International Education Week 2007

Global Citizenship

Remarks By Ms. Atim Eneida George
Counselor, Public Affairs, US Embassy, Abuja

American Corner Abuja Nigeria
November 14, 2007

I want to take this opportunity to thank the American Corner Abuja for organizing today’s program.  Frankly, when my colleagues at the U.S. Embassy in Abuja asked me to speak to our young people about Global Citizenship, I jumped at the chance.  Why?  You may ask.  First, I consider myself a global citizen.  This speech offered me the opportunity to think more deeply about my concept of global citizenship.   Moreover, those who know me know that I have a burning passion to reach out to the next generation of global citizens with a message of hope and inspiration. 

With that said, I’d like you to take the first few moments of our time together to complete the sheet that is being circulated.  It contains a series of questions about citizenship.  No, this is not a test.  Consider it rather food for thought.  What does citizenship mean to you?  What are your rights as a citizen?  What, if any, are your responsibilities? 

 Let us start with some basic definitions.  Our world is known as a global village.  For better or for worst, it is virtually impossible to hide from the glare of the microphone or video camera.  What happens in Burma, Darfur or Indonesia, for example, is available for the world to see.  In a matter of milliseconds, we can access information about the state of emergency in Pakistan or the fires in Southern California.  Now, if we can see and hear what is going on around the world, I put it to you that we have an obligation to seek to understand what is happening in our world.    

This insight brings me to the heart of the matter – citizenship.  According to my dictionary, citizenship is the state of being vested with the rights, privileges, and duties of a citizen; it is also the quality of an individual's behavior as a citizen.   Is this just “too much grammar” or are you getting the idea? 

Let’s go a little deeper.  To develop a clearer understanding of citizenship, let’s study its roots.  The term civitas is derived from the Latin.  It describes human efforts to organize ourselves into sustainable groups.  My research shows that the purpose of civitas is to deepen public understanding of the legal, institutional and moral framework that makes a free and democratic society possible.  

Citizenship is, in my view, all about how we show up in the world.  Do we seek to identify solutions to social problems?  Do we design and implement pioneering projects that demonstrate what can be accomplished?  I would like to give you an example from the United States.  There is a beautiful old building in Washington, DC called the Old Post Office Pavilion.  Over the years, the building had fallen into disrepair.  The federal government planned to tear it down but a group of concerned citizens developed a plan in which it cost less to restore than to destroy.  That, my friends, is a beautiful example of the power of citizenship.  The American anthropologist, Margaret Mead said “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”  By now I suspect that you would join me in defining civitas or citizenship – community.  

The late Martin King used the term “Beloved Community” to explain what he called the solidarity of the human family.   He taught us that “We are tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.”  According to the King Center for Non-Violent Social Action:

Dr. King’s Beloved Community is a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood. In the Beloved Community, international disputes will be resolved by peaceful conflict-resolution and reconciliation of adversaries, instead of military power. Love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred. Peace with justice will prevail over war and military conflict.

Dr. King’s Beloved Community was not devoid of interpersonal, group or international conflict. Instead he recognized that conflict was an inevitable part of human experience. But he believed that conflicts could be resolved peacefully and adversaries could be reconciled through a mutual, determined commitment to nonviolence. No conflict, he believed, need erupt in violence. And all conflicts in The Beloved Community should end with reconciliation of adversaries cooperating together in a spirit of friendship and goodwill. (http://www.thekingcenter.org)

As I close my remarks today, I want to share with you with the words that fired my imagination as a child of 4; they continue to inspire me to this very day.  The words are taken from the inaugural speech of the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy.  “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.  My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”  

I challenge you to think seriously about how you can and will contribute to our common destiny.  Will you join me and billions of people around our world to protect our environment, eradicate poverty and hunger and work for justice and peace?  If so, I believe you have a firm grasp on what I mean by global citizenship. 

Thank you.