On May 9, 2016, Kerry Kennedy, President of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, will introduce the global human rights education initiative - Speak Truth To Power - in Lisbon, Portugal, with a staging of Ariel Dorfman’s play, Speak Truth To Power Voices From Beyond the Dark, based on Kennedy’s book, Speak Truth To Power Human Rights Defenders Who Are Changing Our World. Speak Truth To Power, a global initiative inspired by Kennedy's book, uses the experiences of courageous defenders from around the world to educate students and others about human rights and urge them to take action.
“We are thrilled to be bringing Speak Truth to Power to Portugal,” said Executive Director of Speak Truth To Power, John Heffernan. “Our future depends upon the next generation becoming informed and taking action. The Speak Truth to Power curriculum empowers students to be agents of change. We are honored to be working with Portuguese schools to create a more just and peaceful world.”
In partnership with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the U.S. Embassy and the Austrian Embassy and University of Lisbon, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights has developed a Portuguese curriculum, which tells the stories of universal Speak Truth to Power defenders such as South African Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu and Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai.
Kerry Kennedy will introduce the Speak Truth To Power initiative before the performance of the play directed by Joao Maria Andre. Kennedys’ remarks and the performance of Speak Truth To Power: Voices From Beyond the Dark will open the two-day conference “Human Rights in the Challenging 21st Century - Globalizing Dignity,” which will take place May 9-10 in Lisbon.
The performance at the National Theatre – Speak Truth To Power: Voices from Beyond the Dark – is a play based on the powerful interviews by Kerry Kennedy. It has been performed by both amateur and professional actors worldwide, including Sean Penn, Meryl Streep, Viggo Mortensen, John Malkovich and Sigourney Weaver. In Lisbon, celebrated actors from the Bonifrates Theater Company will perform the play.