Liberian President Meets Trump in Washington as Rev. Torli Krua Leads Statewide “Gratitude Tour” of Massachusetts, Honoring Elizabeth Freeman, Human Dignity and Democracy

BOSTON, MA — As Liberian President Joseph N. Boakai arrives in Washington, D.C. for a high-level summit with President Donald J. Trump, a historic and symbolic movement is simultaneously unfolding across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Rev. Torli H. Krua, Founder of the Free Liberia Movement and Universal Human Rights International (UHRI), is leading a multi-city “Gratitude Tour” to honor Massachusetts for its pioneering legacy in advancing human dignity, equality, and democracy.

“Massachusetts was the birthplace of American democracy—home of the first constitution in the world that declared ‘all men are born free and equal’ in 1780, eight years before the U.S. Constitution,” said Rev. Krua. “We are here to thank the Commonwealth and remind America that its soul and future rest in living up to these revolutionary ideals.”

The Gratitude Tour will spotlight Massachusetts’ trailblazing role in the abolition of slavery and birthright citizenship, beginning with the 1781–83 case Brom and Bett v. Ashley that freed Elizabeth Freeman and outlawed slavery statewide. The tour will also include visits to the 12th Baptist Church in Roxbury, where Rev. Krua will highlight the church’s legacy of supporting Black refugees; the Massachusetts State House, to thank elected leaders for upholding democratic values and the home of Rev. Dr. Arlene Grant in Randolph, a white Christian woman who welcomed Liberian refugees into her home.

Rev. Krua will also visit the home of the late Sarah Small, whose hospitality helped African students in exile build new lives, the residence of Councilor Charles Yancey, a long-time advocate for immigrant rights in Boston, Senator Edward Markey’s office honoring his steadfast defense of refugee and human rights and Congressman Jim McGovern’s office in Worcester, where a draft bill for U.S. birthright citizenship for Liberians will be delivered.

“The United States is still haunted by the 1790 Nationality Act—its first immigration law—that explicitly excluded nonwhites from citizenship and laid the foundation for 235 years of systemic racial injustice,” Rev. Krua said. “Liberians were victims of this law when they were forcibly exiled to West Africa through U.S. colonization efforts. That injustice endures.”

In a bold appeal, Rev. Krua urged President Trump to become the first U.S. President to visit marginalized American jurisdictions—such as West Point, Monrovia (Liberia); Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (South Dakota); and Cañero, Puerto Rico—where descendants of Black and Indigenous U.S. patriots still suffer under systems their ancestors helped to build and defend.

“America spends nearly a trillion dollars annually to protect the world,” said Krua, “but has never prioritized healing the deep divisions at home caused by slavery, exclusion, and colonization.”

Rev. Krua is calling on President Trump to launch a nationwide Golden Age Ideas Competition to crowdsource solutions from everyday Americans, annex Liberia as America’s long-overdue 51st state, pointing to the U.S. Navy’s 1821–1822 occupation of the land, the 1824 Liberian Constitution (which extended U.S. citizenship to all born in Liberia), and the use of American tax dollars and treaties to establish the territory “for the settlement of citizens of the United States forever.”

“Why purchase new territories when the U.S. already paid for one 200 years ago?” Krua asked. “Liberia was not founded by African Americans or Africans. It was created by the U.S. government, with U.S. laws, taxes, treaties, and military protection.”

the release notes that the Gratitude Tour will culminate with the inaugural Elizabeth Freeman Freedom Award in Springfield, honoring local and state officials, including Rep. Bud Williams, Chair of the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Racial Equity, Civil Rights and Inclusion.

Rev. Krua will also visit the Elizabeth Freeman monument in Sheffield and file a federal lawsuit in Boston on July 11, 2025, demanding recognition of U.S. birthright citizenship for Liberians and descendants of African American citizens exiled by the U.S. government.

the release further states that the citizenship petition will be formally delivered to Ambassador Toner in West Point, Monrovia, on July 16, 2025, and  President Donald Trump at the White House on July 25, 2025, the eve of Liberia’s Independence Day.

“We respectfully urge President Trump to make history by going where no American president has gone—to communities of forgotten Americans suffering in U.S. territories, to unite the country and usher in a true Golden Age of healing, justice, and inclusion,” Krua said.