Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum October 17, 2006

A Special Conversation with Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum
October 17, 2006 | 7:00 PM | Bovard Auditorium
General Public: $10
USC Faculty/Staff, Senior Citizens: $8
USC Students with valid ID: $5

Rigoberta Menchú Tum was born to a poor Indian peasant family and raised in the Quiche branch of the Mayan culture. In her early years she helped with the family farm work, in the northern highlands and on the Pacific coast, where both adults and children picked coffee on the big plantations.

Rigoberta Menchú Tum became prominent in the women’s rights movement when still only a teenager. In 1979 her brother was arrested, tortured and killed by the army. The following year, her father was killed when security forces in the capital stormed the Spanish Embassy. Shortly afterwards, her mother also died after having been arrested, tortured and raped. Rigoberta Menchú Tum became increasingly active in the Committee of the Peasant Union, and taught herself Spanish as well as other Mayan languages than her native Quiche.

In 1983, she told her life story to Elisabeth Burgos Debray. The resulting book, called in English, I, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, is a gripping human document that attracted considerable international attention. On at least three occasions, Rigoberta Menchú Tum has returned to Guatemala to plead the cause of the Indian peasants, but death threats have forced her to return into exile.

Over the years, Rigoberta Menchú Tum has become widely known as a leading advocate of Indian rights and ethno-cultural reconciliation, not only in Guatemala but in the Western Hemisphere generally, and her work has earned her several international awards. She was the recipient of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize and Prince of Asturias Award in 1998.

Official Website: http://www.usc.edu/spectrum