BLACK HISTORY MONTH SPEAKER RANSOM ELECTRIFIES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 000345

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN (PERRY)
INFO SCA/PPD (VAN DE VATE),IIP/G/NEA-SA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO PREL TX US

SUBJECT: BLACK HISTORY MONTH SPEAKER RANSOM ELECTRIFIES
TURKMENISTAN

SUMMARY
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1. (U) At a watershed moment in Turkmenistan's modern history,
Black History Month Speaker Dr. Elbert Ransom energized and inspired
audiences in Ashgabat, Mary and Dashoguz during his visit to
Turkmenistan from March 8-16. Dr. Ransom's bold oratory style,
unusually warm personality and gripping retelling of key events of
the U.S. Civil Rights Movement had its greatest impact with large
student groups at universities in Ashgabat and Mary and with U.S.
Government alumni and civic activists. A meeting with members of a
government Trade Union provided a stark contrast -- revealing local
government officials' lack of confidence in, or basic understanding
of the role of unions, schools and civic groups in a democracy. But
as one professor of History at Turkmen State University whispered to
an embassy officer, "He has opened my eyes." Post is eager to
follow up with further programming to capitalize on this positive
reaction, at a time when the local government and public of
Turkmenistan is facing an uncertain transition to greater openness
and may not fully grasp the potential -- both positive and negative
-- of social change. Post is grateful for the support of IIP for
Dr. Ransom's visit. End Summary.

FILM FESTIVAL IN CELEBRATION OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH
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2. (U) As part of Dr. Ransom's program, post, in cooperation with
Turkmenistan's Ministry of Culture and Television and Radio
Broadcasting, hosted a Black History Month Film Festival at
Ashgabat's Magtymguly State Music and Drama Theater on March 9-12.
The films --"Mighty Times: The Story of Rosa Parks," "The Color
Purple," "Ray" and "Malcolm X" were in English, while the concluding
film, "Amistad" was in English with Russian subtitles. State media
turned out full coverage of the March 9 opening event and the
festival (septel). Each screening drew 70-130 people, many from
Ashgabat's universities, where Dr. Ransom and concurrent U.S.
Speaker Dr. James Gregory Payne had recently given presentations.
Because of restrictions on advertising publicly, post handed out
flyers on the film festival to students and teachers at each event.
(Note: Public Affairs staff also "talk up" events and embassy
resources in taxi cabs and other chance venues as a standard
practice, because post is prohibited from posting flyers in public
spaces without coordinating this formally with the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs. End Note.)


3. (U) Dr. Ransom introduced the first film, the IIP documentary,
"Mighty Times," with personal on-stage remarks about Rosa Parks and
segregation in the southern United States; the film depicted how the
mild but deliberate action of Rosa Parks -- refusing to give up her
bus seat to a white man in contravention of local segregation laws
-- sparked the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. Diplomats and students
at the event clamored to meet Dr. Ransom after the screening, and
Turkmen State Television took interviews with Dr. Ransom, PAO, and
speaker Dr. Payne.

YOUNG AUDIENCES OPEN, WELCOMING AND EXPRESSIVE
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4. (U) Dr. Ransom was universally well received by young audiences
at Turkmen State University (where he spoke twice, to students of
the English and history faculties),Turkmen-Turkish University, the
Azadi World Languages Institute and the Mary Power-Engineering
Institute (in Mary City),Turkmen-Turkish High School (for boys, in
Ashgabat) as well as at the Mary and Dashoguz American Corners,
Counterpart Civil Society Resource Center in Ashgabat, and the
Ashgabat International School. Probably the greatest visible
reaction to Dr. Ransom's and Dr. Payne's (septel) programs was at
the International Turkmen-Turkish University, where an audience of
200 engaged with Dr. Ransom in a lively question-and-answer session
that showed student interest in both the personal and political
aspects of the Civil Rights Movement.


5. (U) In these meetings Dr. Ransom recounted how he came to become
a friend of and work as an aide to Dr. Martin Luther King when he
was a 17 year-old college student in Montgomery, Alabama, and how
Dr. Ransom participated in and helped organize events, such as the

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Montgomery bus boycott, that eventually ended with the U.S. Supreme
Court overturning segregation laws. These descriptions supported
Dr. Ransom's message that the Civil Rights Movement was born of many
forces, including the arrest of Rosa Parks, concerted efforts to
educate the black community about its rights, and Dr. King's
nonviolent leadership in a time of emotional upheaval and violence
against the black community. Dr. Ransom discussed the role of law
enforcement and passive resistance to unjust laws at post's third
annual Fulbright Conference on Interdisciplinary Study of the United
States, which focused this year on Rule of Law - in education,
international relations, legal reform and international and local
communications policy.

A DIFFICULT MESSAGE, DELIVERED BY A FRIEND
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6. (U) Being a black man in Turkmenistan itself made Dr. Ransom an
object of curiosity and positive interest during his time in
Turkmenistan. Members of several audiences asked whether Dr. Ransom
believed in mixed marriages, to which he could describe his own
experience in a mixed marriage -- a story which helped reinforce his
point that both black and white people supported and took part in
the Civil Rights Movement. His background as a vocalist and
preacher was also fair game: audiences at Turkmen State University,
Azadi Institute, the Power-Engineering Institute and the American
Corners asked him to sing -- and he did, to loud applause. In this
heavily relationship-based society, audiences reacted immediately to
Dr. Ransom's warmth and self-deprecating humor, which also helped
soften -- but did not distract from -- Dr. Ransom's very bold
message: that abused or repressed individuals must eventually rise
up to gain freedom; and that such action must be bold and nonviolent
in order to affect lasting social change.

CIVIC ACTIVISTS SEE THEMSELVES IN THE RIGHTS MOVEMENT
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7. (U) Ransom struck a chord with like-minded activists in a
discussion of the Civil Rights Movement on March 13 at the Mary
American Corner. After a shy start with ten local activists, who
are used to working in the shadows, the meeting quickly became
collegial as Dr. Ransom demonstrated the similarities between the
barriers he personally experienced and those facing civil society
representatives in Turkmenistan. The local activists expressed
shock at the violence and overt discrimination of the 1950's and
1960's, and wished for intense but peaceful change in Turkmenistan.



8. (U) Speaking of the social and practical support that the black
community renders to its members, Ransom highlighted one of the
greatest disadvantages to local civic activists -- a dearth of
adequate community centers and networking. An alumna of the Cochran
Fellowship program, who is also a leader of the Ilkinjiler farmer's
resource center, noted that Turkmenistan's farmers are only just
beginning to find their voice. An activist who works with disabled
children noted that, under the Soviet system, such social action was
mandated and prescribed. It was only now that, thanks to increased
Internet access and direct interaction with foreign embassies and
speakers, individuals and government institutions were starting to
learn about the developmental benefits of and need for grassroots
social action.


9. (U) The participants picked up on Dr. Ransom's musical
background and by the end of the meeting he was leading a group
rendition of "We Shall Overcome"; this provided a stark contrast to
the doubt and insecurity that often plagues civic activists in this
politically repressive environment. Through a warm and deeply
personal appeal, Dr. Ransom both motivated and gently challenged
those present to continue pressing ahead for greater social freedoms
and political change.

PUZZLED RECEPTION AT LABOR UNIONS
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10. (U) In contrast with his warm reception at educational
institutes, the reaction of labor unions to Ransom's ideas was
cautious and bemused, though positive. (Note: Local labor unions

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are purely government-run organizations whose leadership is
appointed by the Government of Turkmenistan). In the meeting at the
national Labor Union headquarters in Ashgabat, Dr. Ransom described
again how Rosa Parks' act of nonviolent civil disobedience sparked
the Civil Rights Movement, and how the Movement was incubated in and
supported by the churches and other community centers of
Montgomery's black community. By contrast, Turkmenistan's labor
unions -- really one state organization with regional and local
branches throughout Turkmenistan -- are strangers to such grassroots
activism.


11. (U) The participants of the Ashgabat meeting -- members of the
Ashgabat City and Ahal Welayat unions -- sat quietly in the meeting,
to which they had clearly been called by their supervisors with
little or no background on the impending content. One participant
in the Ashgabat meeting, an alumna of an International Visitor
Leadership Program, nodded and smiled at Ransom's suggestion that
labor unions could have an important role to play in promoting civic
education and civic responsibility. But Ransom was unable to elicit
substantive comments or discussion from this cautious group.


12. (U) Dr. Ransom's meeting with members of the regional and city
labor union in Dashoguz City was more clearly positive, though
participants did not venture beyond questions about Dr. Ransom's
family.


13. (U) Throughout the day trip to Dashoguz, the head of the
regional Labor Union accompanied Dr. Ransom, and spoke openly about
his desire for reform in the education sector, among other issues.
"I didn't know Americans were so friendly" he told a PD FSN at one
point, and was eager to know Dr. Ransom's views on current U.S.
foreign policy; he eventually posed the question, despite the local
taboo of asking direct political questions of guests.

COMMENT
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14. (U) Dr. Bert Ransom had a more immediate and dramatic impact
than any of post's previous speakers. He was careful to learn what
he could about local conditions and his interlocutors and made a
great effort to tailor his message appropriately. Dr. Ransom
managed to strike exactly the right tone: hoping for future change,
and stressing the power of community action and individuals, but
without causing too much host government discomfort. Post would
highly recommend Dr. Ransom for other speaker programs and would
welcome him for a return visit.


15. (U) In contrast to the events of the U.S. Civil Rights
Movement, the political transition taking place in Turkmenistan
began incidentally -- with the sudden death in December 2006 of
President Saparmyrat Niyazov -- and the current government and
population are united in their desire for continued stability and
peace in Turkmenistan. In this context Dr. Ransom encouraged local
audiences to reflect on their own desires and potential and make the
hard decision to push for progress, but recognized local fears of
violence or upheaval. End Comment.


16. Dushanbe minimize considered.

HOAGLAND