Remembering November 12, 1985

After all that we have gone through, many are still inciting the minds of our people toward the same evil that almost ended our existence as a people. I still remember vividly what some of us experienced:

The talk of the town after the incident of November 12, 1985 was that General Quiwonkpa came with a Bible in his right hand to overthrow a military government. Apparently, the people of Liberia wanted a blood bath; for what happened in 1979 and 1980 was not horrendous enough to rattle their psyche. When the tide changed, the General was accused of being a weakling.

Then the witch hunt began and many people lost their lives. Then came 1989, and more and more people died. What General Quiwonkpa did not do to the Liberia people, others of more vicious minds and character did.

What happened to us will never leave our minds. It's like an indelible ink on the face of a stone.The evil deeds of our past are now in the history books for generations unborn to read and talk about. One thing we should all commit to:We should never, ever allow the devious and destructive past to ever show its ugly head again. We should never again encourage war; we should never again raise the rhetoric to a level that will open up the wounds that almost ended our existence as a people.

Those that died in our war did not die, I think, so that we the living can further tear each other apart. Those that died from 1979 to 1989 and the 250,000 or more who made the ultimate sacrifice from 1990 to 2003 did not passed so that we become more vocal to cause another mayhem. The blood shed was shed so that we pick up the pieces and move on into a brighter future.

Showcasing the skulls and bones of our dead relatives is not a good way to remind us of our past. As we reflect on the incident of November 12, 1985 as well as other dark days in our country's history, we should always be reminded that those who died want us to remember them by lifting ourselves up in unity to build our lives and the country they loved and left behind.