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";s:4:"text";s:29705:"We are a lost people groping in the dark for direction while failing to pause and notice the flashes of small lights emitting from the sky in the tiny holes up the roof. I had set out in this article to discuss the Liberian crisis, or the crisis amongst Liberians. The result has been the segmentation of Liberian society into two coexisting subsystems—traditional-rural and modern-urban. With a population of less than four million people, most of whom are internally displaced or languishing in refugee camps across Africa, Liberia has over a dozen feuding political parties, nearly 20 human rights and civil society groups, and countless other religious and social organizations and groups whose goals seem to run counter to each other. 2006-01-16 Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia's new president. Well, retired Liberian General Mayfield Yancy answered the question for us back in 1984 at a political rally when he said, “Liberians are a funny and peculiar people…” Indeed, we are a “funny and peculiar people.” We are most likely to overlook our own shortcomings, or the shortcomings of our friends and relatives, while feeling justified and greatly motivated to magnify the shortcomings of our opponents. But enough of my intellectual rambling about human nature. But the success of the voyage still depended heavily on the honesty, leadership, and tenacity of the prevailing group. Among the members of Kirdi are Bata, Fata, Mada, Mara, and Toupori. Liberia has one of the highest population growth rates in the world, although it has fallen in recent years. More than two-fifths of the population of Liberia is under age 15; only about 5 percent is older than 60. Werner had attempted to counter conclusions by another fellow Liberian, Theodore T. Hodges, who faulted Liberian Christian Church leaders for slacking in their religious role and responsibility to help heal the wounds and bring about peace and unity in the Liberian society. What about our language, our culture, our dress, our leadership and artistic prowess, or the lack thereof? Liberia was established in 1822 as a destination for freed American slaves. Are the real Liberians the indigenous peoples who inhibited the land prior to the arrival of the freed American slaves in 1822? The largest number of Christians are Kpelle, followed by the Bassa. The Kirdi speak Chadic and Adamawa languages. We have abandoned the African value system of communalism or “one for all and all for one” in favor of a system of class distinctions based on rich and poor, and private property ownership. Followed by Bassa (about 13% of the total population), Grebo (about 10%), Gio (about 8% of the total population), Mano (about 7.9%), Kru (about 6%), Lorma (about 5.1%), Kissi (about 4.8%), Gola (about 4.4%). Palava – Chunks of Smoked Meat or Fish in Spicy-hot Soup 196flavors.com What is it: Also […] Liberia lies on the west coast of Africa. Identification. The city and its outlying districts and suburbs occupy five square miles. Founded in 1847 by freed slaves from the United States and the Caribbean, it was Africa’s first independent black republic, and people across Africa considered it both an inspiration and a beacon of hope. The National defense Law of 1956 was the sole basis of the creation of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL). The Mande are located in the northwest and central regions of Liberia and also in Senegal, Mali, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. But we can do something. At such, individuals within the institutional Church err and are in need of conversion. But Liberians ought to first understand what it means to be Liberians and the corresponding responsibility of being Liberians. But we are persistent in our resolve to self-destruct, and we wouldn’t heed any warnings, not even from our parents, our elders or the clergy. On the issue of culture and social class, Liberia is miserable. So the seed of division was planted not only between the aborigines and Americo-Liberians, but also between fair-skinned and dark-skinned Americo-Liberians. Other destinations include enclaves around rubber plantations and mines. Liberia’s indigenous ethnic groups may be classified into three linguistic groups, all belonging to the Niger-Congo language family: the Mande, Kwa, and Mel (southern Atlantic). The group makes up 18% of the total population. The question, therefore, which we should try to study and answer is, what are the underlying principles of African life? So we magnify the accusation or the glorification with little or no efforts at verifying the information and questioning the motive of the person providing such information. The Kwa-speaking group occupies the southern half of the country. Said Blyden: “…The Republic (of Liberia) has just celebrated its Diamond Jubilee. As Liberians we seemed to have lost touch with our roots, our customs and traditions. Moreover, because it was “uncivilized” to speak an African language at school, church or play in Liberia, most Liberians cannot speak any of the country's 21 major African languages at all, or fluently and eloquently. Are we so consumed in vain pride or are we just helpless and hopeless to do something? We will also do well to rediscover WHO WE ARE as Liberians by taking steps to recuperate from what Fahnbulleh Jr. calls “…our collective amnesia…” entrenched in an “unsettled psyche that hovers between the debasement of the spiritual self and the cowardice of the hypocritical weakling.” For indeed, there are men and women among us capable of great leadership and general greatness who will stoke at any available opportunity to lead and unify Liberia. From then began the voluntary migration of African slaves to the West African country. It was established on land acquired for freed U.S. slaves by the American Colonization Society, which founded a colony at Cape Mesurado in 1821. But that’s another matter - Yet with all our sophistication and intelligence we still can neither fully understand nor with certainty explain human nature. We seemed contented in our miseries yet despaired and wallowed in the fond memories of our individual past. Liberia is known for its spectacular traditions, rustic culture, and delicious cuisine. English is the official language. About four-fifths of Liberians are Christian, about one-tenth are Muslim, and a small number profess other religions—primarily traditional beliefs—or are nonreligious. And in pondering over the complexity and deviancy of human nature, we have arrogantly concluded that we as humans are the most intelligent beings in the world, and that all other living things are below us - The occultists and spiritualists may have a different story. -- Barely one year since a Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionary was killed in a terrorist bombing in the Philippines, and 14 months since three missionaries were murdered at the Baptist hospital in Yemen, four workers who were researching needs for humanitarian projects in northern Iraq were killed in a drive-by shooting in Mosul, March 15, 2004. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. The predominantly forested regions of south-central and northern Liberia have remained sparsely populated. The Republic of Liberia is a country located on the West African coast. But no nation can have this freedom of life, and make this contribution, which no other nation can make, without connection with its past, of which it must carefully preserve the traditions, if it is to understand the present and have an intelligent and inspiring hope of the future.”. ACS agents Dr. Eli Ayres and U.S. These include education, medical care, agriculture, special needs therapy, jobs and job training, and ministering to orphans and street children. For much of its 164-year history, Liberia has enjoyed a special status among Africa’s nations. Western names such as Jones, Taylor, Harris, Green, Werner, Johnson, and so on became common Liberian names, while names such as Obasanjo, Nkrumah, Sankara, Nyerere, Kenyatta, Selassie, etc., became some of the endearing African names on the international scene. You already know that the indigenous peoples did not become citizens of Liberia until 1904 - at least 57 years after the declaration of independence in 1847. A group of returned exiles - refugees from the house of bondage - settled along a few hundred miles of the coast of their Fatherland, attempting to rule millions of people, their own kith and kin, on a foreign system in which they themselves have been imperfectly trained, while knowing very little of the facts of the history of the people they assume to rule, either social, economic or religious, and taking for granted that the religious and social theories they have brought from across the sea must be adapted to all the need of their unexpatriated brethren”. Some Liberians who identify themselves primarily as Christian incorporate traditional beliefs into their personal theologies. The promise and challenge of the journey back to Africa was obvious to the emancipated slaves for many reasons: For the first time in their lives the former slaves had the power and opportunity to chart their own destiny without the usual constraints of the slave masters. An offshoot of this is that duality of character that makes it difficult to distinguish between pretenses and genuineness, honesty and dishonesty, sycophancy and loyalty, piety and profanity when dealing with Liberians. This trend of rapid growth is expected to continue over the next decade. After all, our goal is to adopt standards we admire in other countries, not how those countries arrived at such standards. After decolonization, state boundaries in Africa remained remarkably stable, but the colonial names of African states often changed. Prominent among them are the Vai, who invented their own alphabet and who, in addition, use Arabic and English; the Kpelle, the largest Mande group, who are also found in Guinea; Loma (also found in Guinea); Ngbandi; Dan (Gio); Mano; Mende; and Malinke. In 1989, a group called the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) crossed over the Liberian border from Côte d’Ivoire to overthrow Samuel Doe’s government. MOSUL, Iraq. Of course, by circumstance, I mean many former slaves died at Sherbro Island as a result of bad weather, insect bites and related uninhabitable conditions. Mind you, I deliberately used “bigotry” to qualify education, culture and social class because these entities are mostly positive rather than negative reinforcements in society. The Mande speakers arrived in northwestern Liberia between 1500 and 1550. Early arrivals may have migrated to Liberia … These are some of the vexing questions that continuously confront us each day as human beings. Even "civilized" and "uncivilized" schools and churches were delineated, and attitudes were formed by persons belonging to each group regarding love, marriage, and general social contacts. All of the ethnic groups of Liberia are represented in its population, as are refugees, African nationals from other countries, and Europeans. So who are we Liberians? Before it was called the AFL, it was known as the Liberia Frontier Force which was founded in 1908. 1980: End of Americo-Liberian rule Liberia began to change during the 1970s. Well, we are Liberians! Situated on the left bank of the St. Paul River on the ridge formed by Cape Mesurado, it commands an imposing view of the Atlantic Ocean and the coastal plains. The Liberian education system is emerging from a prolonged and brutally destructive period of civil unrest. Can we learn from the past? We have preferred a master-servant relationship with our kinsmen as opposed to peaceful coexistence and equal opportunities for all based on individual talents and abilities. The Americo-Liberians are most closely associated with founding Liberia. Can we draw on our diversity and create workable political, economic and social structures for our betterment? The name comes from the English word "liberty" and refers to the nation's origin as a colony of free blacks repatriated to Africa from the United States in the early nineteenth century. Are we Africans or westerners? We always blame others for our negative and sinful behaviors, not ourselves", Catholic Archbishop Michael K. Francis was quoted in a recent article by fellow Liberian George Werner. Liberia (/ l aɪ ˈ b ɪər i ə / ()), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. We are still as baffled by human nature today as yesterday! We seemed so submerged in our thoughts and conditioned to blaming others for every mishap or failure that we don’t necessarily see the big picture until everything gets out of control. Monrovia, founded in 1822, is the focal point of political, economic, and cultural activities. “There is something about the Liberian psyche that has nothing to do with pigmentation or environment. Two years later the name Liberia is given to the region, and the town developing on Cape Mesurado is called Monrovia - after the US president of the day, James Monroe. Even some so-called professional organizations had tended to lend credence to this kind of egotistical bigotry in order to preserve the monopoly of a privileged few. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its northwest, Guinea to its north, Côte d'Ivoire to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south-southwest. Is it for power, prestige or what? We have still got a long way to go to fit into the western culture and traditions we have adopted. So the brainstorming sessions began, and soon the idea of repatriating former African slaves back to their ancestral land in Africa took root in the United States. It has a population of around 5 million and covers an area of 111,369 square kilometers (43,000 sq mi It fell as a result of the civil war and strife that began in the late 1980s and continued until 2003. Liberia is the only Black state in Africa never subjected to colonial rule and is Africa’s oldest republic. Descendants of Americo-Liberians and the indigenous people have yet to come to a common understanding on the best course of action for genuine peace, unity, reconciliation, and development in Liberia. "If we examine our personal, societal and national lives there is much that is sinful, much that is wrong, much that calls God's wrath on us. Liberia has never been a truly united country, before and after 26 July 1847. And in his inaugural address in 1900, President Wilmot David Coleman played to the stereotype inherent in the Supreme Court ruling this way: “I have not the least doubt that all intelligent citizens (Americo-Liberians) are desirous for the elevation of this class (indigenous Liberians) into complete citizenship, and as the Christian people generally believe, that the sooner the fall of the superstitious customs that now exist among them, the sooner the object will be attained. Throughout this time, the main focus of the pioneers had been on how to marginalize, and not how to integrate as equals, the aborigines they had met near Cape Mesurado. The lack of decentralized higher institutions of learning, insufficient educational institutions and specialized schools in the country, and a very high adult illiteracy rate of 70 percent are less important factors in whatever standards we attempt to set. Regrettably, though, the fateful exchange at Providence Island or Cape Mesurado between the two groups of freedom seeking peoples turned out to be only a temporary marriage of convenience that never germinated into peaceful co-existence and fruitful relationship. With a population of nearly 5 million and a land area of 43,000 square miles (111,369 square kilometers), Liberia is bordered by Sierra Leone to its northwest, Guinea to its north, Côte d’Ivoire to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its southwest. By Nat Galarea Gbessagee. The Mel entered Western Liberia between 1300 and 1700, followed shortly by Kwa-speaking groups. They had the opportunity to establish a new homeland bereft of the cruelties and indignations of slave life in the American plantations. They also had a great challenge to disprove and dispel the prevailing notion or myth at the time that the Blackman was an inferior member of the human race and incapable of self-rule. Americo-Liberians controlled the government until a military coup in 1980. In 1971, William Tubman, Liberia’s president of … Kwa-speaking peoples include the Bassa, the largest group in this category and the largest ethnic group in Monrovia; the Kru and Grebo, who were among the earliest converts to Christianity; the De; Belleh (Belle); and Krahn. It would seem to non-Liberians that Liberia lost her luster as a peaceful and progressive nation with the military takeover of government in 1980, and the brutal civil war of 1989-1997. First, by the dawn of the 17th century three of the four preeminent ancient African Empires or Sahelian Kingdoms - Ghana Empire (AD 300-1000), Mali Empire (1300-1500), Songhai Empire (700-1600) and Kanem Empire (700-1890) - had disintegrated and citizens of these empires had pushed in every direction across the African Continent in search of fertile land to farm, hunt, fish, and breath new sigh on life. Oh, who are we! These people live in the north and in the coastal region of the northwest. There is a strong rural-to-urban movement, especially to Monrovia. More so, we have come to believe that whatever we hear about our opponents, especially from people we respect and trust, ought to be the gospel truth. There is always a façade that has to be maintained - behind which are concealed pretenses, lies, conceit, hypocrisy and spiritual emptiness,” Fahnbulleh wrote in a May 2002 article in The Perspective, titled "Crisis In the Soul". Even the name of the first modern Liberian president of indigenous stock, was Doe, not African names such as Quiwonkpa, Yarkpawolo, or Weh-Syen. So the needs of the country–and of ministry–are great. WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE ARE WE? Many white Americans saw repatriation as a means of getting rid of blacks who were thought of at the time as social misfits and an economic drain on American society. In addition, self-erected barrier bordering on politics, education, social class, culture and religion are being created everyday in every segment of Liberian society that may not portent well for true national peace, unity and reconciliation. Liberia is the 4th poorest country in the world with 85% of its population surviving on less than $2 a day. These problems still persist, and are most likely the root of our present predicament as a nation and people. Liberia - Liberia - People: The people of Liberia are classified into three major groups: the indigenous people, who are in the majority and who migrated from the western Sudan in the late Middle Ages; Black immigrants from the United States (known historically as Americo-Liberians) and the West Indies; and other Black immigrants from neighbouring western African states who came during … The ACS group of freed slaves arrived at Sherbro Island in 1821 in modern day Sierra Leone before being driven by circumstance to Providence Island at Cape Mesurado in present day Liberia in April 1822-the date widely celebrated as the founding of Liberia. So it seemed that Liberians have always been in a social straightjacket. Oftentimes, new college graduates had felt that they were more qualified - by virtue of their college education - than persons who had held the same jobs for five or more years, and demanded to be automatic bosses. (text highlighted by author). How did we come to be called Americans, Liberians, Africans, Europeans, and blacks or whites? The name "Grain Coast" derived from the abundance of melegueta pepper ("grains of paradise") the Portuguese found upon their arrival in present-day Liberia. But in the case of Liberia, that might not be true all of the time. Historians tell us that Paul Cuffe, a wealthy shipowner of Negro and American Indian ancestral successfully led the first group of 38 freed or emancipated American slaves to resettle in the then British colony of Sierra Leone between 1815 and 1816. Migrants from north-central Africa, who began to arrive in the 13th century, originally settled in the hinterlands but were driven by overcrowding to the coast. English became the lanqua franca and medium of instruction in Liberia, while local African languages were prohibited from being spoken in public. This should not, however, undermine the good efforts of the Liberian Christian Church (and the Liberian Moslem community) aimed at bettering Liberia…”, Werner also declared: “… I made the point that while Charles Taylor must be held accountable for some of the atrocities committed against the Liberian people in the past twelve years, Liberians should not hold him alone responsible for our misfortunes. The mortality rate of these settlers was the highest in accurately recorded human history. So the question becomes why such great disunity and infightings in Liberia? This latter group, also known as Americo-Liberians, settlers, or Congo,11 forms one of the 17 generally recognized sociocultural groups in Liberia.12 The other 16 groups include indigenous Africans based on cultural and linguistic similarities, specifically the Gbandi, Bassa, Gio, Dei, Gola, Grebo, Kissi, The industrial revolution brought about new challenges, new fears, and uncertainties for both the slave-masters and the slaves. We must therefore examine these and with God's Graces, repent of them, ask for God's and our neighbor's forgiveness and reform our lives. Most Liberians know little or nothing about Liberian traditional cultural norms and mores because joining the two preeminent traditional teaching institutions of Sande and Poro were considered "uncivilized". The main challenge became how to integrate slave-owners and slaves in the same society as free men and women competing for their livelihood together. Even at some point in Liberian society, playing football (soccer) or singing in public except in the church, was considered "uncivilized acts" for "gronna boys and girls" (the Liberian parlance for wayward youths). Western names such as Jones, Taylor, Harris, Green, Werner, Johnson, and so on became common Liberian names, while names such as Obasanjo, Nkrumah, Sankara, Nyerere, Kenyatta, Selassie, etc., became some of the endearing African names on the international scene. Immigrants from the United States and the West Indies, and from neighbouring African countries, also settled on the coast. In the fourteen year long civil war 250,000 lives were lost out of its small population of 3.5 million, its infrastructure destroyed, 83.7% of its population are now living below the recognised poverty threshold and 111 out of … Long standing impacts from the war, compounded by the 2015 school closure due to the Ebola Viral Disease (EVD) outbreak, continue to take a toll on the fragile education system. Take advantage of our Presidents' Day bonus. Liberia is significantly behind most other African countries in nearly all education This group of individuals, comprising less than 3 percent of the population, maintained economic, social, and political control of the country until a coup d’etat in 1980. And on the whole, we will do well to find the answers to these and other questions in Blyden’s warnings that “…Our progress will come by connection with the parent stock. But Cuffe’s abrupt illness and sudden death in 1817 created a huge vacuum in the repatriation efforts that were later to be filled by the American Colonization Society ACS). That kind of attitude sometimes led to rancorous outbursts between college graduates and their non-college educated co-workers and supervisors, not counting low morale and low productivity. The former migrated mostly to selected areas such as Monrovia (the oldest immigrant settlement), Buchanan, Edina, Greenville, Harper, Robertsport, and Marshall. You had to fit in the "civilize" mode of things or be left out. The Church is God's but she is also ‘the people of God’. Where are we headed to as a People and Nation? But Werner shout back by enumerating the good works of the Liberian Christian Churches, especially Liberian Catholic Church, and declared: “There is something both divine and human about the Church. The indigenous people had little or no access to education, healthcare, employment, and political office. But even with the generosity of the indigenous people regarding Providence Island or Cape Mesurado, the original names of their leaders were deliberately substituted in the history books with such names as “King Bob Gray, King Long Peter, King Long Fellow” and so on. There are more than 2,000 villages, the majority of which are concentrated in central Liberia, in the northwest, and in the coastal region near Monrovia. We set standards to suit our interests and to marginalize others, not necessarily to promote national growth and development. Nothing of the kind has ever happened before in the world’s history. For instance, in a country with literacy rate of barely 30 percent, there has always been a general tendency to rate people by their college or high school degrees and not on the basis of job performance. But as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Walter Kansteiner noted in a speech in early 2002, "Greed and lack of good governance are the root causes of Liberia’s descent into its present deplorable state of affairs..." And I strongly believe that Kansteiner is right, as the issue may no longer be Americo-Liberians vs. native Liberians - though some remnants of the two groups still think that is the case! 1. Liberia - Coup - 1980 In 1980 Tolbert's opponents, emboldened by a court decision recognizing them as an opposition party, openly called for his overthrow. For, if so-called civil society and human rights groups can’t merge their splinter organizations into one or two viable and effective force for society change for fear of losing their individual clouts, can we ever imagine the day that political groups - whose very lifeblood and institutional viability thrive on posturing and issues manipulation - will agree to unify and work for the national good? Like Fahnbulleh and Kansteiner, I want to believe that the Liberian crisis is about greed and lack of morality. Logically, the correct answer would be a combination of the three groups, but that’s not how the issue of Liberian citizenship turned out to be. So the die was cast, and it was only a matter of time before these conflicted or convoluted objectives were sorted out and made manifest at the end of the voyage depending on which group - the group in pursuit of freedom and self-respect or the group in search of economic bonanza -would prevail. Who Are We? The president of the Republic of Liberia is head of state and government of Liberia.The president serves as the leader of the executive branch and as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia.. For if the true Americo-Liberians and native-Liberians still existed in Liberia today, the two groups might have reasoned together by now that the pains and sufferings had become too much not to reconcile and live in peace. For example, the name of the “Kipsigis” of Kenya translates to “we the circumcised,” as, after circumcision, one is thought to be “reborn.”4 In areas where FGM is a tradition, parents fear their daughter will be banned from their society.5 Its third possible function surrounds the idea of protecting the health of women and their fetus. We tend to take everything at face value and vehemently act on it until we fall out of grace, and then we want automatic forgiveness without confession or repentance. We do the same things, commit the same sins and spiritually destroy ourselves. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. But you must also know that the dark-skinned former slaves, in spite of their automatic Liberian citizenship at independence, were equally deprived of political, social, and economic power by the light-skinned Americos and their ACS benefactors in like manner as the indigenous people until the election in 1870 of Edward James Roye, widely regarded as Liberia’s first dark-skinned president. Kirdi is a group of people occupying north-western Cameroon. But the lack of recognition and respect for the traditional names of the indigenous people near Providence Island was just a tip of the iceberg for the conflict that eventually spilled over into the 1980 coup and the 1989-1997 civil war. In 1862, the Liberian Supreme Court ruled that the aborigines were nothing more than only subjects of the state who were required to abide by the laws of the land but not entitled to citizenship because of the "peculiar situation of the Africans in their incapability to understand the working of civilized governments." Most of them migrated to Liberia between 1820 and 1865; continued migration has been intermittent. First, it must be understood that the repatriation process from slave life in the American plantations to freedom in a new homeland in Africa was beset by conflicting goals at the very onset. Some ethnic groups have always been ‘more equal than others.’ Stark divisions have always existed economically, politically, socially, and religiously. We tend to defend people and things we respect and value even if there is no need to defend! 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