Speak Truth to Power
Human Rights Defenders Who Are Changing Our World
An Exhibition of Photographs, Theatrical Presentation, and Publication
By Kerry Kennedy Cuomo and Eddie Adams
Speak Truth to Power contains interviews with fifty human rights advocates from around the world, accompanied by portraits by Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Eddie Adams. Author Kerry Kennedy Cuomo interviewed an inspiring rainbow of heroes from more than thirty-five countries and five continents. In each interview, Ms. Kennedy Cuomo examines the quality of courage with women and men who are dramatically changing the course of events in their communities and countries. They are individuals who have made the difficult decision to confront the most pressing problems of our world today-from free expression to women's rights, from environmental defense to eradicating slavery. The profiles of the eight human rights defenders featured in this education packet are excerpted from the Speak Truth to Power book. Their stories represent but a small sampling of individuals who found in every community: people willing to stand up, speak out, and make a difference.
Speak Truth to Power: Human Rights Defenders Who Are Changing Our World is a multi-faceted project which presents inspiring stories of women and men around the world who stand up to oppression at great personal risk in the non-violent pursuit of human rights.
Speak Truth To Power kicked off in September, 2000 with the publication of book by Random House, the launch of a human rights activism web site hosted by America On Line, and a photography exhibition that opened a world-wide tour at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The exhibition features 32 black-and-white portraits of Human Rights Defenders. Already, the project is gathering momentum and media attention from around the globe.
The launch of the exhibition and the book was celebrated with a reception at the Corocoran Gallery of Art, and a performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The evening at the Kennedy Center, hosted by President Clinton, featured some of America's finest actors portraying the human rights defenders in the work. Performers included Giancarlo Esposito, Kevin Kline, John Malkovich, Rita Moreno and Sigourney Weaver, with live music by Jackson Browne and Hugh Masekela. Additional presentations are scheduled in major cities around the country.
Other elements of the project include an educational packet on human rights issues that will be distributed to high schools and colleges throughout the country as a means of raising awareness and promoting human rights issues.
About the Authors:
Kerry Kennedy Cuomo started working in the field of human rights in 1981 when she investigated abuses committed by U.S. immigration officials against refugees from El Salvador. Kennedy Cuomo is on the Board of Directors of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, a non-profit organization that addresses the problems of social justice. She established the RFK Center for Human Rights to ensure the protection of rights codified under the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights. Kennedy Cuomo has appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN, among others, and her commentaries and articles have been widely published. She is married to Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Andrew Cuomo, with whom she has three girls, Cara, Mariah, and Michaela.
Eddie Adams, winner of a Pulitzer Prize and recipient of more than five hundred international, national and local awards, is known to be one of the most decorated photographers in America today. Over his forty-year career, his work has encompassed the fields of journalism, corporate, editorial, fashion, entertainment, and advertising photography. Adams currently resides in New York City with his wife, Alyssa, and son, August.
11 x 11", 256 pages
52 duotone images
September 2000
Hardcover ISBN: 0-8129-3062-2
$50
An Umbrage Editions book published by Crown Publishers