On January 24 and 25, in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Day and the upcoming African-American History month, ETA Brian Miner met with the teachers and students of SMKN 1 Sangatta Utara to talk about Martin Luther King Jr., his legacy, and the African-American Civil Rights Movement.

Students and teachers were encouraged to draw parallels from racial inequality and discrimination in the US to societal problems in Indonesia and the wider world.

King’s “I Have a Dream” speech offered further opportunity to explore how societal problems in Indonesia will evolve and hopefully be solved in the future. Showing the example of MLK’s speech about racial inequality in the United States, Brian encouraged students interested in competing in the 2019 WORDS competition to think about how they foresee Indonesia in the future. Brian hopes these club sessions will encourage further thought and discussion about Indonesia and inspire students to create their own visions of a future Indonesia.

Brian Miner is currently teaching at SMKN 1 Sangatta Utara, East Kalimantan