By The Illinois Holocaust Museum
The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center presents the Midwest debut of Speak Truth to Power, a major touring exhibition based on the book, Speak Truth to Power: Human Rights Defenders Who Are Changing Our World, by Kerry Kennedy, president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.
The photographic exhibition – which will highlight the experiences of more than 40 courageous “Upstanders” and urges visitors to take action against human rights violations – is on display from Sunday, February 4 – June 24.
Through stunning black-and-white portraits by Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Eddie Adams featured in Kennedy’s book, Speak Truth to Power highlights activists who have worked tirelessly to defend justice in the areas of political rights, freedom of expression, honor killings, demilitarization, environmental activism, mental health, children’s rights, national self-determination and more.
Nearly 50 Upstanders will be featured from more than 40 countries across six continents, including Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic, Baltasar Garzon of Spain, Nobel Prize laureates His Holiness, The Dalai Lama, Elie Wiesel, Oscar Arias, Rigoberta Mencha, Jose Ramos-Horta, Bobby Muller, and Wangari Maathai, in addition to everyday heroes.
The Museum will present a series of public events in conjunction with the exhibit, including an opening celebration on Sunday, February 4, featuring a presentation with Kerry Kennedy, who will share insights on the exhibit and her book, as well as a discussion of her family’s storied tradition of public service.
In partnership with Lookingglass Theatre Company, a live performance of Ariel Dorfman’s powerful drama Voices from Beyond the Dark, based on interviews Kennedy conducted with a wide range of world activists, will take place at the Museum on March 26.
The exhibit follows the grand opening of the Museum’s new multi-million-dollar Take a Stand Center, an immersive permanent exhibition with a forward-looking emphasis on multiple areas of social justice.
The Center furthers the Museum’s mission of empowering people to stand up for humanity by moving visitors from Knowledge to Inspiration to Action through three interactive galleries: the Abe & Ida Cooper Survivor Stories Experience, which features groundbreaking, three-dimensional technology enabling one-on-one conversations with 13 recorded Holocaust survivors via 3-D holography and voice recognition, preserving their stories into perpetuity; the Goodman Upstander Gallery, a showcase of 40 courageous “Upstander” stories throughout history and today, striving in the areas of civic, social, economic and environmental rights; and the Take a Stand Lab, which provides hands-on tools and strategies for affecting change and becoming an Upstander in local communities.
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Speak Truth To Power: Kerry Kennedy at TEDxLecce.
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Posted on January 18, 2018