Six California "giants" involved in lifetime struggles for justice and human rights were honored for their commitment and perseverance April 29.

"Giants of Justice: Sustaining the Struggle for a Lifetime," a benefit luncheon for Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), recognized the steadfastness of Rabbi Leonard Beerman, Theresa Killeen Bonpane, Rev. Malcolm Boyd, Jesuit Father Greg Boyle, Dolores Huerta and Rev. James Lawson Jr. for their pursuit of civil rights, economic justice for farm workers, solidarity with war-weary Central Americans or rehabilitation of former gang members.

When asked to reflect on what has sustained each of them through the years and what they would like to leave as their legacy, Father Boyle said, "It sustains me to stand with those on the margins."

Having presided at burials for young victims of violence while continuing to have hope, the founder of the thriving entrepreneurial East L.A. ventures Homeboy Industries and Jobs for a Future said he doesn't measure his life with achievements.

Father Boyle, who for the last year has been battling leukemia, said he has felt "never called to be successful, but only faithful. And that's enough for me."

Quoting from Mother Teresa, Father Boyle concurred that "we've forgotten that we belong to each other."

Time and again, said Father Boyle, he has seen former gang members transform their lives when given a chance to work and make an honest wage. He added that gang violence could be eliminated if more people were committed to these youth.

Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers union with the late Cesar Chavez, said her faith had upheld her through the many successes and defeats of organizing farm workers in search of better wages, safer working conditions, and recognition of their human dignity.

Years ago friends and family criticized her for quitting a secure teaching job to start a risky labor movement.

"I thought long and hard and felt this calling, literally a calling, that this is something I had to do, not knowing how it was going to work out," said Huerta, a mother of 11 children and numerous grandchildren.

Looking back on her experiences, Huerta said her steadfast belief was "faith in people. People do have the power to solve their own problems."

Huerta recently started the Dolores Huerta Foundation to continue training community leaders in poor communities to organize and to collaborate with one another. Ending discrimination and racism is one of the key challenges, she said.

"We are all one human race. We are all brothers and sisters," said Huerta, recognizing Africa as the birthplace of all humanity and chanting the African word "wozani," meaning "the people are coming together to fight for justice."

Rev. James Lawson, one of the key leaders in the Civil Rights Movement and a champion of progressive causes ever since, said he remains surprised to still be alive, given the untimely death of many of his friends, including Marin Luther King Jr.

A pastor of Holman United Methodist Church in L.A. for 25 years, a husband for 44 years and a father to three grown sons, Rev. Lawson, said he has been sustained through a lifetime struggle for justice with the support of family, friends, church and God.

Rev. Lawson, one of CLUE's founders, said the journey is most meaningful when it enlarges "our vision, sight, hearts and understanding of what it means to be human."

Theresa Killeen Bonpane, co-founder of the Office of the Americas in Los Angeles to oppose the militaristic policies of the U.S. in Latin America, said the peace and justice movement has helped her to carry on. "The struggle itself is a victory," said Bonpane.

The former Maryknoll nun has led numerous delegations to Nicaragua so Americans can learn first hand how U.S. policy affects the Nicaraguan people. Bonpane, who later married and had children, said she has learned from her loved ones to balance and take "careful care" of both family and work.

Rabbi Leonard Beerman, founding rabbi of Leo Baeck Temple in Los Angeles and a champion of justice and peace, including in the Middle East, said what allows him to keep going is "a sense that life is a question in search of an answer." The search itself is a sign of aliveness and continual growth, he said.

"This sense of question gives vitality and yeast to our quest to overcome injustices," said the father of five and grandfather of six.

Rev. Canon Malcolm Boyd --- author of 29 books, including the recently published "Prayers for the Later Years," and the classic "Are Your Running With Me, Jesus?" --- said a clear sense of right and wrong on social justice issues is imperative.

Currently a poet-writer in residence at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Paul in Los Angeles, Rev. Boyd, a gay man, participated in civil rights and anti-war movements since the 1960s and celebrated the nation's first AIDS Mass nearly 20 years ago.

The central truth of non-violence he said means to "let anger, rage and fear go." Activism, he added, is inseparable from prayer and meditation.