The True Meaning of Independence: Reflection of Our Yesterdays and Vision for Our Tomorrow

Syrulwa Somah [Ph.D]

It is a unique privilege and honor for me to speak before this august gathering at this moment. Today, all over this land of our parentage, from its hilltops to its valleys and plains; from its villages to towns, to districts and cities there is a celebration going on with our famous request for gift, “My 26th is on you-o, ba.” I, too, want to say “My 26th is on you-o, ba.”

Sugarcoating 133 Years of Americo-Liberian Dominance

Introduction: Liberia has a tradition of appointing national orators on its independence day, a custom that stretches back to the country's foundation. This year speaker was Dr. Elwood Dun a Liberian academic. Here is Samuel D. Tweah Jr. critique of Dun's "Renewing our national promise," in which he disagrees fundamentally with Dun's interpretation of Liberia's history. Tweah  accused Dun of sugar coating the past, and being less candid about the historical national narrative which culminated in Liberia's founding. Says Tweah, "Dr. Dunn makes several troubling and baffling assertions which are teased and fleshed out...the Professor summarizes 133 years of political wrongdoing as prejudice. This is gross, tendentious understatement that has to be challenged. And more to the point, he uses ‘prejudices’ alongside ‘preferences’ as if to argue that ‘preferences’ define or connote the positives of the era while ‘prejudices’ explain the negatives." Both Dun and Tweah's posits are worth reading...