Free-speech advocates Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion, political activist, and chairman of the Renew Democracy Initiative; Evan Mawarire, Zimbabwean pastor, democratic activist, and director of education at the Renew Democracy Initiative; and Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, discussed the state of free expression in the United States, Russia, Zimbabwe and around the world. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderated.
This program was presented in partnership with the Renew Democracy Initiative and the Center for Constitutional Design at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.
Participants
Garry Kasparov is chairman of the Renew Democracy Initiative. Now a Russian dissident in exile, he is a former world chess champion and Russian opposition politician. He is the author of several books, including Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped. He also serves as the chairman of the Human Rights Foundation.
Evan Mawarire is director of education at Renew Democracy Initiative, where he also hosts RDI’s Front Lines of Freedom podcast. He is the founder of the #ThisFlag Citizen Movement in Zimbabwe, which sought to confront corruption, injustice, and poverty, and was instrumental in unseating Robert Mugabe. He is also a Reagan-Fascell Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy, former fellow at Stanford University’s Centre for Democracy Development and the Rule of Law, and a 2020 Yale University World Fellow.
Suzanne Nossel is chief executive officer at PEN America. She is the author of Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All and previously served as the chief operating officer of Human Rights Watch and as executive director of Amnesty International USA.
Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.
