Thank you, Keep on Crossin'. Because of your benevolence and good judgment, I get another chance to salute the Dixie Chicks before the year is up.

When I wrote in this column back on May 8 that the Texas trio -- Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire, Emily Robison -- was being character- assassinated for simply speaking their minds, I received an unprecedented (for "The Last Word") amount of inflammatory e-mail. My patriotism and theirs was severely called into question.

Hey, sticks and stones. ...

I just chalked it up to freedom of speech in a free country.

Which, I'm happy to report, may be why the D-Chicks were recipients this past weekend of one of the first Keep on Crossin' Awards, announced at ICE Gallery in North Park.

The awards, presented by keeponcrossin.com, go to "those who reclaim cultural space by crossing into the cross hairs of social convention and conservative punditry, thereby inviting the scorn of highly paid jingoists at great risk to themselves," says spokesman Perry Vasquez, a longtime artist in San Diego.

As to the Dixie Chicks, says Vasquez, "A simple statement of their opinion landed them in trouble. ... In their case, they were inadvertent crossers, and once they crossed, they had to take a stand."

Taking a stand is what these awards celebrate. Other winners announced Saturday include the band Los Lobos, the local group Los Alacranes, filmmaker Michael Moore, cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz ("La Cucaracha"), civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, educator Maura Barrios and muralist Mario Torero (creator of the "Eyes of Picasso").

"Everyone has different criteria, depending on what their experiences are," explains Victor Payan of the awards committee. "For us, it's having the courage to put yourself on the line, but also having the style and the panache to do it in a way that is inspired and unexpected."

Certainly, the Dixie Chicks, whether they originally intended to or not, put themselves -- and their careers -- on the line. Some have forgiven them. Some never will.

But if they've been cowed by the experience of putting their music where their mouths are, you'd never know it.

Coming up Oct. 10, for example, the D-Chicks will take another stand when they perform at a concert in Charlotte, N.C., benefiting the Honor the Earth foundation. The national organization supports American-Indian environmental groups.

This gesture is most unlikely to garner the publicity, to say nothing of the vitriol, that Maines' remark about President Bush did this past spring. It does, however, reaffirm these three Texans' commitment to their convictions.

All right, now. Bring on the e-mails if you must. Or, better yet, let it go. Can't we all just get along, and enjoy being free?

(For a complete list of Keep on Crossin' award-winners and more information, go to www.keeponcrossin.com)

David L. Coddon: (619) 293-1348; david.coddon@uniontrib.com