Freedom, Democracy, & Human Rights (free event)

Join the International Relations Council & the Czech and Slovak Club at the Truman Presidential Library for Freedom, Democracy, & Human Rights, an intimate conversation with two speakers who have the lived experience of seeing the historic changes in Central & Eastern Europe in the second half of the 20th century. Both Amb. Palous and Anne Marie Kenny have a storied history of sharing their expert insights, independently and together, at lecture programs, and will join our audience in Kansas City to share their reflections on the struggle for democracy and human rights in Central & Eastern Europe, and how it connects to the global landscape in 2026.

Registration required: https://www.irckc.org/what-we-do/irc-events-calendar/#id=10806&cid=1742&wid=2201&type=Cal

About The Speakers:
Ambassador Martin Palouš was the Czech Ambassador to the United States (2001-2005) prior to taking office as the Czech Republic’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (2006-2011). He has also served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Czech Republic, and, before that, Czechoslovakia. One of the first signatories of Charter 77, he was a founding member of the Civic Forum and was elected in 1990 to the Czechoslovak Federal Assembly, where he served as a member of the foreign affairs committee. Palouš was one of the signatories of Charter 77. Not many of the signatories are still alive today. Charter 77 was Communist Czechoslovakia’s most important protest movement. Signed on January 6, 1977, Charter 77 was a landmark declaration which called on Czechoslovakia’s Communist rulers to honor their commitment to human rights under the Helsinki Accords. It became the dissident movement’s most significant protest against the communist regime.

Anne Marie Kenny is the author of A Song for Bohemia. She is an American singer, writer, and entrepreneur. The book is a story that chronicles a girl from Omaha, Nebraska, as she follows her heart and in her early adult years, becomes a singer in France, performing on television, radio and in films. When the Iron Curtain fell, she moved to Prague and became a business owner of a staffing and training company that would be ranked No. 2 in the Czech market. Kenny’s story gives a poignant first-hand account of the historic changes during the second half of the 20th century, most notably Central and Eastern Europe’s transition to freedom and democracy after suffering 40 years behind the Iron Curtain, and before that, under Nazi rule. She lived and worked alongside Czechs discovering their place in a new democratic society while coming to terms with their past under totalitarian rule. Together, Czechs moved forward with Havel’s message as their driving force, building a civil society that is “humane, moral, intellectual, spiritual, and cultural.” A Song for Bohemia is a tribute to the spirit of the Czech people, a story of a personal and collective journey to freedom.

Event Schedule
5:30 - 6:00PM - Registration & Networking
6:00 - 7:15PM - Program + Q&A