The Foreign Service Journal, April 2022

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2022 67 Our future is bright if we can channel the courage of the ambassadors featured in this film. cile this contradiction, the more credible and ultimately effective our foreign policy will be. Reimagining the Future One of my favorite lines in the film is when Ambassador Aurelia Brazeal states: “Optimism is the currency of diplomacy.” The film’s backdrop is heavy; it’s set against Jim Crow, segregation and protests erupting across the coun- try, including nine Black high school students wading through an angry mob to attend class at Little Rock Central High School in 1957. This darkness continues into the present moment. In the summer of 2020, the murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and so many others sparked a wave of protests demanding racial justice not just in our own country, but around the world. Last summer, the Biden administration took a significant step in answering this call through an executive order , the first of its kind, task- ing every government agency to develop concrete plans to advance diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. When Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstan- ley reflected on Ambassador Todman’s legacy during a recent panel discussion, she said his story gives her hope. We have the possibility of reimagining our future and living up to our ideals, if we channel the courage of those who came before us. n Maryum Saifee is a career Foreign Service officer and senior adviser in the Secretary’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Her over- seas postings include Cairo, Baghdad, Erbil and Lahore. In Washington, she has served in the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, the Secretary’s Office of Religion, and Global Affairs, and in the Bureau of Interna- tional Organization Affairs. The views in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent those of the State Department or the U.S. government.