What is Fire Stones Legacy in Liberia? w/ Kau Fahnbulleh

Some sources suggest that the west Afrikan state of Liberia was founded by the American Colonization Society (ACS) in 1822 as a means to rid itself of what it referred to as a “useless and pernicious… threat to the security, prosperity and culture of the US,” namely ‘free Blacks.’ (1) Declaring independence i and establishing a constitution n 1847, the fledgling state became the focus of the predations of different colonial powers which in due course left it in severe debt. (2)

Enter Marcus Mosiah Garvey and UNIA-ACL who by the 1920s had developed a plan to free Liberia of it’s debts and establish it as the “Free, Sovereign and Independent State” it pledged in its 1847 constitution. Alas the intrigues of the USA government, the Firestone company, and the lack of fortitude of the Liberian government, aided and abetted by treacherous interloper WEB DuBois meant that that in “one of the worst concessions in human history,” Firestone was given the land promised to the UNIA-ACL – one million acres for six cents an acre for ninety-nine years, establishing a “new brand of colonial exploitation” not just for Liberia but for the entire continent. (3)

Since 1926 when the deal was signed Firestone has become the world’s single-largest natural rubber producing company. However, critics say that the company’s operation has failed to add any local value to the arduous toil of their workers whose products are exported for high value, with the country still having to import a huge quantity of finished rubber products. Firestone counters that its employees are the best paid in the country whose families have access to education and healthcare. (4)

But worker conditions are arguably just the tip of the rubber multi-national’s iceberg of ignominy. Up to the mid-2000s the company’s workers lived in windowless houses, without running water and electricity on the Firestone plantation (yes, plantation) where industrial waste pollutes the soil and water. (5) The worker quotas are so demanding that employees wives and children are frequently used to help meet them. (6)

The 1926 deal is also said to have elevated Firestone to a dictatorship where it controls the economic destiny of the government. (7) In addition to economic control every Liberian administration for almost a century has been compelled to bend to the will of Firestone, although many observers suggest there was little encouragement required for the ruling so-called “Americo-Liberian “ class, perhaps with the exception of president Tolbert. (8) Worse still the conglomerate stands accused of facilitating atrocities to protect its finance, most notoriously with warlord turned president Charles Taylor. The company denies the allegations. (9)

In 2009, during the presidency of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the original ninety-nine year lease was extended by thirty-six years and is now scheduled to end in 2045. Firestone officials claim the extension demonstrates their commitment to help rebuild Liberia. Critics say that Firestone has functioned as “a nation within a nation” for its own benefit and it should have been turned over to the Liberian government at the end of the original term in 2025. (10) Firestone has had almost a century to help build Liberia, let alone rebuild it. Surely Liberians, indeed Afrikans must rue the missed opportunity offered by the Garvey Movement.

Sis. Kau Fahnbulleh: was born in the USA of Liberian heritage and has undertaken several high-level governmental and non-governmental roles in Liberia where she now resides, using her background in public policy and statistics. Sis. Kau has been a social and political activist since 14 years of age and is also a trained archival researcher and student of Liberian and African World history. She shares her findings on her FOL podcast titled, The Liberia History Channel. Sis. Kau is the devoted wife of Boakai Fahnbulleh and the proud mother of four children, Ashay, Nasir, Adama and Naima.

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