21 Comments
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Signe K.'s avatar

Wow, I had no idea. I am grateful for the knowledge and history you are sharing with those of us who have been under-educated in the US. Thank you!

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Kiwiwriter47's avatar

Well, this column saves me a great deal of sweat on researching this subject and writing about it myself.

It is deadly accurate.

Liberia was one of only THREE independent nations in Africa until the end of colonialism: the other two were Ethiopia and Egypt. However, Ethiopia was conquered by Mussolini to avenge the defeat of Italian forces at Adowa in 1934, and Egypt was controlled by the British (and to a lesser extent, the French) because of their construction of the Suez Canal and "debts" thereof.

Everything else in Africa, including the three nations that became the Union/Republic of South Africa, were owned by white Europeans or descendants of the same.

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Kassandra Ignored 🤓's avatar

Good article

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fran's avatar

holaa, gracias por dar el espacioo, la verdad que soy nueva en la app y queria dejar mi primer escrito, hablo sobre dependencia emocional y proximamente sobre amor y relaciones, dejo el link:

https://substack.com/@fraanuii/note/c-134484859?r=615fyl&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action

att: su psicóloga personal✨💘💘💋💋

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A Pat's avatar

djt is an embarrassment to the USA.

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BlackExpat25's avatar

No he’s not. He IS the epitome of the ignorant American and his followers don’t know where Liberia is and have never heard of it.

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Jodi's avatar

I hope some of us melanin deficient folks aren't THAT ignorant. I always wanted to know the real history. So I looked things up. Terrible things.

But my younger daughter and I have a saying : Better an ugly truth than a pretty lie.

The current occupier of the Oval Office has been stupid and kept himself ignorant for decades. He thinks it gives him deniability.

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Nicole Bertucci's avatar

YUP. He’s about as American as it gets.

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A Pat's avatar

Preach!

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Kiwiwriter47's avatar

He's an embarrassment to humanity.

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Richard Goutal's avatar

Well, yes. I doubt that any President of my lifetime (back to Truman) would know the historical details recounted here by Mr. Greene, though I'd assume they at least knew that America colonized what became Liberia.

The big difference with Trump, is that, in addition to a huge amount of ignorance of history and geography, he is not interested in being informed by briefings. I have to assume that most Presidents are given background briefings before meeting with other heads of state or government. We know for a fact that Trump does not even read intelligence briefings. In part it is because he would not understand what he was reading, and in part because his reading skill is around the level of a 3rd or 4th grader.

As Lawrence O'Donnell says, he is stupid.

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A Pat's avatar

He clearly doesn’t read or research anything prior to meetings, visits, …. He is a betrayal to our country and humanity.

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BlackExpat25's avatar

Sadly, Felon 47 is the typical American. The few people who know history are in the minority. Thus, here we are rewriting and whitewashing it again and again to make it sanitized and palatable for the COLONIZERS.

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Michael X's avatar

🔥🙌❤️

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Nicole Bertucci's avatar

Good grief. This history is about as American as it gets 🤦🏻‍♀️

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Catherine Bridge's avatar

I too had no idea of the history of Liberia. Of course, we are not taught that kind of information in school. Trump clearly has no respect for anyone. If he did, he would have been informed as to their language. Certainly, as a traveler, I learn the basic phrases in every language before I travel, just to be respectful to the people whose country I am visiting. This Trump is such an embarrassment in every way.

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Joanne's avatar

The willingness and desire to dominate and oppress others has been and still is clearly a failing in this country (other countries, too). We are so close to repeating this failure on a massive scale with immigrants who are being detained and deported. The only way to stop it is to be aware of the horrifying mistakes of the past.

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Peggy Nocchiero's avatar

Classless idiot!

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Italien's avatar

Great reporting about Liberia. What a nightmare. Does anyone remember Biafra? It was…the oil. I love your Substack..

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Ann Bogart's avatar

Yeah, I bet he’s never thought of that

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Elizabeth Fenlon's avatar

Kahlil, your research and explanations of history are wonderful! Please keep going. Save what you write because you could have a book on your hands.

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