AMERICA's FORGOTTEN STAR- LIBERIA: The Creation Of a Black American Homeland Kindle Edition

Liberia’s contribution to the world and Black Americans has often been forgotten by the very people that it was established for. Many freed Blacks from the United States and beyond gave their lives for the founding of this beautiful coastal land in West Africa that is today known as the Republic of Liberia. Today’s generation of Black Americans would rather visit or talk about Mexico and foreign lands than mention or admire their connection with Liberia or Africa. As a result, Africa’s first modern democracy, created by freed slaves from America, has been left buried in long-distant memories of past generations of heroes who laid their lives on the line to escape slavery, white prejudice, and persecution. The research and the time needed by historians to digest the complex history of Liberia have not been fully appreciated by most of its younger generations on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Liberia should have the same significance to Black Americans as the state of Israel’s is to European Jews and Jewish people who came from other parts of the globe to establish historical connections with the state of Israel. Some of the reasons that Liberia’s old democracy is on life support are because it was long ago abandoned by the sons and daughters of the many freed people of color from the United States and from other parts of the world who sailed away to what they thought were better opportunities than their prevailing condition at the time. These freed people of color were running from racial prejudice and persecution in search of freedom and to establish a peaceful country of their liking. It was their love of liberty, freedom, and equal rights that brought them to this coastal land on the west coast of Africa. Liberia should reclaim its rightful position in the world as one of the earlier contributors to modern democracy and the declaration of freedom and liberty for all who set foot on her shores. Black Americans need to reconnect with Liberia, their ancestral homeland, to help keep its dying democracy alive. If Liberian democracy fails, it will not be because of the lack of effort on the part of those who risked everything to create this small nation. Instead, it will be because of the old wound of the slavery mentality that is still buried and scarred in the minds of many offspring of Black Americans and indigenous Liberians as well. Read more