RABBI JOE GBABA LIBERIA INDEPENDENCE CONVERSATION
Dearly beloved, Happy 26 once again. As you can see from my photo I am still celebrating Liberia’s Independence in my Lone Star outfit to let the President and all Liberians know we are prepared to complete the mandate the Lord has given me to unite Liberians and help Liberians reconcile with one another. My mandate as a Playwright and scholar/artist also includes educating and entertaining Liberians and to help Liberians realize we are one people and one nation , indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
The word “INDEPENDENCE” must not be used loosely within the confines of the Republic of Liberia without knowing it’s true meaning and how to use the word syntactically.
Simply put, “independence” means freedom and the ability to do things on your own. In my definition there are two requirements to be considered ‘independent’: 1. You must be free and 2. You must do things for yourself.
Therefore, when we critically analyze our ‘independence’ you will agree with me that while we may have the so-called ‘freedom’ to govern ourselves, the hard truth is that we don’t do things for ourselves: we have huge rich tropical rainforests, humus soil but we do not produce our staple diet (rice).
We have huge gold, diamond, silver, bauxite reserves and huge rubber plantations in Liberia, but the people and companies who dig them out of our grounds are not Liberian citizens and the companies through which our minerals and natural resources are raked out of Liberia are all foreigners and foreign companies. So we lack freedom to manage our own resources.
On the contrary, an ‘independent’ Liberia will put Liberia first. An independent Liberia will establish its own national companies to manage its own resources with QUALIFIED Liberians (not unskilled partisans) at the helm of leadership.
Happy Post 26, Rabbi Gbaba. July 27, 2027