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A
call to boycott
Monday,
May 22, 2006
By
Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh
There
are times in life when one must take a stand on
critical issues of the day. Whether popular or not, it
is a stand a person must take to send a strong and
unapologetic message that certain behavior, no matter
where it is coming from cannot, should not, and will
not be tolerated in any community.
And if we ever allow others – our own people
for that matter to treat us like we are their
four-legged domestic friends, we will surely behave
like those controlled lap dogs waiting to roll over
when prompted.
Patrick
Woodtor welcomes Pres. Sirleaf during Chicago visit,
with a visible banner of the Liberian Association of
Indiana, Inc in full view. Courtesy/Liberian Embassy
I am for a strong, prosperous, democratic and
peaceful Liberia. I love Liberia dearly, and I will be
the first to support any individual or group that
wants to raise funds to help our beloved country, its
weary men, women and children in times like these.
However, we Liberians cannot accomplish those
lofty goals when we are divisive, hate-filled and
disrespectful to our fellow countrymen and women at a
time when we supposed to come together as one to feed
our people and rebuild our crumbling infrastructure.
When we become intolerant and insensitive to
one another like the “LIFERS” are doing today, our
extremely selfish and wicked ways tend to rival the
execrable warlords that we replaced with the interim
government and later with the elected Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf.
This is not about the President of Liberia,
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Whether she’s aware of the
controversy is unknown. However, this is about her
good friends, the metro Atlanta branch of “Liberians
for Ellen” (LIFE), the turgid new “Republican
minority” in our midst who, since they believed they
won the Executive Mansion wants to recklessly
implement their own “contract with Liberia,” at
our expense by undermining or attempting to undermine
the peace and unity our community and country stands
for, and strived very hard to enjoy during these very
fragile months.
When our community and elected local leaders
are constantly shown no respect and are threatened by
the hateful, selfish and cowardly acts of the
opportunistic few, those of us at the other end must
do all we can to defend the institution.
And if it means calling for a complete boycott
of the $125.00 per person luncheon and fundraising
event in President Sirleaf’s honor on May 27, I will
not hesitate to ask progressive Liberians to stay home
and spend their money where it is appreciated.
That’s because the Liberian Association of
Metropolitan Atlanta (LAMA), formerly Liberian
Community Association of Georgia, (LCAG) was vilified
and disrespected by “LIFE,” and has been around
too long to be treated like the stepchild of anybody
or group.
We have been around too long to be disrespected
by “Liberians for Ellen,” (LIFE) or any other
group. During our three-decade of existence, we’ve
witnessed the evolution of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf from
a wannabe opposition politician to a political
prisoner, a serious presidential contender, then later
to the presidency of our country.
When she was an aspiring politician, our future
president visited our community many times in the mid
to late 80s to speak to us, and to visit with
relatives and friends. In fact, one of her sons,
Charles Sirleaf served as president of our community
in 1984.
So how can that unique history be forgotten so
quickly by these individuals who claimed to be hosting
the president to raise funds for the women’s wing of
the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Monrovia, but
miscalculated and failed miserably to include
prominent and talented local Liberian artists, civic
and religious leaders to boost their efforts and give
legitimacy to the fundraising initiatives that will
benefit their country?
A fundraising drive supposedly in the interest of the
people hundreds of thousands of miles away, which is
scheduled to take place in the backyard of their
scions who are not included in all aspects of the
program resembles naked arrogance and is
counterproductive to their entire efforts.
I worked the phone lines throughout the week,
and especially on May 19, trying very hard to
negotiate with the many players on both the
African-American and the Liberian sides of the
equation, to get the participation of the community
and the involvement of most Liberians since this is
for a worthy cause.
The African-Americans that I spoke with were
very respectful, warm and cordial in their
discussions, and showed how inclusive they want to be.
The Liberian organizers on the other end were
rude, unprofessional, disrespectful and continued to
be hard-liners who are oblivious of history, the
fundraising process and are intolerant of the views of
others.
Meanwhile, John E. Scott, one of the members of
LIFE who I quoted in a previous article called to
forewarn me on May 20, about a lawsuit he intends to
file against me if I ever write any article in the
future that impugns his integrity.
“Sungbeh, I have gotten calls from people all
across the United States that you mentioned me in an
article on your (The Liberian Dialogue) website.”
“I did not read the article, I have never
visited the site, and I don’t ever intend to visit
the site anytime. I just want to let you know that I
will not hesitate to sue you, (to protect my
character) if you ever write any article in the future
that attacks my character,” he said.
"I do not attack individuals, nor do I
engage in character assassination in my writings,"
I told Mr. Scott.
I would think the first thing any person would
do upon hearing anything of this kind is to first read
the article in question before threatening the writer
verbally with a lawsuit.
Mr. Scott, however, did things his way by
attempting to intimidate me as if I his little threat
will deter me from doing what I believe is right.
This is a call to boycott!
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