Kerry Kennedy facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kerry Kennedy
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Kennedy in 2024
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Mary Kerry Kennedy
September 8, 1959 Washington, D. C., U.S.
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| Education | Brown University (BA) Boston College (JD) |
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| Known for | Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (President) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | |
| Family | Kennedy family |
Mary Kerry Kennedy (born September 8, 1959) is an American lawyer, author, and human rights activist. She is a member of the famous Kennedy family. Her father was Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and her uncle was President John F. Kennedy.
Kerry Kennedy is the president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, an organization that works to protect people's rights all over the world.
Contents
Early Life and School
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Mary Kerry Kennedy was born in Washington, D.C. to Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel. When she was just a baby, her father helped run his brother John F. Kennedy's successful campaign for president.
Kerry grew up in Virginia and Massachusetts. When she was three years old, she was in a documentary film called Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment. The film showed her saying hello on the phone to a government official from her father's office. At the time, her father was the U.S. Attorney General.
Her father was killed in 1968 when she was eight years old. As a young adult, Kerry graduated from The Putney School in Vermont and then Brown University. She later earned a law degree from Boston College Law School.
Career as an Activist
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Kerry Kennedy has spent her life fighting for equal justice and protecting people's basic rights. A human rights activist is someone who works to make sure everyone is treated fairly and safely.
Her work in human rights began in 1981. She was an intern for Amnesty International, a group that helps people who are treated unfairly. She looked into how U.S. officials were treating refugees from a war in El Salvador.
For more than 30 years, she has worked on many human rights issues, including:
- Children's rights
- Ending child labor
- Helping find people who have been forced to disappear
- Protecting the land of indigenous groups
- Making sure courts are fair and independent
- Protecting freedom of expression (the right to share your ideas)
- Stopping violence and discrimination against women
She has traveled to more than 60 countries and has led hundreds of groups to investigate and help with human rights problems.
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
In 1986, Kennedy started a program at the RFK Center to protect the rights listed in the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights. This program supports human rights defenders around the world. The Center finds out about abuses like torture and child labor and asks the U.S. government to focus on human rights in its relationships with other countries.
She also started RFK Compass, which works with business leaders on responsible investing, and the RFK Training Institute in Italy, which teaches human rights activists from all over the globe.
Kennedy has also been a leader for many other groups, including Amnesty International USA, Human Rights First, and the United States Institute of Peace.
In 2009, she traveled to Ecuador to support a group of people in a lawsuit against the Chevron Corporation. The lawsuit was about damage to the environment and people's health caused by an oil field. She wrote articles to bring attention to their cause.
Fighting for Fair Laws
Kennedy has worked to change laws to make the justice system fairer. She was very involved in the case of Kalief Browder, a teenager from New York who was held in jail for three years without a trial.
She supported a new law in New York called "Kalief's Law." This law would make sure that people who are arrested get a "speedy trial" and don't have to wait in jail for years. The law passed in the New York State Assembly but did not pass in the New York State Senate at the time. Kennedy continues to fight for this cause.
In 2017, her organization paid the $100,000 bail for Pedro Hernandez, a 17-year-old who had been in jail for over a year without a trial. Bail is money paid to a court so that an arrested person can leave jail until their trial. Soon after he was released, the charges against him were dropped.
Helping Immigrant Families
In 2018, the U.S. government started a policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the border. Kennedy believed this was wrong and against the law.
She helped start the "Break Bread, Not Families" campaign to raise money and support for reuniting these families. Many famous people, including actors and politicians, joined the campaign. They would fast (not eat) for 24 hours to bring attention to the issue.
Kennedy also protested outside a detention center in Texas where children were being held. She wanted to talk to officials about the children's living conditions.
Author and Editor
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Kennedy has also written and edited books about important topics.
- Being Catholic Now: In 2008, she edited this book of essays. It features well-known Americans talking about their faith and the Catholic Church.
- Robert F. Kennedy: Ripples of Hope: In 2018, she published this book of interviews. She talked to famous leaders like Barack Obama, activists like Gloria Steinem, and artists like Bono. They all discussed how her father, Robert F. Kennedy, inspired them.
Awards and Honors
Kennedy has received many awards for her work. She has honorary degrees from several colleges. Some of her awards include:
- Woman of the Year in 2001 from Save the Children.
- The Eleanor Roosevelt Medal of Honor in 2008.
- The 2009 Human Rights Award from World Vision and International AIDS Trust.
- The Medal for Social Activism in 2017 from the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates.
Personal Life
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On June 9, 1990, Kerry Kennedy married Andrew Cuomo. They have three daughters: twins Cara and Mariah (born in 1995), and Michaela (born in 1997). Kennedy and Cuomo divorced in 2005.
See also
In Spanish: Kerry Kennedy para niños
