‘Liberia’s Progress is Not Inevitable’ – Amb. Brown Tells Liberians at 171st Independence Celebration in Canada

New York – Liberia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, His Excellency Lewis Garseedah Brown, II has encouraged Liberians in the Diaspora to do more with their “hearts and hands” to defend the Country’s cause and meet its multiplicity of challenges.

Delivering the Keynote Address at programs marking the celebration of Liberia’s 171st Independence in Vacouver, Canada, Ambassador Brown cited the National Anthem as an everlasting appeal, that there can be no greater value for our citizenship than to offer “our hearts and our hands in defense of our country’s cause”.

The Liberian Envoy said while it is okay to criticize, it is even better to identify solutions as to how things can be improved. ” However possible, Liberia’s progress will never be rolled into reality on any wheel of inevitability. All of us must give of ourselves to achieve that progress. We have seen that as long as you are a Liberian, however way we may elect to separate and or identify ourselves, or wherever you may elect to hide; the historic truth is that we will all rise, or we will all fall, together. A better country guarantees our collective rise. A failing country can therefore only guarantee our collective fall.” He cautioned.

According to a dispatch from Liberia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations,  Ambassador Brown questioned the justification for criticizing  those who may be trying, even if they don’t know, when those who claim to know, would not even try. ” Of course JFK can be better. But your criticisms of JFK is useless, in my opinion, if you are a qualified doctor or nurse, and you are working here, under obviously better conditions and for better compensations, while others are grinding it out daily to serve their needy compatriots back home, as best as they possibly can, with their monthly earnings  barely amounting to the cost of your gasoline bill for the month”.

The Liberian Diplomat then urged Liberians abroad to help raise the quality of service by their examples – “push us, by your examples of higher commitments toward doing things better – toward a new culture of excellence. It does not have to be in the employ of the government, but you – yes, it can start with you – can also impact our forward march to be a home of glorious liberty which God has commanded”.

Ambassador Brown also used the occasion to laud the endurance of Liberians during the many difficult years.  “For 171 years, amidst the ebbs and flows of tempestuous waters, our ship has continued to sail. We may not have moved as fast as we possibly could. But together, we have endured. And despite the many tidal waves which occasionally threatened our ship of state, to the global admiration of many, we have continued to survive the journey we embarked upon so many years ago – a journey to build a unified nation, to govern ourselves democratically, to provide equal opportunities to all irrespective of our differences, and to continue to decide for ourselves where we wish to be headed, and how we wish to get there.”

The Liberian Envoy is convicted that even with the current economic  difficulties, we (Liberians) can  redeem ourselves and make the next 171 years better by “owning up to our shared responsibility for our progress, or the lack thereof; attending with national urgency, to feeding ourselves; informing  our national psyche away from the temptations of instant gratification, striving to be honest and embracing excellence,  and encouraging the pursuit of it.

The Independence Day program on the theme: “Together For Success” was organized by the Federation of Liberian Associations in Canada (FLAC).