A friend asked me what I/we had to learn from traveling to Europe with the Marshall Memorial Fellowship. I read between the lines because I knew what she was really asking – what do POCs have to learn from Europe, subtext why learn from white countries. I knew the question intimately because I had to reckon with it for months before applying and then after being accepted into the Marshall Memorial Fellowship.

Thanks to colonization, including from Europe, has led to a lot of the historical problems we are currently dealing with. There is a saying in public administration “Today’s problems were yesterday’s solutions.” I find this so true in working towards racial justice. The problems of today came about because of our past histories. This is why we need to look outside of ourselves to understand how the problems evolved, to make sure we don’t repeat the same mistakes, and to find solutions in new places and ways.

In high school I had to take a foreign language; it was ridiculously hard. What I did learn from the experience was how much more I needed to understand English first. Naming and understanding the parts of the English language was necessary to understand the parts of speech in the target languages. That power of comparing and being forced to name the comparisons allows the brain to anchor onto learning differently and to see things differently.

While on the fellowship I learned a lot about European politics. I had to dig deep to recall what I learned in a comparative politics class eons ago. Understanding the differences between a US government system versus parliamentary systems, and then having to compare the differences between countries was fascinating.

To go back to my friend’s question – why should it matter to her as a POC in the US? It matters because when we can see the differences and similarities we force our brains to draw different inferences, see color where previously the problem was black and white, or just to be able to name things differently. This is important for everyone, but for POCs it gives us a deeper way to understand history and the problems we face today.

The Solutions Must be Global

We also need to learn from each other because there are patterns of behavior. Reading the news there are multiple headlines about how the world is falling apart – fascism, climate change, energy and water rights, political conservatism, immigration, and so on. No country is an island upon itself, the days of isolationism are long over. What happens in one part of the world has global impacts. We often think our problems are unique and special. Yet history and patterns show us we are probably not as special as we think. Comparing problems in a way where we can share information and solutions and not compete for who’s worse off is an important way of tackling problems.

One of the lessons I learned from traveling with the Marshal Memorial Fellowship is how our solutions must be globally sought. We’re better when we’re not competing with each other all the time for attention, resources, or to outdo each other. While in Berlin we met with a staff member of the German diplomatic corps. She talked about how Germany is meticulously following the US’s Inflation Reduction Act and especially the climate change related goals. They see it as important to work together and not compete with each other for resources to achieve the shared aim of reducing fossil fuel emissions and curbing climate change. Competing wouldn’t achieve the end goal of reducing climate change.

Universally the Same

As I wrote about several weeks ago, the main lesson I learned is we’re more similar than we like to think. We all like to think we’re special – we’re not. If we compare our problems many times they are the same – racism is racism, privilege happens everywhere, democracy is fragile but also resilient. When we understand this we can also center people of color and communities of colors needs differently.

Another cohort member who traveled to different cities than me shared one of the cities she visited had a massive Black Lives Matter rally during the same time as America’s racial reckoning. However, the city doesn’t have very many Black people, so while important to act in solidarity, they also need to grapple with their racism and prejudice against Roma people. This is why we need to learn from each other – to see what is in front of us but also our blind spots – to see race and racism.

To end on a gratitude, the opportunity to learn from the Marshall Memorial Fellowship was a generous gift made possible by many — I am humbled by the experience. I also know I need to do it more learning from others where I am. I hope we all find ways to stretch within our own neighborhoods to learn from others and to be open to understanding differently.

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