R 170916Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAMAKO
TO AMEMBASSY PARIS 
INFO SECSTATE WASHDC 0242
ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BAMAKO 000234 
 
 
PARIS FOR ARS (DWINTON, LCOWHER) 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/PD (TITUS, LISENBY), AF/W (NARKIS), IIP/G/AF 
(MURPHY) 
POSTS FOR PAO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PHUM KPAO ML
SUBJECT: Eager Malian Audiences Learn about U.S. Civil Rights from 
ARS/IIP Speaker Austin 
 
¶1. Summary. From March 22 - 27, ARS/IIP Speaker Sheldon Austin 
delighted Malian audiences with lectures on the American Civil 
Rights movement from the early days of slavery through the 
inauguration of President Obama.  Whether part of an audience of 600 
students or at a roundtable of journalists, interlocutors were 
fascinated by this aspect of U.S. society and eager to apply the 
American experience to Malian reality.  This speaker's program 
successfully encouraged open and honest debate on issues such as 
rule of law, modern day slavery in Mali, and the importance of 
non-violence. Such a review of American history gave the positive 
message that change was possible and reinforced the hopeful feeling 
engendered in Malian minds by the election of President Obama, 
ensuring a positive atmosphere throughout the program.  Austin's 
excellent grasp of the subject, his fluent French, and his down to 
earth and open nature further amplified the messages of hope and 
tolerance that pervaded all of his programs.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. Venues:  On March 23, Austin lectured over 600 university 
students on the topic of African American History and Achievements 
of the Black Community.  American Fulbright professor Rosemary 
Traore, who teaches at the university, praised the effectiveness of 
the program, noting that it was rare for so many students to sit 
through a 2 hour program without people getting up and leaving for 
other classes.  The students were clearly taken with Austin's broad, 
but informative, overview of U.S. civil rights history.  Those 
English students who had a strong background in American history 
asked pointed questions about the role of militant groups such as 
the Black Panthers in this process.  Austin used this opportunity to 
highlight the success of non-violence in the civil rights movement, 
an important message on a university campus that recently witnessed 
violence in connection with student government elections.  Austin 
repeated these same themes at the higher faculty later that day to 
an audience of over 100 Malian professors and masters students. 
While the first lecture was in French, the second one was in 
English. 
 
On March 24, Austin addressed a crowd of 100 Malian intellectuals 
and elites, many of them alumni of USG exchange programs, on the 
Civil Rights movement in the United States.  The audience was 
equally enthusiastic in their response and raised issues such as 
slavery in Mali and the importance of the rule of law in creating an 
environment suitable for positive societal change.  Coverage of this 
debate was aired on Malian national television that reaches close to 
2 million Malians. 
 
On March 25, Austin participated in a round table discussion with 
nine Malian radio journalists on President Obama's book Dreams From 
My Father.  As all of the participants had received copies of the 
book prior to the program, they were able to participate in an 
animated discussion of the messages and themes of the book.  The 
program was so successful that two of the journalists subsequently 
invited Austin to appear as guests on their shows.  Later that 
afternoon, Austin repeated his lecture on African American history 
to a group of 100 students at a local study center. 
 
On March 27, Austin participated in a television interview on 
regional satellite channel AFRICABLE (which reaches 300 million 
viewers throughout francophone Africa) on President Obama's book 
Dreams From My Father.  He later hosted an intimate discussion with 
LES colleagues at the U.S. Embassy on the topic of the civil rights 
movement in America. 
 
¶4. Effectiveness of the Speaker: Sheldon Austin is an engaging and 
polished speaker.  He knows his subject and is talented in his 
ability to speak fluent French.  Perhaps most importantly, he is 
extremely flexible and gracious - characteristics that are 
particularly valued in West Africa.  While he had originally 
prepared to do his first lecture in English, he was sensitive to the 
fact that non-English speakers had crowded into the room to listen 
and, without missing a beat, moved to the French version of his 
presentation.  Whether accepting late-breaking changes in his 
interview time with AFRICABLE or readily accepting new invitations 
on Malian radio stations, Austin was a professional in every sense 
of the word. 
 
¶5. Quality of ARS/IIP Support: IIP was generous in its response to 
this program request, and ARS provided its usual outstanding level 
of support.  In addition to facilitating communications and planning 
prior to the speaker's departure, ARS laid a great foundation for 
the program by regularly sending materials in support of programming 
related to President Obama. 
 
¶6. Immediate Results/Impact:  This program received very positive 
reviews from participants in all of the events.  In addition to 
further reinforcing positive Malian impressions of American society, 
this program served an important opening in engaging Malian 
university students on key issues of civic education and tolerance. 
We hope to build on the program with more targeted outreach on youth 
participation in the democratic process. 
 
¶7. Media attention:  As noted, Malian national television covered 
Austin's lecture on March 24, and he participated in an interview on 
AFRICABLE on March 27.  Austin also participated in two interviews 
on Malian radio stations, including one on an important Islamic 
radio in Bamako. 
 
 
Leonard