Ms. Brown engaged the students in a discussion of racism, stereotypes, and racial interactions in the U.S.

From March 17-21, Rome-based Information Resource Officer Myra Brown visited Cyprus and delivered talks to over 300 high school and university students in both communities on topics such as “Race in America,” “The History of African-American Music,” and “Internet Literacy and Plagiarism.” The talks on race were especially powerful and well-received.

Utilizing short clips from films such as Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Do the Right Thing and Crash, Ms. Brown engaged the students in a discussion of racism, stereotypes, and racial interactions in the U.S. Also well-received was the presentation on African-American music, which explained the evolution of African American music and its influence on mainstream American music. Often, the students sang along to many of the songs, some of which they knew by heart. At one instance, a group of high school students stood and sang a beautiful African song, which they dedicated to Ms. Brown. The presentation on internet literacy and plagiarism was also popular among the students and gave special attention to academic plagiarism and identified free online resources which can be used to obtain reliable information about the United States.