STUPD LIBERIANS

President Poster Joined: Mar 04, 2006 Posts: 145

Just kidding, I just used the title to get peoples attention. I know my people are far from stupid. I just felt SOME of the issues in the article relate to us, even though we have the big Liberian egos.

check it out...

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http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/printer_20054316.shtml

Moiie's Column
This inferiority complex that is consuming Sierra Leoneans
By Alhaji Morikeh Fofanah -076 620 632/ 033 465 700
Dec 11, 2006, 12:16

Inferiority complex is an incurable ailment that has been directly connected to slaves and servitude. Slaves were conditioned to have inferiority complex for their masters in order to be conveniently used in the rice and cotton fields, for centuries ago. The Slave Master, psychologically dominated the mentality of the slaves, they had to think like them, behave like their masters to the extent that they fought those amongst themselves who held views that were contrary to the Masters’ own view of the norms of servitude.

Alhaji Moriekeh Fofanah

Sengbeh Pieh from Sierra Leone and Kunta Kinte (Gambian) of the ‘Roots’ fame, are examples of those African who refused to be mentally enslaved. They belong to the class of ‘Niggers’ who were opposed to those ‘House-Niggers’ who answered ‘Yes Sir’ even when they knew they were being treated like beasts. People like Blyden (grandfather of the Proprietress of Awareness Times) Marcus Garvey, and many more also demonstrated within their own rights negative tendencies against wholesomely absorbing what was the white man way of life.

Most of our people; I am sorry to say, find themselves in this predicament in present day Sierra Leone. Those who have no knowledge of their own history are bound to repeat the same mistakes of their past.

We are never proud of our hard won achievements or of our country. We prefer admiring other people, countries and cultures, forgetting the fact that we had been exposed to Western people for a very long time ago.

Our TV Station is full with 20yrs old video tapes of American and European music and movies instead of exposing our beautiful culture, drama and music as compared to what Guinea TV puts up. As for our radio stations, you can here the latest hip-hop, raps and all types of American and European junks. Our children growing up are glued to the TV sets, radio which makes them ‘fala-makata’-copy the way of talking, walking, dressing and general behaviour of other people. In fact as it is today, Sierra Leoneans are fast copiers of other peoples’ culture and other ways of life more than any other people across the globe. The ‘Shabba’ dress style comes from this, the piercing of the ears by our boys, the piercing of the nose by our girls, wearing of short skirts and short blouses that merely expose their female parts are all part of this copy syndrome that has permeated our society today. To me, the cause for these in part is the kind of education our children get from our TV and radio stations.

Our theatres and plays do not emulate our national heroes. Besides the late Rtd. Major Abu Noah, who went to extremes to show literally the importance and significance in his play "Bai Bureh Goes to War" the other only kind of appreciable tributes given to our culture are in the Mammy Yoko and Kailondo Hotels, where one can find our culture display in actual artistic finesse.

Noah’s play ‘Bai Bureh goes to war’ has given us something to permanently think about.

Sierra Leoneans are at their best criticizing their country, their compatriots-which include both the ordinary man and leaders. That is why today we have a mushroom of quack musicians whose tunes and lyrics lack any form of God-given talent. On stage they are clad in ‘Shaba’ type outfits, typical of the Wild West gangsters- big chains hanging loosely on their necks, over-sized basket ball jerseys, over-sized jeans or jogging trousers, over-sized boots stocked with tissue or some smelly stockings. Perhaps the only group that are to a very large extent close or trying to portray our cultural norm are the National Dance Troop and the Freetong Players. I am therefore suggesting that patriotism be taught starting at the Kindergarten level. This must be an obligation on all schools; Government-private or community owned. I love Sierra Leone and I am proud to be a Sierra Leonean.

In his solo song, ‘Redemption song’ Bob Marley decried what he described as ‘mental slavery’ which was an apparent detestation of the drift of the Afro American adoption of the whiteman’s values as the expense of his original African ones. He sang several other songs by which even without seeing him, he can be known as a Jamaican and indeed and African. Keeping the dreadlocks was part of that African identity. It is not to bluff off, as our own musicians are making it look. However, his inspired and continue to inspire people right across the world. This is unlike our own reactionary Ghetto Artists who do not see or want to see beyond their nose and therefore are always at the wrong side of anything that is positivistic about their country. This is exemplified by what they have singing and continue to sing. If we are to rely on these crop of musicians; some are however very objective, they will shoot us into trouble one day. They are just like the crop of journalists we have today. Although some are keeping their heads above waters, most however are merely in the profession to eke a living which is done by all means, mostly by vilification, slander and blackmail. These anti nationalists are not augur well for our much desired development.

James Brown, the African-American from Augusta, Georgia provided inspiration to his fellow Black Americans in his song "I am black and proud, say it loud" at the time he suspected his fellows were shying away from the pigmentation; something he also considered as mental slavery. Listening to the songs of most of our musicians one realizes that they are completely empty, in that they lack the gist of any form of talented inspiration, except for Rural Musicians.

Our attitude towards the use of land in this country is also very frustrating. Land owners and or criminals continue to sell our prime lands to foreigners. And please don’t write or talk about changing Government’s policy on this. As you might not know, we have people who are willing to act as fronts for these people and companies only to be paid pittances.

This is also the case with contracts. Unless you want Government to set up a separate entity to actually monitor all companies that bid for contracts - we really have companies whose memorandum of articles claim they are Sierra Leonean owned companies, but which in fact they are not. A nation that has the bulk of its population suffering from inferiority is a nation that has very serious problems, hence Sierra Leone.

Even our high and mighty educated girls still find time to search for those hot-cake foreigners who but fake them- watch this and they really do admire them for the simple fact that they are foreigners.

In the Gambia the level of nationalist flavour is extremely high. To the Gambian, it is the Gambia that comes first. Their ladies do not, I repeat do not, admire the foreigners; they consider them as business associates with whom they really work together for the betterment of their nation. In Sierra Leone, we admire a mansion when built by a foreigner - if it is constructed by a local, it stimulates investigations, which normally starts with comments such as ‘Nar We Money Den Don Tiff So’-meaning the money is gotten from the national coffers. This implies that Government should only do business with foreign based companies, as there is the implication that doing business with any Sierra Leonean is deemed illegal when the venture thrives. This is disgusting!

Segments of our society (the sacred cows) are the brains behind the undermining of Government. To cut a very long matter short, when a Minister is appointed, the trend is… ‘Bo U Nar Minister U tem go Don But me Dae Yah-implying that being a Minister is an opportunity for amassing wealth. In other words, the corruption in the Ministries is continuing unabated. The award of contracts in the past was tied to connections at the various Ministries and this directly implicated civil Servants. If you should make a check list of all contracts awarded in this country, you would be shocked to find out that there are a lot of inter-ministry links. Please, Spare me.

The NGO consultants that drive those expensive four wheel vehicles are most times less educated than our local graduates, but it is a norm to listen to one Sierra Leonean crying down another just to pull down his/her fellow man from his/her job. Is this not disgraceful?

In some institutions, the not so educated NGO bosses know fully well that they are trading on the well known Sierra Leonean trait to win their way through and continue getting fat funds to fight the causes of Sierra Leone. I know HIV is not a terminal disease, but spare me some of our NGO workers might be positive. It is definitely a crime to stigmatize them but; are our ladies sensitized on all these as a fact? Recently some Mercedes Benz busses were donated to the government of Sierra Leone plus One Million Pounds for their maintenance. Believe me, there is a very ‘powerful’ Business man, a Lebanese precisely, who had the gut to have in fact almost grabbed that contract. In other words the One Million Pounds was going to be given to his Benz garage to maintenance the buses for us. Let us please start developing positive attitudes and shift away from this inferiority complex. Our guests know when to come together and use it against us. Let us spare our children the humiliation of developing visual coalition with this cold ground, the earth. Where the black man’s inferiority complex is the tool used to institutionalize a void superiority.

I stand to be corrected, but being black, does not mean we must continue to force our children to look down as if searching for their shadows. Thank God Government intervened and made other plans whereby Sierra Leoneans would benefit directly. I for one, I am proud to be a Sierra Leonean. I am a patriot and a Nationalist and I am proud to be Black. Thank God.

Forums Moderator Joined: May 18, 2005 Posts: 1023

Interesting..........it explains a lot of what you see in that country, but curruption and illiteracy also plays a large role. I don't really think it applies to Liberians, if anything.........Liberians think very highly of themselves. I can't say I've ever met a Liberian with a low self esteem. Confused

President Poster Joined: Mar 04, 2006 Posts: 145

Rinabear07 wrote:

Interesting..........it explains a lot of what you see in that country, but curruption and illiteracy also plays a large role. I don't really think it applies to Liberians, if anything.........Liberians think very highly of themselves. I can't say I've ever met a Liberian with a low self esteem. Confused

Mainly the fashion and watered down music I noticed. Liberians usually take the lead on alot of things, but for some reason too many of our younger generation are copying American hip hop style and behavoir instead of beign their own person and try ing to come up with their own style or subculture, or adding something new to our own that we came up with ourselves.

Forums Moderator Joined: May 18, 2005 Posts: 1023

Sometimes it is how they assimilate to a new culture; some do find out that they don't need to "become" someone else to "fit" in. I had the same problem with my daughter and niece when they came over. I told them to be proud of who they are..........and whatever you do out of this house is in America, but when you come home, remember you're back in Liberia. So I raised them like my mom raised me; spankings...oops ( I'm sorry) beatings and all! Laughing

Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2006 11:38 pm

Good for you Rina.
The No Spanking Brigade don't realise that a child without direction is lost.
I raised my girls as if they were back home.
It is the only way.

Forums Moderator Joined: May 18, 2005 Posts: 1023

My dad used to say: a "sore" bottom improves your memory Laughing

You'll remember not to do that "thing" again!

Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 10:12 am

lol

O gosh, my Dad had a cane. Just seeing it was enough to make us think twice about doing the *evil deed*
He had this LOOK, when he was displeased, and that just made me realise I was crossing my boundary.

Forums Moderator Joined: May 18, 2005 Posts: 1023

My mom used to "promise" us beatings; She would save up beatings and then remind you, that you "owed" her a beating! Surprised

.......She had the "look" too, when you saw it, you knew you were gonna get it! She had "The Belt", that thing must have been like ten feet long. She'd give you one "lick" and it seemed like the dang thing would hit you in fifty different places! Shocked

My dad did the "serious" beatings. You had to have burned the house down or shaved the dog or take him in the ceiling, or filled the bath tub with frogs(and then tried to flush them down the toilet), before my dad would get involved. Then you would get the "WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE, I WALKED TO SCHOOL WITHOUT SHOES" lecture and then the beating! Laughing

And yes, I did all of the above! Twisted Evil

When you're the last of six, you have to get creative!

Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2006 11:42 pm

Rinabear07 wrote:

My mom used to "promise" us beatings; She would save up beatings and then remind you, that you "owed" her a beating! Surprised

.......She had the "look" too, when you saw it, you knew you were gonna get it! She had "The Belt", that thing must have been like ten feet long. She'd give you one "lick" and it seemed like the dang thing would hit you in fifty different places! Shocked

My dad did the "serious" beatings. You had to have burned the house down or shaved the dog or take him in the ceiling, or filled the bath tub with frogs(and then tried to flush them down the toilet), before my dad would get involved. Then you would get the "WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE, I WALKED TO SCHOOL WITHOUT SHOES" lecture and then the beating! Laughing

And yes, I did all of the above! Twisted Evil

When you're the last of six, you have to get creative!

O boy, are we related.?I think our dads are twins, Or are we sisters?
Those lectures go on for hours. And when you think it' over, 2 months later, Aunty is lecturing you about how rude you are, after she has pulled
your ears and told you to kneel down there Rolling Eyes

You just know that your one little indiscretion, or should we be honest and say multitude of
crimes and sins,will be investigated by the whole family and friends and all the elders in the village. Embarassed

Forums Moderator Joined: May 18, 2005 Posts: 1023

LOL!!!
These were actual cases of "child abuse"! Laughing

My mom would send an older sibling to get me and tell them: "her toes shouldn't touch the ground"! That means "hike" her up by her ears.
Have you heard of punishments like: "Pick up Penny", "Pump Tire", "Push the wall"?
Pick up Penny- you use your right pointer finger and put that on the ground, then lift your left leg off the ground; all of your upper body weight was supported by that one finger. Shocked

Pump tire: you held your ears and you do squats til your bottom hit the back of your legs; after 20/30 mins of that, all thoughts of fighting would be gone! Crying or Very sad

Push the wall: she'd say "push this wall to the other side of the house" Confused

It's a concrete wall that's not moving.....so you know you're gonna be there a while! Laughing

Pushing with all your might!

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:35 am

Dis Rina you go kill me with laff. Very Happy

The one I hated most was raise your hands up in the air, they must not bend otherwise you feel the cane on your butt, and the punishment is longer with added minutes.

Rolling Eyes

Let's sue our parents, come to think of it, and the whole village too. I want compensation.

Forums Moderator Joined: May 18, 2005 Posts: 1023

Sisi, I'm with you on that one. I'll get a lawyer here in DC! In the US there is no statute of limitation on child abuse! Got any scars? Don't use no "fade cream" on it, girl........that's evidence!!!! Laughing

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 4:52 am

I have loads of scars, all over, especially my brain. I am TRAUMATISED.
I am sure all the *stoop down there with one leg in the air and hand on floor* caused my arthritis.

I'm going to take photos of my injuries and scars. Razz

Forums Moderator Joined: May 18, 2005 Posts: 1023

ROF LOL

You know they had an "art" to beating; they never broke a bone or "popped" and eye; they might bruise the eye, but they left it functional!! Laughing

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:19 am

What pains me most is.. when you remind them, of certain beatings they have 2 classic answers..

1 You Lier

2 How could you accuse me of such a thing Question

And then the unbreakable cycle of involving the elders continues.
I have concluded we will never be free. Even tho we have attained
old age and have our own children and families Shocked