Detractors Are Nothing New

(May 10, 2014)

Profs. Morias, D. Twe, P. G. Wollo, Joseph Kwiah Elliott and Albert Porte had detractors; so do I!

 I did not see Prof. Morias personally. But my late dad talked about him a lot. Therefore, I heard of the learned professor. He was a great Liberian revolutionary, educator and politician as I was told.

I did not see Prof. D. Twe in person. My late dad told me about him too. So I heard of the learned professor too. I am told he was a great Liberian educator and revolutionary.

I did not put my eyes on Prof. Wollo. But my late dad made it his duty to tell me about him. So I heard of the professor too. I learned he was a learned man, the first Liberian, if not the first African and/or Black man, to graduate Harvard University. He was also a great revolutionary, poet and educator, I was told.

Truth be told, I did not understand anything much about these great men when my late dad was telling me about them. Some of them came and passed on long before my birth. I only saw two (Prof. Joseph Kwia Elliot & Albert Porte) with my naked eyes. Thanks to The Movement for Justice in Africa (MOJA) for widening my knowledge and opening my eyes wider about these martyrs.

Besides not seeing the three other heroes (Morias, D. Twe & Wollo) of our country as mentioned above, I was blessed to personally see and interact with the Great Albert Porte and Prof. Joseph Kwia Elliott. I saw and spoke with them personally. But at the time when I met and spoke with them, I was too young to comprehend much of what they had to say to me till now.

The Great Porte, (that’s how I refer to him) was a true Liberian social justice advocate. He reached the highest height of human achievement. But because of the common good of the greatest number of Liberians who suffered injustice and yearned for liberation and a voice, he denied himself all the good things his education and personal success made available to him.

Prof. Joseph Kwia Elliott was more spiritual, an educator, prophet and a revolutionary. He singlehandedly took the revolution by the horn and led it to liberate his people.

Convincingly, I suppose, all of these great martyrs of ours, had their own brand of enemies and/ detractors who tried to stand in their way to halt their progress. Unmistakably, I have mine. These detractors and/or enemies did all they could, as they do to me, to distract Profs. Twe, Morias, Elliott, Wollo and Porte. But they failed to achieve their evil intents as is in my case.

I believe these martyrs I’m writing about, during their days of the struggle, spent a good bit of time trying to explain their actions in certain cases and ideas to their detractors to enable them (detractors) to comprehend their methodology in the struggle. Or when the detractors could not allow themselves to learn new ways and adjust to the wind of change, I’m sure the martyrs probably just let them perish in their own complacency and idleness, just as I am doing.

 Some of those detractors and/or enemies of our martyrs had a sole intent. And that was to demoralize the martyrs and then try to destroy them physically. Whatever good work the martyrs performed during their hard days of struggle, was rated “no good” by their detractors. And so the detractors undermined the martyrs. Soon, God called both the martyrs and detractors home. 

They all are gone now. Today is a new day. And we have new detractors and enemies; some call them critics; I call them confused-minded folks! They will find fault with everything a true revolutionary of today does. But they will never be able to perform 0.1% of the tasks of these great men in the Liberian society.

All things considered, it seems like we (Liberians) might all go around the same circle as was in the early days of Profs. Morias, Wollo, D. Twe, Elliott and Porte. And it appears we will all leave this world knowing we all did what we were brought on earth by God to do, except in a different way.

I know who and what my detractors are what they are engaged in. And I know having detractors and trying to educate them is nothing new! They initially give an impression I am not performing my historic task and duty to my country as per my claim. As so they will undermine my work. But notice they are sitting on their hands and are doing nothing to help the country.

I’m not mad at them. It’s all good to have detractors and sometime enemies. But sometimes it is not a good thing to pay attention to them especially, when they are petty and childish. More so, when they can’t do anything that can be measured up to your work.

Channing Pollock once observed, “A critic is a legless man who teaches running.” 

Goldstein, Moritz adds to that by saying: “We can easily reduce our detractors to absurdity and show them their hostility is groundless. But what does this prove? That their hatred is REAL. When every slander has been rebutted, every misconception cleared up, every false opinion about us overcome, intolerance itself will remain finally irrefutable.”   

 The fact that police brutalized and psychologically torture me in Liberia, while serving as a volunteer giving back to my country, is something for detractors to consider as "necessary," then let the chips fall where they may! The police will come for the Jews, Catholics and communists tomorrow!

I am Thomas G. Bedell, a volunteer worker; working and speaking on the ground in Liberia, a victim of police brutality and candidate for citizenship repudiation.