do, International VP UNITE HERE
Art Pulaski, Secretary Treasurer, CA Federation of Labor
Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary, LA County Federation of Labor
Tom Dalzell, Business Manager, IBEW 1245
Hector Figueroa, SEIU Local 32BJ
David Bonior, Chair, American Rights at Work

ELECTED LEADERS

House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi
Senator Barbara Boxer
Senator Diane Feinstein
Senator Mazie Hirono
Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva
Rep. George Miller
Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard
Rep. Anna Eshoo
Rep. Mike Honda
Rep. Barbara Lee
Rep. Albiro Sires
Rep. James P. McGovern
Rep. Zoe Lofgren
Rep. Sam Farr
Rep. Karen Bass
Rep. Diana DeGette
Rep. Mike Thompson
Rep.William Lacy Clay
Rep. Grace F. Napolitano
Rep. Jared Huffman
Rep. Xavier Becerra
Rep. Juan Vargas
Rep. Mark Takano
Rep. Julia Brownely
Rep. Scott Peters
Rep. Alan Lowenthal
Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham
Rep. Michael E. Capuano
Rep. Jan Schakowsky
Rep. Ed Perlmutter
Rep. .Ami Bera
Rep. Ben Ray Luján
Rep. Doris O. Matsui
Rep. Charles B. Rangel
Rep. Maxine Waters
Rep Rosa Delauro
CA Governor Jerry Brown
The Honorable John Burton
CA Attorney General Kamala Harris
The Honorable James C. Hormel, former US Ambassador to Luxembourg
The Honorable Art Torres
CA State Senate (25 of 26 democrats)
CA State Assembly (50 of 55 democrats)
LA Mayor Antonio Villairegosa
SF Mayor Ed Lee
SF Board of Supervisors

CIVIL RIGHTS & ADVOCACY

Amnesty International
Asian Law Caucus
Center for Community Change
Center for Justice & Accountability
Japanese American Citizens’ League (JACL)
Korematsu Institute
Jose Artiga, Executive Director, SHARE Foundation
Heather Booth, founder, Midwest Academy
Erin Callahan, Amnesty International
Jerry Cohen, former UFW General Counsel
Ernie Cortez, IAF
Lokelani Devone, Bd, Center for Justice & Accountability
Maria Echaveste, former Deputy Chief of Staff, Clinton WH
Herman Gallegos, NCLR
Jim Gonzalez, Latino Policy Coalition
Hayat Imam, President & Chair, Grassroots International
John Heffernan, JFK Center for Human Rights
Roger Hickey, Campaign for America’s Future
Benjamin Jealous, President, CEO NAACP
Cleve Jones, founder AIDS Quilt
Diane Matsuda, John Burton Foundation
Eva Patterson, President, Equal Justice Society
The Honorable Cruz Reynoso
Ted Wang, Unbound Philanthropy
Michael Yaki, US Commission on Civil Rights

ACADEMIC

Dr. Jeff Brand, Dean, USF Law School
Dr. Al Camarillo, Stanford University
Dr. Claybourn Carson, Stanford University/MLK Papers
Dr. Peter Dreier, Occidental College
Christopher Edley, Dean, UC Berkeley Law School
Dr. Marshall Ganz, Harvard Kennedy School of Gov.
Dr. Frances Fox Piven, City University of NY
Rev. Dr. Stephen Privett, sj, University of San Francisco
Dr. Harley Shaiken, UC Berkeley
Dr. Kent Wong, UCLA Labor Center

RELIGIOUS

Right Reverend Marc Andrus, Episcopal Bishop of CA
Bishop Stephen E. Blaire, Diocese of Stockton
Kim Bobo, National Interfaith Worker Justice
California Catholic Conference of Bishops (CCCB)
Sister Simone Campbell, SSS, NETWORK Ministires
Bishop John Cummins, (ret’d) Catholic Diocese of Oakland
Ned Dolejsi, Executive Director, CCCB
Sister Diane Donoghue, SSS, Sisters of Social Service
Joe Fahey, President, Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice
Bishop Richard Garcia, Catholic Diocese of Monterey
Rev. Chris Hartmire, founder, National Farm Worker Ministry
Rabbi Stephen Jacobs
Father Clete Kiley, Nat’al Catholic Labor Network
Sister Mary Beth Larkin, SSS, Sisters of Social Service
Virginia Nesmith, National Farm Worker Ministry
The Very Reverend Dr. Jane Shaw, Grace Cathedral, SF
Bishop Daniel Walsh, (ret’d) Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa

OTHER OPINION MAKERS

Ed Begley, Actor & Environmental Activist
Clinton Reilly, Philanthropist & Political Advisor
Lloyd Dean, CEO, Dignity Health
Lou Giraudo, Mediator & Philanthropist
Larry Grisolano, Director of Paid Media, Obama Biden 2012
Anna Lappe, Small Planet Institute
Frank Mankiewicz,, Hill & Knowlton
Bernita McTernan, Dignity Health

Quetzal Flores, 2013 Grammy winner
Christine Pelosi, Campaign Boot Camp 2.0 author
Martin Sheen, Actor & Activist
Dr. Mimi Silbert, President & CEO, Delancey St. Foundation
Jim Wunderman, Bay Area Council

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