The Liberian Community In The United States

ULAA Elects New Board Leadership
Mr. Anthony Varfilay Kesselly, the ULAA Board Representative of the Liberian Association of Pennsylvania, Inc., has been elected the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas (ULAA)

Liberia Leadership Crisis Committee organized
The Constitution and Laws of Liberia prohibit armed insurrection against the state. In an attempt to uphold the lawof the land, the Liberian people in cooperation with the international community, compelled Mr. Charles Taylor to submit to an electoral process.

Stop the Persistent Barbaric Treatment of Peaceful Law-abiding Citizens (MDCL's Statement)
We, the officers and members of the Movement for Democratic Change in Liberia (MDCL), wish to express our utter consternation at the arrest, detention and torturing of human rights lawyer Counselor Tiawon S. Gongloe by the Liberian Government security personnel.

Liberians Deserve Peace, not Turmoil (ULAA's Statement)
When the Liberian people went to the polls five years ago following a devastating civil war in which more than 200,000 of their compatriots perished, they were ultimately opting for sustainable peace as a climax to the unprecedented devastation.

Grand Gedeh Association condemns the Arrest and Torture of Counselor Tiawon Gongloe
The Grand Gedeh Association in the Americas, Inc. condemns, in the strongest possible term, the arrest and torture of counselor Tiawon Gongloe. We are disturbed that counselor Gonglor was tortured while in the custody of the Liberian police. We call on the Government of Liberia to immediately release Cllr. Gongloe and bring to justice those who are responsible for this barbaric act.

LDI Calls for the Release of Tiawan S. Gongloe and the Resignation of President Taylor
The Liberian Democracy Initiative (LDI) demands the immediate release from further detention of Liberian human rights lawyer Tiawan S. Gongloe. Mr. Gongloe must immediately be released without conditions. Liberia is a country that ought to be guarded by the constitution - not authoritative, military and police tugs. LDI strongly condemns the Taylor administration act of lawlessness, total disregard for human dignity and freedom.

PUL "Taken Aback by the Closure of the Analyst Newspaper"
The Press Union of Liberia (PUL) says it's taken aback by the closure of the Analyst Newspaper by the Government of Liberia outside the due process of law.

ACFLi Issues Statement on the Arrest and Detention of Tiawon Gongloe
The unlawful detention and beating of Cllr. Gongloe by the current Liberian government is again another depiction of the ugly picture of the administration of President Charles Taylor.

A Chronicle of the Demise of Democracy
On February 8, 2002, the Taylor regime instituted a state of emergency in Liberia. At the time he seized emergency power and nullified the already toothless and nominal legislature, President Taylor used the ongoing dissident incursion into the country as a pretext to arrogate onto himself extra power to effectively deal with the nagging economic, political and security problems.

Wotorson Urges Liberians to Organize and Hold a Meeting of National Leaders
Since the advent of our recent National Crisis nearly twenty-two (22) years ago… with the violent overthrow of the Tolbert Administration on April 12, 1980, and the subsequent advent of the NPFL initiated 7 year conflict from late December 1989 to 1997… resulting in the overthrow of the Doe administration, Liberians have generally intensified their dependence upon the sympathy, goodwill, initiatives and leadership of mostly non-Liberian personalities and institutions to think of, organize and manage the several meetings and conferences for the search for "lasting Peace in Liberia".

Friends of Liberia Calls For Release of Human Rights Activist and Reopening of Independent Newspaper
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Friends of Liberia (FOL), a non-profit non-partisan advocacy group, has urged the government of Liberia to immediately release human rights lawyer Tiawan Gongloe and allow the independent Analyst newspaper to reopen. FOL is also urging the government to stop its harassment of the Movement for the Defense of Human Rights (MODHAR), whose office in Monrovia was surrounded by police after the group put out a press release condemning Gongloe’s arrest.

United Nimba Citizens' Council (UNICCO) Issued Statement
We, the members of the United Nimba citizens' Council (UNICCO) in the United States of America , have learned with utter dismay that at 4:00 p.m., Wednesday, April 24, 2002, the prominent Liberian human rights lawyer and son of Nimba, Counselor Tiawan Gongloe, was arbitrarily arrested by Special Security Forces of the Government of Liberia.

CEDE Condemns the Arrest, Detention and Torture of Counselor Tiawan S. Gongloe
The Regional Office of the Center for Democratic Empowerment (CEDE) wishes to add its voice to CEDE's Liberian Program Office in expressing shock and unreserved condemnation of the criminal arrest, detention and torture of Counselor Tiawan S. Gongloe, Member of the Board of Directors and Legal Counsel of CEDE, and of the unrelated closure of the Analyst newspaper by the Liberian Government.

Beware of Taylor's Sanctions Ruse, MDCL Advises UN
As Liberians residing outside of our beloved country, advocating peaceful change in Liberia, we have taken keen interest in the efforts of the Sanctions Review Committee of the Security Council to verify compliance of the Government of Liberia with the requirements for lifting sanctions imposed on Mr. Charles Taylor and members of his government by the United Nations.

Bush Administration Extends Liberians' DED Status
Following in the footsteps of the Clinton administration, the Bush administration has extended for another year the immigration status of more than 10,000 Liberians whose current protective status, the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED), would have expired on September 29, 2001.

Symposium on the Degradation of The Liberian Rainforest
The Liberian rainforest, considered as one of the world's last remaining rainforest, has in recent times been subjected to excessive deforestation and pillaging by a plethora of timber and lumber corporations exploiting it. Aside from the environmental concern it has created, it has equally raised political concerns regarding the role timber has played in fueling the crisis in Sierra Leone.

ULAA Denounces Terrorist Attack Against US
The Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas (ULAA) has added its voice to the denunciation of the terrorist attacks against the United States which caused the loss of lives of thousands of Americans and foreign nationals when terrorists struck the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

The Immigration Question: Who Should Benefit?
Mexican president, Vicente Fox seems to be on the right track in the heyday of his young administration for the many positive things he has done for his people in the short time he become their leader.

A Commitment to Education
Charles W. Brumskine, former President Pro-Tempore of the Liberian Senate was in Atlanta over the Labor Day weekend to address the annual Seminar and Banquet of the Mission for Liberia (MFL) project. MFL was established by Rev. Napoleon Rayikaye Karr and his wife, Kathy, in Little Collar, Grand Bassa County, in 1987 and has since provided free education for hundreds of Liberian children.

Liberians Rally for Adjustment of Immigration Status
Under the auspices of the Liberian Immigration National Advocacy Commission - a committee organized by the Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas (ULAA), a rally is being held today, Thursday, May 17, 2001 in support of the "Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 2001". The bill was introduced last year but did not have bipartisan support. According to the organizers of the rally, the new version of the bill (S-656) has garnered broad bipartisan support from both Republicans and Democrats in both the House and Senate.

Support Intensifies for Sanctions Against Liberia
With barely four days to the May 7 deadline for UN sanctions on Liberia, activities and highlights have been saturated with campaigns on the sanctions on Liberia. While the Liberian Government rolls in its propaganda campaign, Liberians, friends of Liberia as well as victims of Liberia's anarchy within the sub-region have intensified campaigns for the sanction to be imposed on the Liberian government. The selective UN sanctions which takes effect on Monday, May 7, unless the Liberian government can prove its disengagement from the RUF, which includes arms embargo, ban on exportation of diamond, grounding of all Liberian registered flights and travel ban on government officials.

ULAA Responds to President Taylor
The leadership of the Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas (ULAA), which once pursued a policy of "active engagement" with the Taylor's government, hoping that it could help transform and influence his administration in pursuing more people-centered policies that could improve the living conditions of the Liberian people, has made a radical about-face by adopting a more aggressive posture towards the Taylor's regime. The new policy or approach comes in the wake of recent public hearing held on Liberia few weeks ago by the U.S. House Subcommittee on Africa.

ALJA Condemns Detention of Journalists
The U.S. based Association of Liberian Journalists in the Americas (ALJA) has condemned the arrest and detention of four Liberian journalists of independent newspaper, The News, by the Liberian Government on charges of espionage and has called for their immediate and unconditional release. In a strongly worded press release issued over the weekend, signed by its Secretary-General, Gabriel Williams, and approved by Acting President, Isaac Bantu, AJLA charged that the detention of the journalists was not only illegal and politically motivated, but also a serious bridge of the Liberian Constitution.

Liberian Groups Call For Immediate Sanctions
Since Mr. Taylor's ascension to our nation's highest office, the violation of the human rights and civil liberties under the NPP led Government continues unabated. Non-adherence to the principles of constitutional democracy and the rule of law makes a sham and mockery of democracy in post-war Liberia. The pillage and plunder of our resources for personal gains as well as Liberia's new image as a pariah state cannot go unnoticed.

MCDL Wants Liberia Included in War Crimes Tribunal on Sierra Leone's: A new Liberian group, the Movement for Democratic Change in Liberia (MDCL), has been launched. Meeting in the City of Minneapolis, Minnesotta, on December 2, 2000, the movement brought together a cross-section of Liberian citizens residing in the U.S. to discuss current political developments and strategize on the need to effect democratic change in the country.

LPP-USA Condemns Attack on Sawyer, Wesseh
On Tuesday, November 28, 2000, Liberians and the entire world were shocked but not surprised over news that about 100 former NPFL combatants heavily armed with cutlasses, knives, sticks, rusty irons, etc. stormed the offices of the Center for Democratic Empowerment (CEDE), a democracy organization.

ALJA Asks UN To Set Up War Crimes Tribunal For Liberia
The Association of Liberian Journalists in the Americas (ALJA) is a newly established organization comprising mostly Liberian journalists who fled Liberia during the country's seven-year brutal civil war. Many of the journalists fled following harassment, death threats, torture and detention in the performance of their reportorial duties.

Sorry Charlie, They Won't Be Coming After All
The joy was endemic contaminating everyone in the crowd of anxious Liberians and well-wishers of Liberia gathered outside across from the White House on the evening of September 19, as Black Congressional representatives and Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island wasted the good news.

No Red Carpet Treatment For Charles Taylor
With the impending visit of Liberian President Charles McArthur Taylor to the United States in September of 1999, the Liberian Association of Metropolitan Atlanta wishes to strongly express its consternation over the willingness of many African American leaders to unconditionally embrace him despite the fact that his human rights records are checkered and punctuated with blatant disregard for life and liberty.

Why President Taylor Should Not Be Granted Honorary Degree?
As the world undergoes dramatic democratic transformation and is poised to enter the next millennium, it is the hope of most Africans that Africa and the people of African descent everywhere will become the major beneficiaries in the quest for creating a democratic society and bringing the prosperity of the world to those who have least benefited in the last century. Liberians in Atlanta and elsewhere in these United States remain sanguine that Liberia will assume its rightful place amongst the world community of nations as the world prepares for the next century.

Liberians Thrown Out Of Heaven And Hell
Liberians everywhere, unfortunately, are now realizing, the hard way, how Taylor's victory is beginning to adversely affect them. Those Liberians who were ready-set to go home after the elections, are beginning to unpack their bags to seek other alternatives. This includes those Liberians who supported Taylor throughout the senseless Liberian civil war. Caution has become their guiding principle as they join the wait-and-see game once more.

The International Christain Fellowship Celebrates Birth Of A Vision
The International Christian Fellowship (ICF) celebrated its 11th anniversary during the week of October 5, 1997, with a banquet and other activities. The celebration was climaxed with a worship service. The faithful came out united and celebrated the birth of a vision. Minister Dr. Andrew J. Hairston, co-founder of Wells-Hairston High School in Monrovia was the guest speaker.

Liberia Cry For Peace Cries Loud For Help (Peace)
Liberia Cry For Peace, Juli Endee's dance and cultural ensemble that sprouted during the end of the Liberian civil conflict is battling its own "civil" problems since arriving in the United States several months ago. Atlanta, GA has been their home since their arrival.

Mina's Place: Spotlight On Minority Business
The owner of Mina Place, Ms. Wilhelmina R. Bestman, is a native of Liberia. She relocated from Bensalem, Pennsylvania November of 1995. Prior to coming to the United States, Mina, as she is affectionately known, owned a beauty salon and a boutique on Randall Street, Monrovia, Liberia. Like many Liberian business owners, the civil war forced her to relocate.

George Klay Kieh, Former LPP Official, Resigns
During that brief but exclusive interview I had with Kieh, he noted, "the Liberian People's Party is going no where because the party has now become a conduit for Togba-Nah Tipoteh and Amos C. Sawyer's political aspirations. I will not allow these people to use me."

One-Million Dollar Project for Nimba County
There is a quiet reformation underway which seeks to enlist all age qualified Nimbaians. Its authors believe that it will change the Liberian psyche relative to government funding of public projects such as medical and educational institutions. Some supporters have referred to it as a healthy 'revolution' that will engender a new competitive spirit on the national scene.

The Truth About Forming Government in Exile
When I first wrote in July this year about the rumors which were circulating within the Liberian community in the United States of America about the specter of forming yet another interim transitional government by certain sector of the Liberian community in this country, many of the leading characters who helped formulate that plan vehemently denied the allegation. Some accused me of trying to divide the Liberian community at a time when it was wrestling with the devastating civil conflict that was consuming Liberia, especially when Monrovia, the capital, and the political and economic bastion of the old elitist establishment was in flames. Others dismissed my assertion as mere propaganda from individuals who wish Liberia ills. Some people called me Liberian David Duke, who was simply bent on seeing the country go down the deteriorating slope to self-decimation.

The Liberian Leader Meets with Liberians
In the evening of October 5, Mrs. Ruth Perry, chairlady of Liberia's National Transitional Government, was honored at a social function sponsored by Cape Mountainians in the tri-state area of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. Her exclusive meeting with members of her county irked many Liberians from different political subdivisions in Liberia.

ULAA Abuses her Own Constitution
We, Liberians, are noted for our indecorous use of our constitution as well as other laws which are derivatives of that organic document. In 1927 we found ourselves in the GUINESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS for our notorious disregard for the law when Liberia conducted one of the most crooked elections in history. In the presidential election of that year, President Charles D. B. King was re-elected with an officially announced majority 234,000 over his opponent, Thomas J. R. Faulkner of the People's party. President King thus claimed a "majority" more than 151/2 time greater than the entire electorate. This fraudulent practice continued throughout our history. Elections during the reign of the late President William V.S.Tubman were nothing more than a sham. And the late President Samuel K. Doe also decided to emulate his predecessors by his gross abuse of election laws.

Dr. Korto Seeks ULAA Presidency
Not only Bill Clinton and Bob Dole criss-cross this country in an attempt to become president. Joseph D. Zeakedoe Korto is also running for president: He's running to become president of ULAA. Dr. Korto brought his campaign to the Liberian Community Association of Georgia on Sunday, Oct 13. He presented a summarized version of his platform to the community.

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Meets Liberians of Metro Atlanta
The election of ex-warlord Charles Taylor, the man who launched the Liberian civil war that slaughtered over 250,000 innocent and hapless Liberians on July 19, has generated debates among Liberians in the U.S.A. One of such debates, according unconfirmed reports, has led to the stabbing death of Michael Kpor in Philadelphia, PA.