I read with surprise that Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is currently visiting the United States.
Not surprise that she was visiting, but surprise that her visit was so low key. I only discovered it by chance through AllAfrica.com – there was no mention on CNN, no mention on ABC, and of course nothing on Fox and the rest of them. But why was her trip so hush-hush? Why weren’t Africans lauding her?
Perhaps she wanted to keep her visit quiet. Perhaps she didn’t want a fuss. But as the first female president of Africa, she should be celebrated and praised; held up as a shining example of progress. In a continent so often associated with war, disease and disaster, it is a shame that the American media ignored this success story right under their noses.
I recalled an interview I conducted several weeks ago with Siatta Scott-Johnson, a Liberian journalist and film-maker. Siatta’s film, Iron Ladies of Liberia told of Ellen’s first year in power and showed that there were indeed positive stories coming out of Africa. I spoke to her later in her hotel for over an hour; she was bursting with ideas and life and vitality.
Of course it would be wrong to overstate the changes Ellen has made within Liberia; everyone admits that there is still a long, long way to go.
But surely we should give praise where it is due? And to rescue Liberia from years of civil war, turn it around and be herding it in the right direction is definitely something which should be praised. The American media should have seized the opportunity to talk to Ellen, to inspire others, and to show that not everything coming from Africa is about famine, destruction and despair.
