The Power of Knowing: How Liberia’s True History can Heal Its Future

A country with a youthful population disconnected from its history risks repeating the same mistakes. Liberia is no exception. We must first understand where we come from — the highlights and the whole narrative to move forward.

Many are taught that the True Whig Party (TWP) founded Liberia, and that, too, is a lie and a false narrative of Liberia’s history! Read! It is there. Don’t go off, “They say.”

The Republican Party, associated with the U.S. Republican party led by Joseph Jenkins Roberts, Liberia’s first president, came first. It comprised biracial settlers (People with Black and White parents or, at times, White fathers with Biracial mothers from the eastern and southern parts of the United States) — many of whom adopted American ideals and governing styles. Roberts himself, though visionary, later regretted applying American systems on African soil to preserve power, often at the expense of deeper cultural integration. His government faced resistance from Indigenous communities, including uprisings in the hinterlands.

The True Whig Party, formed in 1869, was different. Made up mostly of dark-skinned Americo-Liberians from rural areas, they challenged the Republican Party’s dominance. Eventually, the TWP would become the longest-ruling party in Liberia — and one of the…