Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/66107
Freeman Up close with… Ron spoke out for civil rights without so much as saying a word at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico. The world was watching when Ron Freeman courageously Positioned on the victory stand to receive gold medals for their record-breaking finish in the 4x400-meter relay, Freeman "Black Power." It's exactly what the foursome had planned to help change their world. and teammates proudly wore black berets to symbolize Now more than 40 years later, Freeman – a humanitarian involved with diplomatic work for the United Nations and various U.S. Department of State programs – still is striving to make a difference. presentations at CMU, he shared his insights on the importance of activism, education and connecting with the world. In a conversation following two In your campus presentation you impressed the crowd with the video of your relay team winning the 4x400. How does watching it impact you today? I think I get something different from what the average person gets out of it. A person who looks at it sees a sporting event or sees America winning an event. My purpose for that was being able to reach a goal. But at that time period our goal was to get on the winning stand in the winning position so that we could send a message. You said America has slipped from being No. 1 in the world in education to No. 34. What is the importance for everyone to reach out to help their fellow American succeed, regardless of their race? We're all in that mix. We have to reach out and do things – just like folks of all races reached out in the 1950s and '60s to help Americans of African descent through the whole civil rights movement, through the slavery movement. Americans of African descent did not do it alone, and you can take that up to today. When President Obama was elected, that was a multicultural combination. It was a holistic mission to see young folks step up, just like young folks were doing in Egypt, like young folks are doing in Libya and making things happen. You grew up in New Jersey and now live in Guinea. One of the ways you continue to make a difference is through your humanitarian work and your International Medalist Association. What does this organization do? The International Medalist Association is my nonprofit organization, and we serve youth all over the world in a small way. We try to grow youngsters through sports and education by utilizing an Olympian and to tell them our story. If we can put a smile on a youngster's face for a day or a week, if we can give the youngster some positive things to think about to help him or her grow a bit. We've connected in countries throughout the world, and we are trying to do that in New Jersey and Maryland right now. You said that education goes beyond on-campus classrooms and that people need to branch out beyond their country. Why is this important? People from other countries are coming to America and getting involved in educational systems, businesses and jobs in America. One question I did not ask students last night was, "How many people in the room have passports?" To not have a passport in today's society is really not having the right to leave the country. You're locked in. We have to go to our youngsters so they see that there are many opportunities to grow, to learn, or just to help others who are our brothers and sisters from around the world. • centralight summer '11 9