‘LIBERIA IS NOBODY’S STEPCHILD’

Liberia recently celebrated its 177th Independence Day. However, activist Robtel Neajai Pailey, says her country still needs to break free from its ‘special relationship’ with the United States. In this powerful speech on July 26th, she claims the US still has an oversized influence on her country which should be ‘nobody’s stepchild.’

The founding of Liberia was not done out of kindness for Africans. The American Colonization Society (ACS) wanted to deal with a growing ‘problem’ of freed slaves in the U.S. Equality with Whites was out of the question so, beginning in 1820, the ACS sent freed slaves back to West Africa using funds given by President James Madison. With time, the colony grew and declared its independence in 1847. The capital, Monrovia, was named after President James Monroe, who procured more funds for the colony.

However, despite its declared ‘freedom’, there was still an exploitative relationship. Firestone, a major U.S. Tyre and Rubber Company, is a good example of that. It operated under a colonialistic 99-year lease agreement, forcing a heavily indebted Liberian government to evict indigenous Bassa communities to make way for rubber plantations. White managers coerced tens of thousands of Liberian children, women, and men to tap rubber for meagre wages. The forced evictions then fuelled future civil wars.

Robtel reckons it’s time to reimagine a new Liberia. Will it happen? Let us know your thoughts.

Video credit: Montserrado Media Inc. @Robtelneajai