A recent “Lunch with the FT†piece, featuring an interview of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf by David Pilling, the paper’s newly minted Africa editor, stands out as a sterling example of the failure of international journalists to capture the complexity and diversity of influences that shape Liberian society.
OP-ED: “J.J. Roberts Didn’t Build Liberia, I Will Eat My Own Tooâ€
As Liberia celebrates former President Joseph Jenkins Roberts’ birthday, I wonder what has been the government’s purpose for this holiday, especially since the political elites were never interested in the examples of Roberts. I wonder what it will take to make Liberia number one in Africa within this generation. Is it even possible to make Liberia the leading democratic and most developed African country in our lifetime?
OP-ED: Striving for Excellence in the Liberian Entertainment Industry
When my business partner and first I started doing “The Vagina Monologues†in Liberia in 2011, we received a lot of backlash. The play is a series of monologues that deal with topics related to the feminine experience including sex, menstruation, rape, masturbation, among other things. In the vitriolic responses from critics, we were accused of negatively portraying women and trying to bring Western views to Liberia and to expose people to vulgarity.
OP-ED: Will My Country Have My Back?
As a young Liberian woman studying in the United States, I would love to move back to Liberia to incite some degree of change for my people. But I am afraid. While I want to return after I graduate, I do not feel protected in Liberia. I do not feel like my nation will have my back no matter what.
OP-ED: The Conscience of a Nation, Liberia
A recent article in the Washington Post about UN “peacekeeper babies†caught my attention.
OP-ED: A Standard Business Meeting Turns Very Inappropriate
As a woman in business, I have found that I have to be smarter and quicker than my male counterparts.
OP-ED: Youth and Sustainable Development: Education and Empowerment
Liberia is the oldest independent country in Africa. Before the 1980s, we were quickly developing with a vibrant education sector, which contributed to the empowerment of citizens from other neighboring countries. We had an economy improving and contributing to the social welfare of citizens.
OP-ED: Leadership is About Service Not Self-Enrichment
If anybody deserves quality education, better health care, electricity, safe drinking water, improved housing, and other basic social services, then it is the PEOPLE. Since all power is inherent in them according to Article one (1) of our Constitution, then it means that the welfare of the people must be an indispensable national priority.