Defending Human Rights
Kerry Kennedy & Barbara Frey
May 13
 |
 |
Kerry Kennedy got her start in human rights in 1981 when, as a sophomore in college, she worked for Amnesty International documenting abuses committed by U.S. immigration officials against refugees from El Salvador. Since then, she has dedicated her life to the pursuit of justice, leading 40 human rights delegations to 27 countries worldwide.
In 1984, in honor of her father, Kennedy established the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights (CHR), a division of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial. The CHR engages in long-term partnerships with RFK’s social justice activists to initiate and support social justice movements. The CHR also leverages professional human rights staff, the Kennedy family, and their networks to advocate for change.
Kennedy is also the author of Speak Truth to Power: Human Rights Defenders Who Are Changing Our World (2000). She has since produced a play of the same name, which has been performed around the world, including Minneapolis. A graduate of Brown University and Boston College of Law, Kennedy has been recognized with two honorary doctorates.
Barbara Frey is director of the U of M’s Human Rights Program, an interdisciplinary research center housed in the Institute of Global Studies in the College of Liberal Arts.
An international human rights advocate for more than two decades, she founded the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights and served as its executive director from 1985-96. Under her leadership, Minnesota Advocates grew from a small volunteer group to the largest human rights organization in the Midwest.
In 2002, the United Nations appointed Frey to study how countries could prevent human rights violations committed with small arms and light weapons. She has also been the recipient of numerous honors for her work, including the Twin Cities International Citizen Award, the first lustitia et Lex Award from the University of St. Thomas Law School, and the Myra Bradwell Award from Minnesota Women Lawyers.
Frey is a 1982 graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School.
