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| Speak Truth to Power: Human Rights Defenders Who are Changing Our World | 
 enlarge | Author: Kerry Kennedy
Creator: Eddie Adams
Publisher: Umbrage Editions
Category: Book
List Price: $34.95
Buy New: $15.70
You Save: $19.25 (55%)
Buy New/Used from $15.70
Avg. Customer Rating:  (7 reviews)
Sales Rank: 41854
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.6
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 10.9 x 0.7
ISBN: 1884167330
Dewey Decimal Number: 323.0922
EAN: 9781884167331
ASIN: 1884167330
Publication Date: April 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Through photographs by Eddie Adams and interviews by human rights activist Kerry Kennedy, gripping stories are revealed of 51 men and women around the globe who put their lives on the line, surviving imprisonment, torture, and death threats, because of hope for and dedication to a future where equality is common and oppression rare.
Amazon.com Review
Anonymous wears a black shroud and a hangman's noose. Unnamed and masked, perhaps he or she will avoid the fate suggested in the haunting photograph that graces the cover of this remarkable book. Anonymous is one of the mostly unsung heroes interviewed by Kerry Kennedy Cuomo who are fighting for human rights in places where torture, imprisonment, and death are the side effects of speaking out against such atrocities as child soldiers, sex slavery, honor killings, and repression of political rights. In Anonymous's case, teaching Sudanese women their rights where a civil war is being waged by Islamic extremists could land him or her in a "ghost house" of torture, or, if lucky, in prison for an undetermined amount of time. In an age when heroes seem almost a thing of the past, these 51 human rights defenders demonstrate that real moral courage is alive and well on planet Earth. As Kennedy Cuomo writes in her introduction, these are the Martin Luther Kings of the world, and "courage, with its affirmation of possibility and change, is what defines them." For instance, there is Ka Hsaw Wa, who, after hearing stories of horrific torture and abuse from Burmese villagers, took the bold step of bringing a lawsuit against the American oil company Unocal for using human rights abuses to further its profit margins. To protect himself as he gathers documentation, he travels the jungle in black clothes and has had to interview victims using only his memory for lack of pen and paper. Fauziya Kassindja came to her work through no choice of her own--when she fled Togo to escape genital mutilation she found herself shackled and abandoned in the U.S. prison system, and has become a force for change in both countries. Others have seen a need and filled it, such as Muhammed Yunus, who has achieved miraculous results in Bangladesh by giving small loans to those who no one else would entrust with money--poor women without collateral. The results have been nothing less than the transformation of the women, their families, and the political landscape of a nation. There are also the famous here: Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel, Rigoberta Menchu Tum. Vaclav Havel speaks on becoming a dissident and the divine, while the Dalai Lama talks about compassion, suffering, and nonviolence. These are extraordinary people, and yet they are as human as the rest of us. As Oscar Arias Sanchez says, "One works for justice not for the big victories, but simply because engaging in the struggle is itself worth doing." An inspiring work made beautiful by photographs by renowned photographer Eddie Adams. --Lesley Reed
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Powerful and frightening December 27, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
In the interst of full disclosure, I have not read through this book in its entirety. Nor to I contemplate doing so soon. The perils faced by the men and women who work for justice are often too hard to read in large doses. The savagery of the human heart is grotesque and seemingly insurmountable. Yet men and women of good will, as beautiflly told in this book, find the courage and strength to look into the face of evil and tell it "No."
The stories are taken from all over the world -- the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. They tell of the lonely struggle of those who seemingly cannot stop themselves from pursing freedom and dignity for their fellows. The stories are simultaneously ennobling, terrifying and challenging. Why are we not all fighters for the rights of our neighbors? WHy are we so often craven and complicit with oppresive powers? Why are so few able to face and withstand the fire of persecution?
As I said, "Speak Truth to Power" is not a light read. But the stories are inspiring and need to be told. For this, I thank Kerry Kennedy Cuomo for her introductions and her selection of material, and to Eddie Adams for the stark and powerful images of the men and women who raise us as a species above the level of beasts.
Excellent, touching reading December 28, 2001
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I bought this book for the sole purpose of a class where I was required to do some outside reading. This book was on our recommended reading list. I read the entire book, only one story was required. It was astonishing how these people change the world. I was moved by these stories.
almost religious in its power September 6, 2001
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
The stories and photographs are deeply moving profiles of several of the most courageous people in the world. There are few terms to describe the total power, since I turn to this work on many occasions to gain some inspiration. For someone not immediately interested in the field of human rights, the work is probably not quite as affecting, as personal stories about those who are involved in human rights will be unlikely to move the unconcerned. "Speak Truth to Power" is essential sustenance for the converted.
 Shallow Treatment of a Vital Subject January 1, 2001
9 out of 23 found this review helpful
The people described in this book are true heroes, and their stories make me feel humbled and ashamed. But the book attempts to describe 50 different people. Each person gets 3-6 pages, and at least one of the pages is a photograph, leaving room for only a short, unsatisfying glimpse of each life story. The flyleaf states that "'Speak Truth to Power' is accompanied by a major exhibition opening at The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., then traveling nationally." It almost appears that the story is secondary to the photographs--a pity.
Stories of important and incredible strength and vision December 25, 2000
16 out of 18 found this review helpful
This is an inspirational and important book. The biographical portraits of the human rights activists are compelling, and their stories shocking, infuriating, sad, and ultimately inspirational. These are amazing people - prevailing against enormous odds. You read it in awe of the subjects, and their often appalling stories. The black and white photographic portraits are respectful, serious, and appropriate. The one thing I would change about this book is its "coffee-table-book" presentation. It's not an "art" book, there is intensity of feeling and action in its stories, and so is really too important to browse. In my view the big (and expensive) format invites a sort of readerly casualness that is at odds with the subject. There is outsized courage in these stories, but a surfeit of human suffering and cruelty, too. I wanted to be able to take it with me, and the size of this book makes that impractical. So I hope that it will eventually be published in a more accessible format. Five Amazon stars for excellence in all ways but that one.
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