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TOPIC: A Liberian American Speaks Out GUEST: Lade Warsaw, freelance poet, writer, native Liberian residing in Orange County, CA HOST: Harmony Rising, Production Assistant on Uprising Radio DATE: August 11th, 2003 Transcribed by: Justin Burkett Harmony Rising: Last week I spoke to lady Warsaw, Lade spelled L-A-D-E, a freelance poet and writer who is also a native Liberian and long-term resident of California, but first I would like you to hear a poem that she wrote based on her experiences and feelings regarding the crisis in Liberia. Lade Warsaw: I was inspired to write this poem after I saw all the images on television and on the internet out of Liberia. And after seeing all the horrors that were unfolding, I had to put myself in the place of the suffering people of Liberia and just imagine what they are going through. I'm not there with them, but I can empathize with them, and I also sent a copy of this along with a letter that I had written to president bush and other members of the American Government. THE RULES OF WAR by LADE WARSAW
(singing) Harmony Rising: Can you introduce yourself and can you tell us, from your point of view, a bit about what is happening in Liberia. Lade Warsaw: I am Lade Warsaw from Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa... The situation in Liberia right now is really one of great humanitarian need - the war is going on - it's been going on for quite awhile, so many people are being killed everyday, not just by the bombing, but by the rebels, people are dying. As of last week what I've read and been told... about 300-400 people are dying each day from cholera and other diseases, because you have 20,000 people sleeping out in the open at a stadium, and you have another 30,000 people sleeping out in the open, you have, I mean, the whole situation is really appalling, and this war has been going on for several years now and there doesn't seem to be any end in sight. Harmony Rising: What is currently being done to help the people who are suffering as a result of this crisis in Liberia? Lade Warsaw: It's really hard to say -- there are some humanitarian organization still there, or who remained in Liberia, such as the RED CROSS, and other foreign organizations, there's one organization called, Mercy, and they are foreign doctors from France and different parts of the world that remained, even though the UN pulled out their people Harmony Rising: What reason did the United Nations give for pulling their people out of your country? Lade Warsaw: They said "because of safety reasons" they wanted to take precautions. The war had intensified and the UN compound had been closed down, and their employees had been evacuated, along with other foreigners that were in the country, Europeans especially and Americans. Harmony Rising: I believe you have family and friends over there. Do you keep in contact with them? Lade Warsaw: Yes I do, I have an awful lot of family members there. My biological brother is there. I have adopted brothers, lots of nephews and nieces still over there, their children, friends from childhood. From elementary through high school days. And even if I didn't have any family members there, that's my country and I will always be concerned about the people of Liberia. I have not spoken with any of my biological family members for about two months now, because of the war. I have spoken with some cousins and some cousins-in-law, and it's just so.. heart wrenching to talk to them on a telephone. I have not called home in about three weeks now, because when you call, you hear the explosions from the artillery and the mortars and you hear people screaming. It's really... (sighs) It's just ...so heartbreaking, you know, It's depressing... Harmony Rising: What do you think should be done socially and politically to try to resolve the situation? Lade Warsaw: Those who are supporting the rebels need to be held accountable, because president Taylor, he's the truly elected leader of Liberia, and he was elected by the people of Liberia, more than 80% of the voter's voted for him. And for these people to come in and say well just because we don't like him, or they fell out at one time or another, we have to get rid of him. But people need to think in terms of the innocent victims. Because usually in any war, it is almost always the innocent victims. There are over 2 million people in Liberia right now as we speak that are displaced. And what hurts the most, what I find so frustrating is that the international community and America have been dragging there feet all this time and allow this to continue and for so long too. There is an urgency and the way I look at it, for whatever reasons, they have been dragging their feet. This should be looked at in terms of the fact that this is a humanitarian crises. This is a moral crises. And it's not whether or not America feels obligated to Liberia, but I think that there should be, there should have been some action taken long ago, to prevent this kind of catastrophe from getting to the point that it has escalated into. We are in a new millennium and this should never ever been allowed to happen. To me it's like another genocide, like what happened in Rwanda: The world sat back and they watched it unfold and they did absolutely nothing about it. And now all you hear them talking about we should never have allowed this to happen, and this is history repeating itself, as far as I'm concerned, in Liberia. Why has it taken them, this is what I would like for the United Nations to explain to me and say as this Huge organization that's supposed to be there for just this kind of thing, why has is taken so long, why did they wait too late, why did so many people have to lose their lives Harmony Rising: Could you tell us a bit more about the rebels? Who do you think is funding them? Lade Warsaw: Whatever has been speculations and you know, so I don't have any sound proof as to who's supporting them and stuff, but there's so much in the news, What I do know, is they have an awful lot of support, and it has to be coming from some one, some interest group, like nations. There has to be some countries out there that are supporting them and funding them the way have been funded, because ordinary citizens in Africa are not going to have that kind of money, to be able to buy weapons to fight...anyone. Harmony Rising: America seems to be demanding the removal of Charles Taylor. Do you think that's going to help bring about a solution to the problem? Lade Warsaw: No it's not my choice, because I feel that any leader that is duly elected by their people they should not be removed. What has happened with Taylor is the fact that sanctions have been imposed against the government of Liberia by the United Nations, and is my understanding that the America helped to bring about it. But imposing sanctions against a leader only hurts the poor people. It does not hurt the leader. The poor people become the victim. The upper class people become the middle class, the middle class become the lower class and the lower class they find themselves below the poverty level. When sanctions are imposed on these nations, and my question, what I found very hard to understand is: Why must an entire nation be punished, just because some people out there perceive their leader to be the problem. Right or wrong you shouldn't have to punish an entire nation because of that. Liberia is a small country. And for more than 20 years now we have been having war back and forth, back and forth, and is long overdue for an end, because the infrastructure of Liberia has been totally destroyed. There is nothing left. There are no adequate schools, even the University of Liberia. The youth of Liberia have not had the proper education that they deserve. They deserve a future, They deserve a hope, just like children in Europe and America and other western nations. Harmony Rising: Apparently the US army is already over there in Liberia. Do you know how they are planning to deal with this crisis. Lade Warsaw: It is my understanding that they are sitting out on the ocean.... Still dragging their feet ... Whenever I hear this stuff about they are afraid of a repeat of what happened in Somalia. Well the truth of the matter is Liberia is not Somalia, Somalia is not Liberia, so you cannot compare the two together. I earnestly don't feel that President Taylor is going to attack America or the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) troops, unless they attack him first and he finds himself in a position where he has to defend himself. I mean that's something anybody would do. Harmony Rising: What can you tell us about the resources of Liberia, and the background from an historical perspective of a sense it was founded as a slave colony by the Americans. Lade Warsaw: There's diamonds, there's rubber, there's timber, there's iron ore, and during the TOLBA and prior to that there was the fishing industry, in which Liberia was exporting seafood to other nations. So we do have quite a number of natural resources in Liberia, but almost all of it we are exploited by foreign companies, they come in and drain our country of our wealth and pay the people of Liberia pennies on the dollar. And that's the same in terms of the diamonds, you know. The Africans really are not the ones who benefit from the sale of diamonds. The westerners are the ones, because they put these astronomical prices on the natural resources out of Africa. The situation in Liberia is complex, and it's really difficult to just pinpoint one particular issue and deal with that issue. But during World War I and World War II, Liberia was there for America throughout the cold war era, Liberia was there for America. The spy satellite that America used during the cold war was stationed in Liberia. The transmitter for Voice of America, the American radio station that transmit all over the world, was in Liberia all during the cold war era. And so many of the military bases were in Liberia. I mean we were America's staunchest supporter during that era, and it's my understanding that former president Tolbert, (served 1971-1980) angered America simply because he befriended Russia and Cuba. But is that a reason to you know, cause Chaos in another person's country, because of that. I personally feel that every human being should be entitled to befriend whomever they choose to befriend. It's like president Nelson Mandela said, "your enemies are not enemies and my enemies are not yours." you know. Harvey Firestone started the largest single rubber plantation in Liberia. And my understanding is that they have a one hundred year contract. As far as Firestone is concerned, I'm very disappointed, I think the word that I would use would be, "disgusted". If you see the way the employees of Firestone who tap the rubber. They work 8-16 hours a day to make 2 dollars, and some like 59 cents or something like that a day. That would never be allowed to happen here in America, but it's allowed to happen over in Liberia, a third world country, or a developing country. Liberia, we held our own for so many years. Liberia was a beautiful country. We have been peaceful for more than a hundred years, and then all of the sudden, we are coming, you know, we are facing war and rumors of war and stuff. Well they go in, like Firestone, and they drain the resources of a country, and then when a country needs them, they are not there for the people. I think one of the issues that they need to be addressing are those companies where they go to foreign countries, especially the 3rd world countries and exploit the people. They make all the money, the millions and stuff, off the sweat of the local employees. The housing for the local employees at the Firestone plantation in Liberia is very appalling, and I urge anybody to go and see for themselves And when Americans and other foreigners go and see it, they see the conditions, how the employees are living, they don't come back and discuss that. You know it's all forgotten, but we don't forget. I remember when I first saw that as a teenager, I cried and I was depressed for a very long time. How could this be allowed to happen. Why would our government allow it to happen. A lot of Americans are naive about what is going on in the world. A lot of Americans do not get the truth told to them. It's basically what they hear from the government, and it's basically what the media tells them. But if you read history, and you study history it's all there. Harmony Rising: Do you have any contact information for our listeners that may want to help in anyway they can? Lade Warsaw: Most importantly I would like people of good will everywhere, not just Americans, but all of you that are listening to please, there is a dire need for assistance in Liberia.. Liberia has been completely destroyed. What you see on TV is just a small amount of what has actually and is taking place. There's a greater picture. The schools have, most of the schools, have either been completely destroyed, or what's there, has been looted and the buildings have been damaged. Everything is needed in Liberia, it's just not a matter of basic needs like medication food water and all of that. What I would like to see is for people to please join a cause and please donate. First one would be the RED CROSS, people can donate funds, but they have to make sure it's earmarked "Liberia Relief Fund" because if it's not it's going to go into the general fund, so it has to... if it's being paid by credit card, then they have to be told that this for the Liberian Humanitarian Crisis, or they have to write on their checks or money orders that this is for the Liberian crisis, or whatever, but it has to have Liberia written on it. There is a website called tlcliberia.com. There are other organizations listed there, some of them, 100 % of the funds go directly to Liberia to help, because these organizations are there, they remain there during the midst of the war, they did not leave, they sacrificed their lives to remain with the Liberians. Especially I have to commend the Red Cross and all those organizations that have been there. I will also urge Americans and people of good will to call the united nations, Kofi Anon and president Bush and urge them to act and act now, because Liberia for almost 200 years has been very very close friends of America and it's very disheartening to see what has happened. Even now, as we speak, the ships are off on the coast and they are still dragging their feet and saying "we are not sending in" we are not sending in" but we are there to support the Nigerian and ECOWA troops. Whatever happens is that... What we really want to see, Is to bring lasting peace to the people of Liberia, the War weary people of Liberia because they are really sick and tired of this enough is enough. As of this interview, Lade had not yet heard from her family and friends. As she recommended at the end of the interview, people can make donations for humanitarian relief to any local Red Cross office, just be sure to earmark the donation for the Liberian Relief fund. And for more information you can visit : http://www.liberian-connection.com To contact Lady Warsaw you can email her at frelou@earthlink.net. |