Saying something worth hearing

Friday February 7th and Tuesday February 11th will be days I remember for the rest of my life.  This is because I got to go out on a Public Diplomacy mission to speak to two high schools about things I'm passionate about.

Since February is Black History Month, the Embassy was looking for speakers to go out and talk about either famous events in Black History, or about how African-American culture has influenced American Culture.  Last year one of the people spoke about the African-American roots of Rock music.  Of course, since I like to hear myself talk and appear to be pretty good at Public Speaking, I volunteered.  I gave them two topics that I am pretty familiar with: The Integration of Little Rock's Central High School, and the Origins of Hip-Hop and its influence on American Culture.  I figured I might get a bite from one of those topics, but never imagined I'd get a chance to present both.

My first presentation was at a High School in Thembisa, located between Johannesburg and Pretoria.  It was a nice school, and they appeared to have been sponsored by Coca-Cola, since a brick bottle of the drink was part of one of the buildings.  The school was very highly thought of, and had been producing great results in graduation rates.  It was located in a township, and the kids came from around the area.  The Principal was very pleased to have us there, and he also was very proud of his school.  I was taken to a classroom with about 30 students aged 17-18.  The topic was "The Origins of Hip-Hop and its influence on American Culture."  I started the PowerPoint slide show, and after the title slide, I had typed this at the top:

"What's this almost middle-aged white guy doing talking about Hip-Hop?"

I then turned to the class and asked who in the room actually thought that?  About half raised their hands.  I then said, "It's ok.  You're not going to hurt my feelings.  Who thought it?"  The rest of the hands went up, and everyone laughed.  That's when I started talking about the history of hip-hop, my love of the music, and how I'd tried to get my hair to look like Kid from Kid n Play.

It was a great talk, and I had tunes for them to listen to, and we discussed how every bit of hip-hop came from a small area in New York called the South Bronx.  No one would have thought that anything coming out of the South Bronx would influence culture, but it did.  I reminded them that no one in the 1950s would have thought that two Nobel Peace Prize winners would have come out of Orlando, Soweto.  They agreed, and some came to tell me they really enjoyed my discussion.

My second presentation was about the Little Rock 9.  I went to a school in Soweto that had recently begun to receive attention for how well it was run, and the kids were graduating at a higher rate than the other schools in the area.  When I came, I was greeted by the teacher, and he assured me this was going to be special.  He took me to their auditorium, and there I saw a mass of seats set up.  I'd expected 30-40 people, but instead I found out later I was speaking to 203 15-18 year old students.  The room had no air conditioner, and it had a tin roof.  It was VERY HOT.  But, since the students were wearing sweaters (their uniform) I kept my jacket on in solidarity.  I explained to the students why I was there, and why I was speaking about these 9 brave teenagers who helped kick-start the civil rights movement.  I told them about how my father went to that school in 1961.  How my great-grandmother lived a block and a half from the school, and that she'd told me when I was much younger that she'd brought lemonade to the 101st airborne because, in her words, "They looked very hot standing there."  Not sure if it was true or not, but knowing my grandma, it wouldn't surprise me.

I also talked to them about what these 9 did after they left school, and how many had moved back to Little Rock later in life, even though they'd been through a lot.  I told them that these 9 teenagers were the same age as they were, and that they'd become a symbol used throughout the 1960s civil rights movement.  I explained that it didn't matter how old you were, that if there was something right, that you should stand for it.  The teacher jumped in with a hearty yes and then added, "Something else he mentioned was that this was all non-violent.  That's a problem we're having right now in our communities: our protests have turned violent.  When that happens, no one remembers what the protest was, just that violence occurred."  He had a point.  Many of the students had taken notes, and some had questions afterwards.  After I gave the school some resources about African American history, the came up to talk some more.  Some wanted to take a picture with me, which I thought was awesome.  Some wanted to ask more questions.  (One of the questions was: "Did the Little Rock 9 have to pay school fees?"  Interesting question actually, since everyone there did have to pay fees, even though this was a public school.)  Most just came to thank me.

I've always wondered what I could have done as a PD officer.  I like my job, don't get me wrong, but seeing all those people listening to me, and maybe taking what I said to heart, really made me happy.  I'll keep doing this when I get a chance, but I'll always remember those two days.