US embassy cable - 03TEGUCIGALPA692

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 000692 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR IIP/G/WHA (CBARONE; GLLOYD); IIP/T/SV; WHA/PDA 
(MBUCKLEY); INL/PC (RTHOMPSON) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, KPAO, SNAR, HO 
SUBJECT: EVALUATION OF U.S. SPEAKER FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH, 
DENNIS WATLINGTON, TRACKER #18210 
 
REF: TEGUCIGALPA 361 
 
1.  Dennis Watlington, March 1-10, 2003.  Post celebrated 
Black History Month (African-American Heritage Month) 
through film showings, meetings with youth about the 
possibility of a productive life following recovery from 
drug use and gang violence, and discussions of cultural, 
historical and social contributions of African-Americans to 
American society.  Impact was outstanding. The universities 
provided the venues for their programs. 
 
2.  Filmmaker, writer, actor and director Dennis Watlington 
is a tireless speaker who tailored his presentations 
according to the audience, interspersing the showings of his 
Emmy Award-winning documentary, "The Untold West: The Black 
West," with anecdotes from his own life from Harlem to 
Hollywood to deliver the message that "poverty and drugs are 
not a death sentence, but a lack of education is."  He 
presented his audiences in nine different program venues and 
four cities with a new perspective on Black History, 
discussing the role played by slaves and freed Black 
Americans in settling and developing the West, speaking 
along the way with academic and cultural contacts, 
representatives of Garifuna (Afro-Honduran) NGOs, students 
and professors from the English Departments at two 
universities, the media, the general public and local 
filmmakers and reaching thousands during his six-day 
program.  The highlight of his program was meetings with 
hundreds of young people, among them high school students, 
recovering drug addicts and former gang members, and young 
leaders from Garifuna and other North Coast communities who 
are working as mentors with kids at risk in their 
communities.  During these inspiring programs, Mr. 
Watlington talked about his personal story of recovery from 
drug addiction and an early adolescence spent in gangs.  His 
extremely warm personality, openness and good humor made the 
audience frequently interrupt with applause and more than 
made up for his lack of Spanish.  He is an articulate, 
dedicated, engaging and hard-working man, who devoted 
tremendous energy and thought to bringing a message of the 
benefits of diversity and the possibility of hope through 
education to his audiences, commenting more than once that 
this was an "I'm proud to be an American" moment.  The Post 
wholeheartedly recommends him for future programming. 
 
3.  PAS Tegucigalpa thanks CAO David McGuire in PAS Managua 
for suggesting Dennis Watlington as a speaker and appreciate 
the usual excellent work of IIP/G/WHA Camille Barone and 
Gloria Lloyd in facilitating financial arrangements. 
Palmer