“I HOLD YOUR FOOT”
I see atonement to us and to each other as being the foundation of national redemption. To the extent that Liberians of indigenous decent and Liberians of AmericoLiberia decent have been responsible for memories of painful recollections to each other, I ask for forgiveness. I ask forgiveness for our selfinflicted pain, division, suffering and fear. I enter into this atonement with a humble awareness that mistakes and offenses have been committed.
I am on the mat begging that all of us who have either injured any other person, or commanded other persons who have done so, to lift our hands and hearts up high seeking and asking for forgiveness for the horrors we have imposed on each other. I am unable to answer for such insanity, but I can seek to heal the wounds and remove the scars.
While it is just and appropriate to answer the cries of innocent bloodshed all around us, it is also necessary to prevent it from ever happening again, and that we are reconciled one to another. To be reconciled one to another is to also be hopeful for one another, to be thankful for one another, and to be helpful to one another. I am on the mat seeking that we hear the pleas of the many, many, many who cry lonely, silently, painfully in the dark hours of lonely nights knowing and remembering the pain of injury. We are hurting. We want to be healed.
|
MY BROTHER FRASER ASKED ME: “... Is there a positive attitude for progress in Liberia today...?”
MY REPLY TO HIM WAS: Yes! For those Liberians who see Liberia in its true historical context — both good and bad history — there is unlimited faith, optimism and hope. I consider myself as one of those optimists. I have always seen Liberia in terms of its true history. This true history bears out that civil atrocities, public corruption, malfeasence in government, as well as excellent statecraft, faithful religion, successful commerce, and firstclass education have all equally been the hallmarks of Liberia. Liberians who are aware of the times when breadfruit and eddoe were the staple food, and when kerosine was not available, and when salt or bluesoap were as valuable as gold, and when the European colonial nations sought to strangle Liberia, these Liberians know that we have yet better times to come. We have passed this road before and we will yet leave this rocky road. Also, I am convinced that Liberia is neither poor nor broke. For instance, we have not yet begun to realize the extent of our platinum deposits, petroleum deposits, kyanite deposits, nickel deposits, barite deposits, gold deposits, and salica deposits. We have not yet begun to realize that Liberia should never be lacking in foodstuff and that our land is best suited for citrus, pineapple, eddoe, potatoe, corn, yam, cassava, sugarcane — not just rice. We have not yet begun to realize the potential for cattle and poultry. We have only just begun!!
FRASER ALSO ASKED: “...Are the people oppressed by an unfair government, are they bound by traditions ...?”
MY REPLY WAS: We are oppressed by both UNREASONABLE GOVERNANCE and USELESS TRADITIONS. I am troubled that we as a common people have not evolved the practice of governance beyond expressions personifying our government in the person of ''the President''. We — all of us — are the government. Not one person. Not one political party. We as a common people find it more convenient to rest comfortably on rules of governance which are without artfully and evenly crafted foundations of equal laws and equal opportunities. We have allowed that the ''big man'' has a right to the biggest car without that ''big man'' managing our need for big roads. We have allowed that it is appropriate for the ''big man'' to receive medical treatment in foreign countries without expecting that ''big man'' to manage our need for local hospital facilities, we have not been reasonable with ourselves. We hold on to easy and unchallenged traditions that have been proven to be useless in the face of a modern world. We codify common law statutes defining trial by ordeal, yet we also codify civil statutes restricting the applicability of lie detector tests. We codify statutes defining dowry marriage for a 13yearoldgirl, yet we establish childrights associations to fight for the rights of children while we remain silent on the laws which deny a teenage girl opportunities and rights equal to opportunities and rights as guaranteed to a teenage boy. Many of our traditions are useless for a modern world and much of our rules of governance are unreasonable in a modern world.
|
|
