Ndaba Mandela, Grandson of Nelson Mandela, Other Activists Issue Calls for Change at Kean Human Rights Conference

Kean University’s 16th annual Human Rights Conference celebrated the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on Friday, December 8, issuing a powerful call to action: be a changemaker. 

The featured speaker, Ndaba Mandela, the grandson of the late South Africa president Nelson Mandela, shared the lessons he learned from his grandfather, a man he said could touch the humanity of every person he met.

“His life is a testament to the belief that standing up for what is right isn’t just a choice but a duty,” he said.

Sophia Kianni, a 21-year-old climate change activist and United Nations advisor, and John Prendergast, a New York Times best-selling author and co-founder of the human rights organization The Sentry, joined Mandela in addressing the conference entitled, Freedom, Equity and Justice for All: One Person Can Make a Difference.

“Our speakers today have lit the torch and will share their light with you today,” Kean President Lamont O. Repollet, Ed.D., said in his opening remarks. “I hope that you leave here prepared to ask the difficult questions, committed to finding innovative solutions, and empowered to be the change makers we know you can be, we need you to be.”  

Wilkins Theatre on Kean’s Union campus was packed with high school students, Kean students, faculty and others for the conference, which marked the anniversary of the U.N.’s worldwide pronouncement in 1948 that upholds and protects the fundamental rights of all people.

The document served as a “beacon of hope” for the late Nelson Mandela while he was imprisoned for 27 years for opposing apartheid, Ndaba Mandela said.

“As we stand here today, let us remember the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights was only the beginning,” he said. “The pursuit of  human rights is never static. It requires constant vigilance and engagement. The journey is both a collective and individual endeavor.” 

Prendergast and Kianni each delivered inspiring messages, sharing their stories and calling on the audience to take action to enact change. Prendergast said students have played “a crucial role in moving the needle forward” throughout history on social and human rights issues ranging from apartheid to “blood diamonds.”

The activist said he once spoke face-to-face with the late Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, to convince him to change his company’s practices in buying minerals mined in war-torn countries.

“Mass injustices can be effectively countered and stopped,” Prendergast said. “We need to loudly proclaim that these injustices cannot be allowed to occur. Not on our watch.”

Kianni’s environmental group, Climate Cardinals, has grown to involve more than 10,000 volunteers internationally since she started it as a teenager. She said there are “so many ways” students can make a positive impact and noted the power of social media in sparking a social justice movement. She encouraged the students in attendance to organize, and be brave.

“Fear of failure held me back for so long,” Kianni said. “We are at an unprecedented time in history for young people to make a difference. You can be a TikTok video away from doing something to make your community or world a much better place.”

Students in the crowd were energized.

Margaret Perez, 17, a senior at Monmouth Regional High School, said the conference was “very impactful.” She also came away with a bag of Kean gear for winning first place in an online quiz played during the conference.

“I feel everybody here probably feels some kind of desire to take action – it really is a call to action,” she said.

Michael Bonner, a Kean sophomore from Westfield, said he was “uplifted,” especially by Kianni’s advice for students to believe in themselves.

“It took me a long time to realize I am the only person that needs to believe in myself,” he said. 

The New Jersey State Teacher of the Year, Monmouth Regional social studies teacher Joseph Nappi, attended with his class.

“It’s so important for students to see these people who are making a difference,” said Nappi, who also won the Human Rights Institute’s Dr. Hank Kaplowitz Outstanding Human Rights Educator Award in 2017. 

Prendergast said Kean’s Human Rights Institute and Human Rights Conference are a catalyst for the students in the audience, who ranged in age from middle school to college.

“Kean is a unique place.There’s a real commitment here,” Prendergast said. “This isn’t just, ‘if it happens, it happens.’ There’s a system-wide commitment to foster activism and social change.”

The conference included the presentation of the following awards:

• Outstanding Human Rights Activist – Ndaba Thembekile Mandela
• Outstanding Young Human Rights Activist – Sophia Kianni
• Outstanding Student Human Rights Activist – Kean junior Sara Mora, a political science student from Hillside
• Hank Kaplowitz Outstanding Human Rights Educator – awarded posthumously to Tamika Pollins, Ed.D., a senior administrator in the West Orange School District 
• Outstanding Human Rights School Community of the Year – Team Harmony of Randolph High School