Human Rights (U - Social Activism)

<p>As the grandson of both the legendary civil rights activist César Chávez and the Cuban revolutionary Max Lesnik, Eduardo Chavez is the scion of two revolutionary families.</p><p>Eduardo's political and activist background influenced his feature documentary, <i>Hailing Cesar,</i> released April 2018. </p><p>Since its debut, Eduardo has screened <i>Hailing Cesar</i> and spoken at 50+ universities in 3 different countries.

<p>Justin Hansford is a Howard University School of Law Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center. </p><p>Professor Hansford was previously a Democracy Project Fellow at Harvard University, a Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, and an Associate Professor of Law at Saint Louis University. He has a B.A. from Howard University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was a founder of the Georgetown Journal of Law and Modern Critical Race Perspectives.

<p>Nadya Okamoto is the Founder and Executive Director of PERIOD (period.org), an organization she founded at the age of 16. PERIOD is now the largest youth-run NGO in women’s health, and one of the fastest growing ones here in the United States.</p><p>Since 2014, PERIOD has addressed over 900,000 periods and registered over 600 campus chapters in all 50 states and 30 other countries. In 2017, Nadya ran for office in Cambridge, MA. While she did not win, her campaign team made historic waves in mobilizing young people on the ground and at polls.

<p>Author of <em>On A Move </em>and Star of HBO documentary <em>40 Years A Prisoner,</em> Mike was born in a jail cell and freed his innocent parents from 40 years of incarceration. He pushes his revolutionary message with his dynamic stage performances mixing music with speeches.</p><p>Mike is the son of 2 political prisoners who were sentenced to 100 years in prison. Mike was secretly born in a Philadelphia prison following a police raid on his family’s home.

<p>Lual Mayen is the founder of Junub Games. He has a rich story from growing up as a refugee to becoming a game developer. </p><p>For 22 of his 24 years of life, Mayen lived in a refugee camp in northern Uganda. A few years back, Mayen saw a laptop computer at a registration station for the refugee camp. He told his mother he wanted one. She saved money for three years to get the $300 to buy it for him. He discovered Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and the joy of playing at an internet cafe.

<p>On October 7, 1998, 21-year-old Matthew Shepard, son of Judy and Dennis Shepard, was brutally attacked, tied to a fence in a field outside of Laramie, Wyoming, and left to die. In the aftermath of Matt’s death – an anti-gay hate crime - Judy and Dennis Shepard started the Matthew Shepard Foundation to honor his life and aspirations.

<p>Cameron Kasky is an American activist and advocate against gun violence who co-founded the student-led gun control advocacy group Never Again MSD.</p>

<p>He is also the co-founder of March for Our Lives nationwide student protest in March 2018. Kasky is a survivor of the February 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He’s been featured in <i>Time Magazine</i>, and has appeared in dozens of talk shows, podcasts and news station throughout the U.S.</p>

<p>Susan D. Bro honors the legacy of her daughter and civil rights activist Heather Heyer by empowering others to make a difference in the world by fighting for equal rights for all.</p><p>Susan is the mother of Heather Heyer and the co-founder of the Heather Heyer Foundation (HHF). Susan launched the foundation to carry on the legacy of her daughter, Heather, a young a paralegal for the Miller Law Group who had a love for all individuals regardless of race, religion or creed.

<p>Damon Davis brings a powerful blend of social commentary and art therapy to audiences to help heal divisions, empower the powerless, and illuminate issues of race and class in society. </p>

<p>Long known as a speaker who inspires with narratives that demonstrate the power of one, Kerry Kennedy addresses sustainable investments, social change, and the capacity of the human spirit to thrive despite overwhelming obstacles.  </p>