Speak Truth to Power : Human Rights Defenders Who Are Changing Our World [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

~ Eddie Adams (Author), Nan Richardson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

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. Václav 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

Review

I cried tears of sadness, joy, and hope. Eloquent and illuminating, these people, from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America have much to say and much to teach us about courage, personal fulfillment, and the human spirit. They are an inspiration.
-- Muhammad Ali

Speak Truth to Power gives us an insight into the power of the human spirit. It tells us why and how men and women all over the world struggle against oppression, injustice, and cruelty. There is horror but there is also immense hope in this world where dedicated people translate their commitment to human rights into action.
-- Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Prize Laureate

You cannot kill an idea, you cannot imprison freedom. The lives of the common women and men in this book, heroes every one, inspire all who believe in liberty and justice. This book is a tribute to the human spirit and proof of the capacity of one person of courage to triumph over overwhelming evil.
-- President Nelson Mandela

In one of the most compelling and remarkable examples of exemplary journalism, Eddie Adams and Kerry Kennedy Cuomo have achieved the most breathtaking storytelling possible.
-- Walter Anderson, Parade Publications -- Review

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Crown; 1st edition (September 19, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812930622
• ISBN-13: 978-0812930627
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 11.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #273,490 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful stories and photos - AMAZING, October 6, 2000

By	Craig L Bacheller II (Brooklyn, Ny USA) - See all my reviews

This book has seriously gripped me from the first time that I saw the book. The personalized stories are not only remarkable, but so completely unbelievable, that they each require time to settle, reflect, and reread. I have never been so angry, appalled, sad, impressed, and completely humbled in a single sitting.

The photos by Eddie Adams are gripping in their sublime and soft tones making the book a really incredible purchase. My only hope is that more people see this.

Excellent work Ms. Cuomo!

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stories of important and incredible strength and vision, December 24, 2000

By	Eileen Galen (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, touching reading, December 27, 2001

By	tom Piper (Akron, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

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.