ATLANTA, Georgia – The recently elected Standard Bearer of the Alternative National Congress (ANC), Alexander Benedict Cummings, has extended a special invitation to civil rights leaders in the United States to visit Liberia next year and celebrate the Bicentennial with the people of Liberia.
Mr. Cummings presented the invite to Mrs. Xernona Clayton Brady when he met with the iconic civil rights leader and communications executive. She is a former lieutenant of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and longtime Turner Network media executive. They met in Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday, October 20, 2021.
During the meeting, Hon Cummings observed that while Ghana and Senegal became the lands of “no return” based on how captured slaves were treated before being shipped to the West, particularly the U.S., Liberia on the other hand, was uniquely formed as the “home of full return” of formerly enslaved Africans. Thus, he extended the invitation to Ms. Clayton to come “home” and be part of the one celebration most connected to her fight in the Civil Rights Movement.
The ANC Standard Bearer story is a unique Liberian success story that moved Ms. Clayton. Upon hearing his story, she was wowed by the accomplishments of Hon. Cummings, about whom she subsequently remarked, “What an impressive fellow! From the trappings of the Third World to one of America’s most successful and influential corporate boardrooms, only to return with the burning desire to help uplift his people in Liberia! I only wish Africa had more patriotic sons and daughters steeled in selflessness and as fully accomplished as Alex is. I do look forward to working with him.”
In accepting his invitation, she said that when she heard of Hon. Cummings’s desire to help his people and his current impact with the Alex Cummings School of Science and Technology, as well as the Cummings Africa Foundation (CAF), among other philanthropic ventures in Liberia, she was more than thrilled to meet him. “I am particularly impressed with his special request in extending a ‘Citizen’s Invitation’ to me to visit Liberia during the country’s bicentennial celebration.” Liberia was founded in 1822 by the American Colonization Society (ACS) for the repatriation of freed slaves to Africa. Next year, 2022, marks the 200th anniversary of the founding of what became Africa’s oldest independent Republic when Liberia eventually declared its independence on July 26, 1847.
Ms. Clayton assured Honorable Cummings that she would lead a delegation of well-connected African American civil rights, business, and political leaders to the bicentennial celebrations. “It is far past the time when we need to explore further the historical importance to our civil rights movement. We will also exploit Liberia’s unique relationship to the United States,” she said.
In 2010, Ms. Clayton visited Ghana. As the result of that visit, a village in the Kumasi region of Ghana got a new school, electricity, and running water that directly impacted over 11,000 homes in that region, courtesy of her leadership.
VIP Invite to the Trumpet Awards Show (TAS)
Mrs. Clayton then extended an invitation to Hon. Cummings to visit and be her guest-of-honor at the Trumpet Awards Show in January 2022, scheduled to be held in Los Angeles, California. The Trumpet Awards event will see an array of prominent African American entertainers, civil rights activists, and politicians in attendance. It will be the first-time leaders of all major civil rights organizations will be represented and honored.
The event will allow the ANC Standard Bearer to meet and interact with the “Who’s Who” in the African American communities. Cummings will mingle with political, advocacy, entertainment, and business leaders as he makes a case to have African Americans fully vested in the development of Liberia. According to the event planner, groups expected to attend are the Congressional Black Caucus, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), National Urban League, National Action Network, Rainbow Push Coalition, etc.