Bianca Jagger To Receive Second Annual Michael J. Kennedy Social Justice Award

Bianca Jagger

International human rights advocate Bianca Jagger will be in Washington, DC on Monday, September 11, 2017, to receive the Michael J. Kennedy Social Justice Award from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), at our annual conference.

The inscription on the award reads as follows: “To Bianca Jagger, in recognition of your lifetime commitment to achieving social justice for all people, especially those without the resources or social standing to achieve justice on their own. Your willingness to speak for the underdog, the disenfranchised and the unpopular, like Michael Kennedy himself, has defined you exemplary personal and professional life.”

She campaigns to end capital punishment and violence against women and girls, and advocates for the rights of indigenous peoples and future generations.

She is founder, president and chief executive of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation, which she established in 2005 to be a force for change and a voice for the most vulnerable. She is Council of Europe Good Will Ambassador, a member of the executive director’s Leadership Council for Amnesty International USA, IUCN Bonn Challenge Ambassador; and Senior Fellow, Center for International Governance Innovation

Bianca Jagger was born in Managua, Nicaragua in 1950 and left her native country when she was 17 to study political science in Paris with a scholarship from the French government. Her human rights advocacy has taken her to many countries, including Nicaragua, Honduras, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq; and she has been the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the Right Livelihood Award (2004) also known as the “alternative Nobel prize”.

Other awards have included The United Nations Earth Day International Award (1994); The Abolitionist of the Year Award by the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (1996); The Amnesty International USAA Media Spotlight Award for Leadership (1997); The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Champion of Justice award (2000); The American Civil Liberties Award (1998); the World Achievement Award (2004); and the World Citizenship Award from the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

The Michael J. Kennedy Social Justice Award, named after the late Michael J. Kennedy, the legendary civil rights and criminal defense attorney (and general counsel to High Times magazine from its inception in 1974 until his death in early 2016), was established with the blessing of the Kennedy family to honor those individuals who, like Michael Kennedy, dedicate their lives to advancing the cause of social justice in America. Eleanora Kennedy, Michael’s widow, and their daughter Anna Safir, will speak at the ceremony, reminding us of Michael’s 40-year support for NORML and our mission to legalize marijuana.

The award will be presented to Ms. Jagger by nationally known civil rights and criminal rights lawyer Gerald H. Goldstein, the first recipient of this award in 2016.

Those interested can purchase tickets to the 2017 NORML Conference and Congressional Lobby Day here.