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 While
I must commend the national orator at Liberia’s 161st independence
anniversary for overcoming physical setbacks and acknowledging that
through the help of slain Liberian Leader William R. Tolbert, he was
able to achieve his academic goals, the speech again dwelled on
re-writing the history rather than building upon the solid foundations
provided by Liberia’s founding fathers.
Taking a page from the history of the United States in which the orator received his college education, we find that despite the 1776 constitution of said country relegating Africans to 3/5 humans, each generation of Americans has sought to perfect the Union of Free States, through constitutional amendments and civil rights legislations, without resorting to a violent overthrow of the system or rewriting its constitution as was the case in
Liberia.Liberia’s 1847 constitution, written when Africa was controlled by colonial masters was a bold step which signaled the dawning of freedom and independence on the continent of Africa. Like the United States Constitution in spite of its birth defects, written to declare independence from the British empire, the Liberian constitution despite it’s birth defects was written not only to declare Liberia’s independence from the American Colonial Society, but also to signal to Britain, France, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Italy and Holland that Africa would no longer tolerate colonial rule.
Liberians owe their freedom and independence to those men and women who declared independence to the world and crafted a fundamental document upon which to build a democracy. The names of places chosen by them should be untouchable as Liberians must remain grateful to them, with all their flaws and imperfection. Just like during one’s upbringing, one may have disagreed with methods used by one’s parents, their judgments at a different time and under difficult circumstances should not be subject to perpetual condemnation.
When I was awarded a full scholarship by the German Government in 1969 to study architecture, an eye opening experience occurred when I began my studies as the only person of African descend in the architecture department at the University of Kassel. On the first day of lectures, during the break, several students came over to my desk and asked if they could touch my hair because they had not seen hair like this before. When I allowed them to do so each of them said in German: "Wie Wolle", translated in English "Like wool"...
That evening, as I lay in bed thinking about my first day at school in a foreign country, I opened my Bible to the book of Revelations, Chapter 1 Verse 14 and read: "...his hairs were like wool ... and his feet like unto fine brass ... " I then turned to the book of Mathews, Chapter 3 verse 13 and read: "The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt (Africa) and be thou there until I bring thee word; for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him..."
It dawned on me that the continent of Africa had served as an asylum for the Son of God, the redeemer of the world. The Son of God had hairs like wool and feet like burnished brass. The Son of God resembled an African child ... and Africa protected Jesus from the hands of Herod.
Later during my stay in Germany, I was introduced to a Jamaican student of African decent who had joined the civil engineering department. I greeted him as follows: “Hello, I am Roderick Nyennatee Lewis, from Liberia, West Africa.”
He responded as follows: Hello, I am Desmond Williams, from Jamaica. I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into slavery…”( a reference to the Biblical story of Jacob’s sons who sold their brother Joseph into slavery)
I was taken aback, but quickly realize that while not condemning them, I needed to apologize on behalf of my ancestors to whom he was referring.
A people, with hair like wool and feet like burnished brass, a people with the looks of the son of God had witnessed the trade of human cargo, one of the most inhumane acts in the history of mankind, which is responsible for the fate forty million African Americans today. Yet, in Liberia, a country founded by former slaves we have the audacity to question and condemn the judgments of our founders.
Instead, we should be apologizing on behalf of our ancestors and admitting "we have sinned..," and asking God to: "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, thus cleansing our (bodies) vessels of malice, deceit, prejudice and selfishness, thereby reconnecting ourselves with the Source of the universe so that through these vessels, His works may be manifested in Liberia.
We should choose to follow His commandments and dedicate our services to humankind in fulfillment of God’s work on earth, by trying “not to gain the whole world” at the expense of others, while “losing our souls” as Liberia’s recent history has shown but remembering that when we are summoned to return to the Creator there will be no U-Haul trucks waiting to take with us our earthly possessions.
President John F. Kennedy closed his inaugural address in 1961 with the following words: “Let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking God’s blessings and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own”. Can we do likewise in Liberia? Can we commit ourselves to building upon the foundations of our founders and leaving a more perfect Liberia for generations unborn? I believe we can!
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About the Author: Roderick Nyennatee Lewis was born in Sinoe County, Liberia. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects and the author of “Blazing The Trail” and “Amazin’ Grace” published by Dorrance Publishing Corp.
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