Freeing Ourselves From The "Plantation" Mentality

The history of slavery in America is not a new story. Liberia was founded by those who felt that the black man's place was in Africa. Those blacks who found themselves going back to Africa, encouraged their former slave owners to transplant in Africa, especially Liberia, the Plantation vibe, in one color or the other. The Firestone Rubber Plantation is one of the many inheritances that the new settlers in Liberia never felt obligated to dislodge from their memory. Sometime I wonder whether this was a punishment for the hardship endured on Southern Cotton Plantations.

My gut feelings about the tough living conditions I experienced as a kid on the rubber plantation and how, after 82 years, things are slowly beginning to change; this gradual change for the better, prompted me to write the below account:

Your piece on the Firestone Rubber Company in Liberia which appeared in FPA on January 6, 2009 was indeed wonderful. This photo showing new residential homes of the workers was eye-catching. It is good to know that finally, Firestone in Liberia has come to the realization that those who sweat the most to make the millions of dollars that keeps the company viable and profitable deserve some kind of decent living, especially after more than 80 years of great prosperity. I feel the joy that emanated from the Public Relations Manager, Mr Rufus Karmorh as he carried your reporter around the various divisions to showcase the progress that is taking place on the Plantation.

I started of this letter by mentioning Firestone Rubber Company. The Estate Department in Firestone is responsible for the main aspect of what Firestone is all about: The production of latex and block rubber from the mature rubber plants. Firestone has been very helpful to the economy of Liberia and its people. From what we are seeing happening in Harbel right now, it is clear that with the right government in place, companies operating in the country will be constantly reminded of their obligation to those who are the backbones of their operations.

As most would know by now, I was born on the Firestone Plantation. My father worked for more than 40 years, moving up the ranks from rubber tapper to Overseer. As a kid on the plantation, I did not have the luxury of living in buildings as seen in that photo. My mom and dad and us kids all slept in one big open space of a mud unit with two tiny windows. The outside latrines in the camps had two entrances with cement slabs on which we squatted to do our thing.

Life for the tappers and their kids was indeed difficult. Food was never sufficient for a household. Our extra curricular activities were spent farming in rice or cassavas. To augment the $30 or $60 per month that was paid most of the workers, sugar cane farming was the next alternative.

After school, the kids would proceed to the various farms to help their parents make ends meet.Whenever our parents could not stand the hardships and resorted to sit ins, the government would send the army to force our parents to go to work.

I am grateful to Firestone and the government of Liberia for recognizing the importance of those who work and toil for little or nothing, under horrendous conditions. What would really please me at this time in our history, however, is for Firestone to sever from its name the word PLANTATION. Slavery and Plantation are inseparable. Firestone Rubber Estate, Firestone Rubber Company, Bridgestone-Firestone Rubber Industry are all names that make sense in the 21st century.

It is time for Liberians to stop living in work places called plantations. And the government should recognize that Liberia, founded by slaves owners, has the right to sever relationship with the "plantation" mentality.

Good job Firestone. I hope that Division 21, where I was born, will be connected to the Kakata-highway electricity line. After 82 years of prosperity, the tappers and workers of Division 21 deserve a break. I also hope that the Public Relations Manager, who might have been born in Duside, on the Plantation and who had the luxury of electricity, will take me on a tour when I come to Firestone sometime in the near future.

Cultural Hot Button

Culture and tradition are a vital part of our Africanness. There are those who strongly feel our culture and tradition should not be touched or modified in any way or form. There are some, however, who strongly feel that some aspects of what we live with and admire as Africans, Liberians in particular, need some discontinuation or dismantling. One of such practices is Female Genital Mutilation (FMG).

This practice which is carried out on little girls and some grown-up women, to many, is despicable and inhumane. Those who are staunch advocates of the practice compare it to kids attending preschool in the Western culture. This is far from the truth and so terribly a misinformation. A stunning revelation I got from a personal friend made me to understanding that if she had to do it all over again, she would definitely do it and even take her American-born daughter to experience this cultural phenomenon. I am not convinced. Before our discussion, I had written my disapproval of the practice of FGM:

I knew it. I knew it. As soon as the topic came up this morning, the first thing I thought was, wherever Ngee is hiding, he would be out immediately. FGM is a topic he loves to promote even after all the horror stories that are being told by African women on the Tyra Banks and other shows.

I definitely won't mind sending my daughter to "bush school" to learn how to cook and how to respect her peers and elders. Children are the same all over the world. To compare sending your kids to western preschools with what happens to children in Liberia whose parents find it entertaining to send their kids to "Grebo Bush", the comparison here is beyond insane.

I love our culture. I love the various tribal traditions of Liberia. We will still be human beings if this particular cultural practice is discouraged and discontinued. With the inquisitive children we have these day, I would be caught in a jam trying to explain the whys to some of the things that go on in the "bush school."

I can't wait for the day when the advocates of FGM announce via these listservs the return of their daughters from "bush schools" in Liberia. Until then, we have the right to make all the noise we can make, knowing fully well that none of us is prepared to take the first step to sending our daughters to Liberia to undergo this most educationally cultural experience.

Happy New Year, Nathaniel Gbessagee!