The Foreign Service Journal, May 2022

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY 2022 81 But the high point of the week was a trip to the village of Stolac to visit the “poster child” of segregated schools. Here, the principals of the divided high school did not even speak to one another. They did, however, give permission for Mr. King to address a joint student body. Mr. King was so moved by the interaction with the students, he returned a year later to officially cut the ribbon for an embassy- funded Dr. King Reading Room, a space open to all pupils at once. Shortly after, as a follow-up to this remarkable event, the U.S. Navy, through the embassy defense attaché’s office, invited the high school students to jointly tour the USS Higgins when it was visiting the nearby Bosnian port of Neum.The stu- dents even rode the bus there together. A few days later, I received a tele- phone call fromSvetlana Broz, the head of a local nongovernmental organization that focuses on teaching adolescents to confront corruption and to battle social and political discord.The embassy had not previously worked withMs. Broz; she was not keen on working with Americans. During our meeting, I asked her why now. She responded that the King legacy is what attracted her to the embassy. (Ms. Broz is the granddaughter of Josip Broz Tito, who as president of Yugoslavia from 1953 until his death in 1980 maintained the peaceful coexistence of the nations of the Yugoslav Federation.) b Back in the nation’s capital, on Oct. 17, 2011, the day after the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial was officially dedicated, Mr. King came to the State Department to par- ticipate in a global conversation focused on his father’s legacy. We held watch parties at our American Corners overseas, and the event was streamed online. The result was a discussion on inclusion and nonviolence with people from 25 coun- tries on five continents. This was the State Department broadcasting the example of the Nobel Peace Prize–winning Dr. King far and wide. b Several years later, while I was posted in Romania, U.S. Embassy Bucharest put a great deal of effort into assisting that coun- try in dealing with its own inclusion issues. The Roma, also known by the pejorative term “Gypsies,” were often looked down upon, discriminated against and even subjected to violence at the hands of less tolerant people. Mr. King was invited for a few days to share his father’s message on nonviolence and equality. Aside froma well-covered public address in Bucharest, Mr. King was also asked to speak in Transylvania at the Uni- versity of Brasov.The university was very excited to be hosting him. On arrival we found the staff hurriedly unfolding chairs, filling up every vacant spot they could find throughout the lecture hall. According to the dean, a nearby high school had called and insisted that they, too, be allowed to join in this “once in a lifetime” event. After the successful visit, we wanted to domore to keep the King legacy and exam- ple of service alive and current. In 2014, working with American Councils in Roma- nia, we developed 4/4 for Friends.This program—marking the April 4 anniversary of Dr. King’s martyrdom—established a day dedicated to volunteerism, which was not widely practiced in Romania. The program resulted in thousands of hours of service withmore than 4,000 volunteers throughout 38 of the 40 counties in Romania, all in a single day. Not only did the U.S. ambassador participate, but so did Romanian celebrities, such as a recent Olympic goldmedalist, famous actors, well-knownmusicians and even amember of the royal family.This event is now held annually. At this writing, based on registra- tions, participation this year is estimated to be greater than 20,000. b Working withMr. King, we drew on the United States’ troubled and imperfect past and offered it as an example for other nations struggling with their own issues of inclusion. We were not shrinking fromour history, but rather using it as a valuable illustration to help other countries experi- encing similar trials and tribulations. We were being true global leaders, through the power of our example. n Invited by the U.S. Navy, Stolac high school students jointly toured the USS Higgins at the port of Neum. ADNANBUJACK/U.S.EMBASSYSARAJEVO During the 4/4 for Friends annual event in Romania, volunteers plant trees and clean up public facilities and spaces. AMERICANCOUNCILSROMANIA