How Kansas City helped liberate Czechoslovakia from Soviet totalitarianism | Opinion

Kansas City has long played a quiet but significant role in the story of Czech and Slovak freedom. From the immigrant families who settled in our riverfront neighborhoods to the local leaders who supported the liberation of Central Europe during the Cold War, our city has been a witness to the struggle for democracy.

That history comes to life on Jan. 21 at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum as two eyewitnesses of the Cold War share their stories at the program “Freedom, Democracy and Human Rights — Bringing Vaclav Havel’s Wisdom to Today’s World.”

Hear from former Czech Ambassador to the United States Martin Palous, a man who stood against Soviet totalitarianism as a signatory of Charter 77 — once referred to as “the most important document of political protest under Czechoslovak communism” — and Anne Marie Kenny, who helped build the new Czech economy through the power of art and enterprise.

Palous, born in Prague, is an international diplomat, educator and commentator on freedom, democracy and human rights. As one of the first signers of Charter 77, he lived the transition from an underground dissident to multiple leadership positions in a thriving democracy.

In November 1989, he helped found the Civic Forum, a movement leading and uniting protesters. After the Velvet Revolution (the nonviolent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia), he served as a member of Parliament, deputy minister for foreign affairs, and was the Czech Republic’s ambassador to the United States and the United Nations. He is a senior fellow at Florida International University’s School of International and Public Affairs and heads the Vaclav Havel Program for Human Rights and Democracy. He has lectured at universities around the world.

Today, he is on the board of supervisors of the Vaclav Havel Library in Prague, director of international cooperation of the Remembrance Society, member of the Council of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes and former board president of the Vaclav Havel Center in New York.

Kenny, a native of Omaha, Nebraska, lived her early adult years in Paris as a professional singer, performing at the Paris Ritz and on radio, television and film.

When the Iron Curtain fell in 1989, she wrote a poem and sent it to newly-elected President Vaclav Havel, who invited her to sing at the legendary 1950s Reduta Jazz Club in Prague. Soon after, she moved to Prague and started a staffing and training company eventually ranked No. 2 in the Czech market. She lived and worked alongside Czechs, discovering their place in a new democratic society, while coming to terms with their past under totalitarian rule.

Any Kansas Citian interested in this period of history can learn more from Kenny’s memoir, “A Song for Bohemia.” The book is her story of a personal and collective journey to freedom, paying tribute to the spirit of the Czech and Slovak people.

Learn why the wisdom of Vaclav Havel — the playwright-turned-president — is a vital compass for our own uncertain times at “Freedom, Democracy, and Human Rights,” a program featuring two people experiencing the birth and development of democracy in their own unique ways.

“Freedom, Democracy, and Human Rights” will take place Jan. 21 at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence. There is no charge to attend the event. Visit irckc.org to register or use the QR code below.

Sharon K. Valasek is the honorary consul of the Czech Republic for Kansas and Missouri. She was raised in a Czech family in Ord, Nebraska, and works as a program manager for Gainwell Technologies. She lives in Kansas City.

This story was originally published January 15, 2026 at 11:12 AM.