Former Sen. J. Hodo Manston Was Buried in Fishtown

On Friday, the 18th of December, at half-past ten in the morning, my cell phone rang; I said, “Hello!” And then the caller on the other end, said “Hello!.” Shortly, I realized it was the late Sen. J. Hodo Manston.

As a regular routine, he wanted to speak with me.

See, the late Senator and I used to speak with each other on the phone regularly; sometimes late at night; sometimes early in the mornings or afternoons. Usually, we talk for long.

This time when he responded to my “hello!,” our conversation was momentary. He gave me the impression he was on his way to Maryland to join me in the struggle and fight for the lost soul of Maryland.

On that same Friday, at eleven in the morning, this great living thinker (J. Hodo Manston) ceased to think.

The news of his demise reached me at one in the Afternoon. My knees knocked together and my lips trembled like a feverish child! Actually, I was shocked!

I was told that he had been left alone in his hospital room for scarcely two minutes. But when family members came back they found him in his bed, peacefully gone to sleep -- but forever.

I recovered from the shock.

Soon, I concluded, an immeasurable loss had been sustained both by the family, progressive mankind and people of both Liberia and Maryland, in the death of Sen. J. Hodo Manston.

The gap that has been left by the departure of this mighty spirit would soon enough make itself felt.

During his Funeral Services, Father Johnson preached the Eulogy. From his utterances, he agreed with all my conclusions: The gap Sen. Manston left by his departure to join our martyrs was being felt.

In his service as senator, he built a school in his village.

The Priest lambasted our current Legislators for their failure to emulate the late Sen. Manston. Besides building an elementary & junior high school in his village, he built a concrete home in the same village and open a business enterprise to help employ his people.

I was right.

Because the Priest confirmed it: the late Sen. Manston authored many contracts that are meaningful to the interests of Maryland. For example, it was he who authored the purchase of the Presidential Palace for all Presidents of the Republic of Liberia visiting Maryland County.

Not only that.

The Priest agreed, that The County Guest House established within the Cedar Park in Harper City was the result of the late Sen. Manston’s ingenuity. The Government stands to financially gain enormously from the Guest House.

I don’t apologize for the Priest for condemning our current Legislators for not working together for the common good of the county.

For example, a former senator dies and none of them showed up for the Funeral. Sen. Morias showed up simply because the late Senator was his “political advisor.” Otherwise, like the rest, he would fail to show.

The gap this mighty spirit has left is now showing.

During his Funeral in his village, Fishtown, we saw the School he built that he named in his stead, falling apart at the hinges.

The rest of our Legislators care less about the School. His own residence  that he built on the edge of the white sand beach in Fishtown, is falling apart also.

The man had not gone too far when a lot began to be exposed. Hypocrisy, deceit, flamboyance and the weakness in the character of many people were glaring.

The current Superintendent of Maryland County, Madam Betsy Kuoh-Toe did not attend the Funeral as a final farewell.

The late Se. J. Hodo Manston played a pivotal role in making her the second female superintendent; the first person and first female to become superintendent from the Barrobo District since 1857 when Maryland ceased to be an independent state and joined Liberia.

Paramount & Clan Chiefs, Town Mayors, Commissioners and District superintendents from Barrobo, Karluway & Pleebo/Sodokeh failed to show up at both the receiving of the Mortal remains of this mighty spirit at a Program held at the Harper City Hall and the Funeral in Fishtown. It was heartbreaking!

There is a saying amongst the Glebo people that the man who beats the drum wonderfully well for people to dance and enjoy themselves during festivities, is always disappointed when his turn comes to dance; for there is no good drummer to be found.

The late J. Hodo Manston played drums for many to dance.  

Wednesday, January 27, 2016, the late Senator wanted to dance. But pitifully for him, no good drummer showed up.

We took him the late Senator out of the St. Valentine Church and buried him one hundred yards away from his private residence in Fishtow.

We laid  him down near his great father and lovely mother who predeceased him. After all was set and done, I departed Fishtown back to Harper. But festivities in the town were still ongoing and alive.

Sen. J. Hodo Manston has finally left us and gone for good to join our martyrs.

I am T. Gbuo-Mle Bedell; social justice advocate, speaking and working on the ground in Liberia and a victim of police brutality in Liberia

Celebrating The Lives of Our Martyrs In Maryland, Liberia

January 17, 2016, marks the 55th anniversary of the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, December 6, 2015, marked the 55^th anniversary of the death of Frantz Omar Fanon and January 20, 2016, marks the 43^rd anniversary of the death of Amilca Cabral.

On Saturday, January 16, 2016, we host a symposium at the Intellectual Forum on Maryland Avenue, adjacent the Tea Shop opposite the TU Bus Stop, in front of the old parking station, at 3pm.

Panelists include, Dr. Prof. Miatta Brown-Davies of The Tubman University (TU), Groba Williams (TU) and Dr. Prof. Nathaniel Gbessagee (TU).

Patrice Émery Lumumba was born on 2 July 1925. He was the first democratically elected leader of what is now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He played an important role in campaigning for independence from Belgium as founder and leader of the mainstream Mouvement National Congolais (MNC) party.His pan-Africanism and vision of a united Congo gained him many enemies. Within twelve weeks of Congolese independence in 1960, Lumumba's government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis. This led to growing differences with President Joseph Kasa-Vubu and chief-of-staff Joseph-Désiré Mobutu as well as foreign opposition. Lumumba was subsequently imprisoned by state authorities under Mobutu. On January 17, 1961, after being beaten and tortured, Lumumba was shot and killed. The United Nations, which he had asked to come to the Congo, did not intervene to save him.

Come listen to the true story of the rise to power and brutal assassination of the formerly vilified and later redeemed leader of the independent Congo, Patrice Lumumba. Using newly discovered historical evidence, Haitian-born and later Congo-raised writer and director Raoul Peck renders an emotional and tautly woven account of the mail clerk and beer salesman with a flair for oratory and an uncompromising belief in the capacity of his homeland to build a prosperous nation independent of its former Belgium overlords. Lumumba emerges here as the heroic sacrificial lamb dubiously portrayed by the international media and led to slaughter by commercial and political interests in Belgium, the United States, the international community, and Lumumba's own administration; a true story of political intrigue and murder where political entities, captains of commerce, and the military dovetail in their quest for economic and political hegemony.

December 6, 2015, marked the 55^th anniversary of the death of Dr. Comrade Revolutionary Frantz Omar Fanonborn on July 20, 1925 and died December 6, 1961. Fanon was born on the Caribbean island of Martinique, which was then a French colony and is now a French département. His father was a descendant of enslaved Africans; his mother was said to be an "illegitimate" child of African, Indian and European descent, whose white ancestors came from Strasbourg in Alsace. He was a psychoanalyst and social philosopher known for his theory that some neuroses are socially generated and for his writings on behalf of the national liberation of colonial peoples. His critiques influenced subsequent generations of thinkers and activists.

January 20, 2016, marks the 43^rd anniversary of the death of Amílcar Lopes da Costa Cabral. He was born 12 September 1924 and died 20 January 1973. He was a Guinea-Bissauan and Cape Verdean agricultural engineer, writer, and a nationalist thinker and political leader. He was also one of Africa's foremost anti-colonial leaders. Also known by his nom de guerre Abel Djassi, Cabral led the nationalist movement of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde Islands and the ensuing war of independence in Guinea-Bissau. He was assassinated on 20 January 1973, about eight months before Guinea-Bissau's unilateral declaration of independence. Though not a Marxist, he was deeply influenced by Marxism, and became an inspiration to revolutionary socialists and national independence movements world-wide.

BEDELL SPEAKS & WORKS Maryland Persons of The Year 2015

• As beauty is diametrically opposite to ugly you can work out the math when I tell you that I have found, seen and lived things of such great beauty that a billionaire would trade places with me to have lived it; yet it is not for sale but is given freely to those that choose to awaken from within to be all that they can be.
  
  My late Dad taught me that things are not always as they appear to be. God rest his soul (actually he is back as one of the twins) he took it all in good stride. So read on, learn what your soul wants you to know. 'Just because you do not believe that something is true does not mean it is not true'; that is until you prove or disprove it for yourself. If my sentences seem to get too long sometimes, known as run on, please forgive me and edit yourself, to what you believe it to mean, just remember that 'things are not always as they appear to be'.
  
  This work is dedicated to all Marylanders, Edward Nagbe (the martyr volunteer) and to humanity, to you and you and you. May you find some light within and continue to live the joys of it all on your path to conscious enlightenment. In neuro-linguistics parlance, things can easily be mixed up in the sense that we can make ourselves mean what we want them to mean. Sort of our take on reality and thus make it mean this or that. So, please remember throughout this Article, that while trying to be explicit as possible, do not just take things to mean what you would like them to mean, try and understand the flavor of it and thus attain the true 'gnosis' of what is being said and thus meant. The 'gnosis' of it would be the 'higher, leaning towards, truth' of what is being accomplished by those we mentioned herein. Feel the message in your heart as you read it with your mind. These are two processes that when joined within you allow you to really understand the 'total' meaning of our work.
  
  Maryland County is situated deep in the belly and keyhole of the Southeastern Region of the Republic of Liberia. For this reason, like all other counties in the Southeast, it is marginalized. But thank God, its sons and daughters can rise up to the challenge to move her forward in terms of human resource and infrastructural development.
  
  Amongst those sons and daughters of Maryland, there are a few who are chosen each year for their contributions and stances on issues in that year. The following represent the ones who were voted by Marylanders in the Diaspora and at home in Maryland.
  
  DR. ELIZABETH DAVIS RUSSELL Maryland woman of the Year 2015. She towered over all other Maryland women in her work and contributions to Maryland, yea Liberia. Dr. Russell partook in the establishment of The William V. S. Tubman University in Maryland County and since then became its President taking it from “nothing” to “something” placing it the legion of national and global universities. There was no indication the University would reach the point of development it has reached. Because, there was a belief that since it did not begin as an associate degree program and shooting straight to a four-year program, it would fail. Seven years ago, the University is only still standing, it is reaching noblest heights. The University is incomparable to any university in Liberia and elsewhere when it comes to students’ deportment and comportment. It is refined! Dr. Russell withstood the test of time to raise up the name of the University. To date, students are transported to and from class by buses owned and run by the University. This was then unimaginable! To date, it is as real as life itself. Having not resided in Liberia for quite too long, no one thought Dr. Russell would spend the next Evening in Maryland when she first arrived. More than six years gone, she’s still a trailblazer. Dr. Russell was initially misunderstood due to media hype. Those who did not trust her style of administration (no nonsense) and yet they trust her with their children at the University. 
  DR. BHOFAL CHAMBERS Maryland Man of the Year 2015 is very principled. Through the passageway of life and in the course of human events, there are very few men who stand for principles and hold on to them even at the time when all seems unfruitful and uncertain. One of those men happens to be Dr. Bhofal Chambers, representative for Pleebo/Sodokeh District in the Liberia House of Representatives. Malcolm X once observed, “I have more respect for a man who lets me know where he stands, even if he's wrong, than the one who comes up like an angel and is nothing but a devil.
  
  ALLEN N. YANCY Humanitarian of the Year 2015. His values transcend politics. He’s humanistic. This man committed class suicide years ago before the expression and principle reached my generation in Maryland. He is one of the great national redemptive heroes of our time. “AY” as he’s affectionately known, has a philosophy in life that transcends politics. Thus, he’s not a politician but a revolutionary. He sets his life on the foundation of Gandhi’s wise saying, “Be the change you want to see.” He is a peerless hero, a pious and God-fearing man and verily a manifestation of all the virtues of a born leader. Allen would like to see his people happy. So he stretches out his hand to everyone he can reach, irrespective of class, origin and association. There is no caste and religious discrimination in his life. Everyone has equal rights even if he were poor or rich. As Managing Director of the Liberia Sugar Company (LIBSUCO), he demonstrated his love for all. He stands for humanity, freedom, brotherhood and justice. He is a symbol of intelligence. Allen is a teacher. His teaching spreads peacefully. He is spiritual, nonviolent, loves peace and love for all creatures of God. We are blessed to have someone such as Allen N. Yancy, III.
  
  DR. JAMES ELLIOTT Diaspora Man of the Year 2015. James has been working feverishly in almost all Maryland organizations in the United States. One of the founding members of Marylanders for Progress (MFP), National Association of Maryland County of Liberia in The Americas (NAMCAL) and others. Currently, he’s investing in infrastructure and partly human resource development in Harper City and its environs.
  
  MARY BAdDWEHAYENE SETON Legendary Market woman of the Year 2015. She has been a market woman since the 60s and still a market woman. Currently, she is the longest serving market woman in the Harper General Market. Besides her, the rest of her generation has passed on to the great beyond. She remains standing. This woman whether you believe it or not, is a living legendary woman. See, women power did not just begin. Unnoticeably it’s been around for centuries in our country. It isn’t about celebrity or popularity; it’s about influence. In some cases to figure out a woman’s contribution, analysis looked for those who run countries, big companies or influential nonprofits. Their rankings are a combination of two scores: visibility and the size of the organization or country they lead. Mary Seton has done none of the above. She is a pure African market woman. She’s intrigued by her surrounding, evidential circumstances to her life and community. She’s a Christian. She gave her life and heart to Jesus Christ and accepts her condition. She has exhibited traces of exquisite sensibility, soundness of understanding, and decision of character. She received no literary instructions. The pecuniary concerns of her life made her practiced rigid economy in her expenditures, and with her savings is enabled to procure her children’s academic education, to which without aid, they could not have had access to university education.
  
  REV. DR. JAMES N. WILSON voted Diaspora Maryland leader of the Year 2015. Rev. Dr. Wilson is currently President of NAMCAL-USA. Born and reared in Harper City, Maryland County. Rev. Wilson is a visionary.
  
  From time to time, many of us tend to experience an occasional insight which is simply the ability to change our filter and look at things differently.
  
  In moments of insight, there's a sudden burst of clarity where there had previously been static; there is an epiphany of movement. It's the a-ha moment. When we are firmly entrenched in our beliefs and rooted in our certainty, some are not typically open to insights. Rev. Wilson has insight that makes him temporarily suspend his personal beliefs and open to new possibilities. He has been working feverishly hard to create the groundwork for it to come forth. In other words, he’s getting out of his own way, and opening to new considerations. Without insights we're shackled to a fixed and stagnating reality in which little changes. It tends to look as if life is just replaying itself, day in and day out. Rev. Wilson is a man with such marvelous insights as a leader.
  
  ADAM GYUDE MOORE Maryland Youth of the Year 2015. He was elected in July, 2015, as First Vice President for administration of The Maryland Youth Association (MYA). The Election took place in Karlokeh, Karluway District of Maryland.
  
  “A youth is a person who is going to carry on what you have started. He is going to sit where you are sitting and, when you are gone, attend to those things which you think are important. You may adopt all the policies you please, but how they will be carried out depends on him. He will assume control of your cities, states, and nation. He is going to move in and take over your churches, schools, universities, and corporations. The fate of humanity is in his hands. So it might be well to pay him some attention.”
  
  Moore was able to apply himself progressively along with his immediate staff to convince the Local government of Maryland to allocate TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS for his youth organization. As far as known history can see, no youth achieved such to convince the County to ever allocate such an amount for youth development.  
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• Adam Gyude Moor won applause for his assertiveness and organizational skills. Besides, Gyude has been very instrumental in youth activities in the county including support for Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) activities throughout the county. Gyude is a sophomore student reading Agriculture at The Tubman University in Harper, Maryland County. His hobby include, sports, reading and debates. He loves Palm-Butter with kitty-lay, bitter roots, crab and good dry fish.
  
  EDWARD NAGBE is voted volunteer martyr of our time. He led the charge to bring electricity to Maryland as a volunteer. He died as a volunteer. Without his volunteer contributions along with others, electricity would not have been a reality in Maryland. Isn’t it great to die for your country at the age of getting married? A brave man he was. Love him and a big salute to him. I He was a real HERO! As the record agent of the West African Power Pool and Liberia Electricity Corporation, Edward Nagbe has consistently demonstrated high moral and ethical standards. He was organized, highly dependable and took an effective systematic approach to solve issues or concerns. For more than three years, Edward volunteered his time to help establish electricity in Maryland and was instrumental in keeping development a key component of several programs within the process.

 It is pathetic to see that Edward Nagbe doesn’t have a top place in our hearts. Let us not stop until Edward Nagbe has a colorful place in Maryland.

JOHN HILARY TUBMAN voted Maryland Businessman of the Year 2015. He is a young entrepreneur. Just like his late father, John Hilary Tubman who ran his father’s (Bor Willie) estate in Maryland, “Small” John or “John-John” as he is affectionately called, is making it happen in Montserrado County.

ROBERTA BROWN COOPER voted Diaspora Maryland Woman of the Year 2015. Roberta Brown Cooper has been in the vanguard in the formation of many Diaspora Maryland organization and has led many of them with flying colors. Roberta is a principled woman who stays the course irrespective of the odds. She is result-oriented

PATRICK NUGBA Maryland Sports Official of the Year 2015. Patrick is entering his seventh year with the Maryland Sports and Athletic Commission. At his own financial expense, he's willing and ready to lead Maryland Ball Club anywhere anytime. He's not a quitter.

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