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On October 25 Kerry Kennedy delivered a compelling lecture at the University of Deusto highlighting critical issues of social justice, equality and the global struggle for human rights, drawing on her extensive experience in activism and legal advocacy. Her phrase resounded in a beautifully filled auditorium: “The difference between a victim and a hero is activism with a loving heart, acting with a loving heart”. 

Kerry was 9 years old when she felt his father, Robert F. Kennedy, being murdered to avoid him from winning the elections with a program in favor of human rights for all. That same year, the best known leader of the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King, was also assassinated. Violence thus put the brakes on years in which the collaboration between social movements and politics, between Martin Luther King and the brothers John and Robert Kennedy, were bringing about great transformations in the United States that were also bringing about transformations in the rest of the world.

Kerry Kennedy was very young, but she dedicates the rest of her life to activism and “to act with a loving heart. The RFK Human Rights Foundation, created in honor of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, is a non-profit organization that brings together defense lawyers, writers and entrepreneurs with the goal of building a more just and peaceful world. It collaborates with human rights activists to promote lasting change in governments and corporations, and supports journalists and authors through the renowned RFK Journalism and Book Awards from its Washington, D.C. and New York headquarters.  The Rector recalled how since the early 60’s the University of Deusto has carried out activities around John and Robert Kennedy, with the impetus of the Harvard PhD and then Dean of the Faculty of Law Jose Antonio Obieta. Deusto stands out for its dedication to this subject with an important institute of Human Rights whose director Gorka Urrutia was also present at the table presiding the event

Assistant Lecturer at the University of the Basque Country

By Garazi Álvarez Guerrero

Assistant Lecturer at the University of the Basque Country