Mulugeta Seraw

Ethiopian human rights advocate who transformed US hate crime legislation through personal tragedy

Mulugeta Seraw (b. 1963) became a pivotal figure in civil rights advocacy after surviving a brutal hate crime in 1988 that left him permanently disabled. The attack by white supremacists in Portland, Oregon, led him to co-found the Hate Crime Institute. His testimony before Congress directly influenced the passage of the Hate Crime Statistics Act (1990) and the Matthew Shepard Act (2009). Despite his physical limitations, Seraw earned a law degree from Howard University while advocating for victims of hate crimes globally.

His leadership in the Global Justice Collective helped establish hate crime tracking systems in 17 countries. Seraw's 2005 memoir From Ashes to Advocacy remains a key resource in human rights education. He currently serves as UN Special Rapporteur on Hate Speech, maintaining his advocacy through the Sera Network for at-risk communities. His story is chronicled in the documentary Unbroken Spirit (2015), which premiered at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival.