I’m old enough now to know that life’s lessons can come from the unlikeliest sources. Still, I never expected that I would end up thinking hard about Malta when I came up close to the living history of Martin Luther King Jr and the civil rights movement.

I’m currently in the US on a special programme arranged by the US embassy. We’ve been taken to Washington DC, San Diego (California), Selma and Montgomery (Alabama) two iconic cities in the history of US civil rights, as well as Cleveland (Ohio) and currently New York City.

All these cities have played a role in raising consciousness about civil rights. Fifty years later, however, the level of political hope in each city is very different.

I would have expected Selma and Montgomery to have remained beacons of hope. The three 1965 marches, intended to take protestors from Selma to Alabama’s state capital, Montgomery, have seared themselves into American memory (much like the 1980s march on the Tal-Barrani road).

The marches helped the passage of the Voting Rights Act later that year. The marchers were met by policemen and thugs wielding clubs and using tear gas. There was a national outcry and calls for civil disobedience. The route is today designated as a US National Historic Trail.

Cleveland also acquired notoriety in the same era. Between 1966-68 it was the site of several violent civil disturbances. The African American community was protesting against the social conditions and neglect of the ghetto areas of the city. There was violence and deaths of civilians as well as police officers.

Cleveland continues to make the news today. There have been some notorious shootings involving African Americans over the last few years: a homeless man and woman killed in a hail of police gunfire; a 12-year-old killed by a rookie policeman; a mentally disturbed woman who died as police struggled with her.

If you had told me that, in one place, there was political apathy, while in the other there was a strong hope, I would have bet that it was Selma that was optimistic and energetic and Cleveland that was apathetic. I would have been very wrong.

It’s in Selma and Montgomery that there is political apathy and indifference. Yes, African American people have the right to sit anywhere they like on the buses. They also have the right to vote, obviously. Unfortunately having the right, earned literally with people’s blood, does not mean that people actually exercise it. The latest statistics show that in Selma only 30% of African Americans actually bother to vote. How sad.

I also noticed that the older generation, particularly the ones who remember the days of the march or those who actually were foot-soldiers with King, are the more energetic and vigorous. There is still, however, an overriding sense of fatalism, which I think is leading to poor civic participation and, consequently, a very low electoral turnout.

In contrast, Cleveland is bursting with energy. The city was a very pleasant surprise to me and to all the members of the group from various European countries. I found the people of Cleveland very grounded and realistic. They are proud of the civil rights achieved but have no illusions on the huge importance of a vigilant approach towards current realities. Rights, once earned, still need constant protection.

There is a strong sense that political and civil participation matters. Both Cleveland and Cuyahoga County have determined US presidential elections and their community leaders (many of them young) are engaged in constant dialogue and activism. The community also prides itself on some very invigorating political mentors, who are making a difference. All this despite the problems with policing.

What does all this have to do with present-day Malta? In terms of the past, there is a direct connection. Martin Luther King was one of the main inspirations behind the 1980s march on the Tal-Barrani road and the general campaign of civil disobedience against Golden Labour during the worst years government corruption and political violence.

But that’s the past. I have the present in mind. I was struck by the two very different paths taken, the one of indifference and the one of vigorous activism. In the end, African Americans, whether from Selma and Montgomery, or from Cleveland, will share the same fate. Whether their formal rights matter in practice will depend on whether apathy or vigorous defence of their rights carry the day.

Malta faces the same two paths in the face of persistent, gross abuse of power by the government. We cannot rest on our laurels. I’d like civil society to be like Cleveland’s. But there are no guarantees. We could end up like Selma. It depends on the personal choices of each one of us.