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>> There's no royal road reconciliation is a process. It's painstaking there are people who do not want to recant what has happened to them because it's painful to talk about what has happened to you it's painful that I will talk to my my dad just two days before he was killed it's very painful to recollect that it's very painful for me when I was at a refugee camp in Kenya to see a woman who was sort traumatized because they killed and was burned right in front of her and she was pregnant that she died in the hospital in Kenya it's very painful it's very painful we all do have stories to tell it's very painful when we moved the Liberian people from the Kalama refugee camp when Tell us people were coming there to watch her move.

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And three babies died that very night it's very painful to recollect. But as much as painful. It is more painful forced not to see what has happened to us and I think this forum provides us the opportunity to be able to tell our story by the same token so that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission now been given demanding to be able to select cases so that those cases can be made so that we can make an example of those cases so that we cannot make people would have been proud of the process of claiming lives and destroy me to go on punished so that.

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We can come together as victims and victims victimizers to understand that we as a people or accountability to each other it hurts me going to Monrovia and I was. There with you when the United when all these press where you get your house and you were talking about the process the question of land that was taking place in Bangor and other places.

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And I was furious to see that people who have committed atrocities are now enjoying and moving very freely but that's why we have this process. People actually the question of how can this be a sin be the senator of so and so and so it's all about the process so what I recommend that we should not falter in this process that we should continue this process we should put mechanism in place that will help those who had suffered and even those were committed suffering on people those mechanisms are going to be based and this is what I want to say that the only mechanism that we put in place in terms of this field in process must be rooted in the costumes tradition and history of Liberia if not it's not going to happen you remember for very long time after the first seven year war you was part of that that's a process where we were saying to the Charles Taylor government why not a truth and reconciliation process in place he just denied and neglected that and I am glad now it has come to fusion that now we have the opportunity to come and tell our story so we need mechanisms to put in place and this I think the T.L.C. is doing a wonderful job not going to all of the counties but hostile to begin to revisit our history and I think it's of of so process where we have to come back and revisit and revise our history so that we can understand we are we've come we fall short and you've made a mistake so that this process would help us in reconstructing what we do have in Liberia as.

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I spoke when I was in I believe it and I know that like the Russian rise again and now people are writing more books and I have to be. People to get the summer of today because I thought I was the founder of the world like us will rise again.

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Thank you. I want to say thank you for your present Tayshaun of Liberia history in math telling also your story and making recommendations to the T R A C. You also remind us of the era where we wars were given told those who did wrong to the country and lease we should be reminded of the lessons that we learned from that.

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You are called as an expert witness on my view and history to give some present ation an expert witnesses will create a little more than an ordinary witness and for Republican for us Utah laws that your parents came from. And you were born in name our county and you came to the United States nine hundred eighty seven for me I need a little more of your present ation spoke for itself but sense these things are being documented Could you tell me a little more about yourself.

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To convince me to put you in the character of an expert witness on my beer and you know I just after school and I were just in the streets of Atlanta Dr Tucker. You know another kind of things no I want to I'm just kidding I know now let me tell me just now the number that we all had to do was ALSO world we're not going to let me let me just say this.

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I grew up in San you and. And you keep our. Age and all those places my father was a medical doctor dad for the economy and later on he left and went to. An established family. We stayed in Cuba and then later on I was saying to one of our uncles that were in Sierra Leone and I went to school.

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And. Played I played. We called the football for one of the prominent teams over there and day and one of the prominent teams in Liberia went over to Sierra Leone to play and then he said You better come back home you know because you can come in and be with these people why are you playing against us so I had to return home and then played for India and play for I.E. for some time and then decided that school is more important those just than playing football in Monrovia and so I went to cut into it in one thousand nine hundred three graduated in one nine hundred eighty six.

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One thousand nine hundred eighty six when we're graduating you member the after the election time one was to speak of cutting teen and I being the valedictorian and also a member of the student government said that we were not going to participate in that ceremony but ceased being the valedictorian I was forced to participate and all of my relatives were there to congratulate me I could not stay away but then in one thousand eighty seven I got a Fulbright scholarship to come to the United States and my intent you know I went to Indiana University in My intention was to after finish my MASTERS and P.H.D. was to go back home in fact at Covington there were people who were calling it said you have your name everywhere you going to come back home and then the war.

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We just destroyed and so I did not know what to do after it was time for me. To do my fieldwork my dissertation field walk I decided that since I cannot go back to Liberia because my dissertation was involved with. Indigenous entrepreneurs and capitalists what I was doing what I did in this situation was to refute the fact that capitalism came to Liberia as a resolved of the coming of the settlers and what I was trying to show that capitalism was already before the nineteenth century it was not called capitalism it was called by different names that indigenous peoples in that region where you are in kind of capitalism and so I was able to go to the archives in London since I cannot go back home but then later on decided I have to go and make a contribution at this time someone had already told me what happened to my dad and mom and I said well I probably my see another relative and that's how I left London and went to Kenya and stayed in a refugee camp for a year and you know the nation axed me to be the head of the educational.

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Committee which we were taking in Liberia and to do various kinds of schools in in Kenya it worked out very well and then then came to Charles Taylor movement and we have to move the people to what are low and then what many people said look you need to go back home you need to go back to Liberia to the United States and finish your Ph D. because of all of these as I decided I came back to the United States wrote my dissertation Now there was nowhere to go home so a friend of mine just Kia said listen there is no home to go to right now you better look for a job and I was reluctant at first as she decided to move from Indiana I thought a semester at Indiana I decided to move from uni.

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And go to Atlanta where it's now become a second home I've been guess since one thousand nine hundred ninety one and I've been there from one thousand nine hundred one teaching at the Atlanta University consortium which made up of Morehouse Spelman Clark Atlanta Maurice Brown and. School of Medicine cannot be India since that time teaching so I believe after well let me let me say this again.

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Chairman Vijay and I of course we've come a long way during those political parties back to back home we used to be was a central street where we used to people come and beat us up at the. Center it was interesting but you know. And so. The story that I'm trying to make here is the fact that after all of this I decided that when Charles Taylor became president what I did.

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Before that and I'm glad I came to Morehouse as a professor because he had help for us to recruit a number of our Liberian students to come to that institution and to gain education in fact the last thing i do we. Know I went to Liberia and went to all of the high schools and recruited at that time we did not any kind of agreement we spared mine as a female so most of the people that we brought where near and far we have over forty students were the last batches graduates in Baghdad and to play.

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Just graduated you have jobs at least you can go back home but you know the jobs here when you graduate you have all these knowledge to just take you and give you all this money is going to North Carolina is working what we call via And so not only now do we begin to bring.

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Female students in fact the last time when I was there we're looking very strongly with regards to how we can help our female students to bring them to you know science system so I have been after the war in fact I did I would a letter to the President Charles Taylor at the time and he invited me to return we my my uncle said well you know if I come with today we say I am the one who told you about all of this is too late Michael the bishop Francis to take us to meet Charles Taylor That's when I knew we were in trouble in fact after after that meeting which I asked you know we also had a conference that we called colab state value was a part of the conference where we got a we got a we got.

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A grant from Ford we had this conference where we had my my point and the next day just for starters that he wanted to be the opening speaker and we refused because we had a hard the the Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time to be our speaker he was afraid because he said if the president said you want to be the opening speaker Hakken be and so we what we did we brought in the United Nations director in Liberia to to be the opening speaker the next day Charles to deploy troops all over the place we had to go through the media ambassador or the U.S. ambassador to leave the country very quickly so I'm saying all of this to let you know that I've been a part of the process I don't want to be president of Liberia I want to work behind the scene but I want to make a contribution and I'm do need him my only two way and I continue to do that in fact in the past this government that is in place my uncle would tell you I have visited the.

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Times with the hope that I will return and. I don't want to work with any government I'll do what I need to do to. I don't have to be in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs I don't know if I think that I was going to do was to go to the University.

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I was going to walk out and now I don't know where it is so I'm still working and doing what I need to do but my intent is to go home in fact it's very probably one of the things that people are afraid of that. TIME But I've said this for you to understand that this process that we're doing is a process that is very important that we help us to really be.

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For you to be not only to be where it was but to suppress where we are. Thank you for that explanation. Because India what you said you've been there you don't add another media but you making history participating in it T R A C process so you've convinced me of the expert witnesses.

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You speak like a lawyer George All right we. Hear a judge I know a lawyer of twenty six years. Just for maybe it was a lapse. And. Maybe you want to say something just. What you said you would say and I think. You talk say that from one thousand nine hundred forty three when you were talking you mentioned out of Barkley ASKED THE PRESIDENT Well I think just for to be may have picked it up I guess because we have a lot of we have.

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Dan we have Ed we really are to a park laid out what happened from ninety zero four to. You would have been. Right and it won't a history our history I was talking there for twenty and. Seventy S. the piece that was years ago what happened to one happy year I was it seemed at our Terran just.

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Picked it up that was just absolute shock. And also. President. You know to his. History will prove that maybe the fact. You just talk about refer to Harry. And not Harry Now you as the minister of state for presidential. Years but with that thank you very much Mr X. by witness and.

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I chaired a historical review for you. And you've made homework easier thank you very thank you. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. Thank you very much thank you. Normally I would not have actual question but considering your position as an expert witness and my concern for how to go forward in this country I would like to present the situation to you and actually to please give me your opinion about it OK first of all from what I'm seeing as I listen to you I realize there's a feeling that.

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The non-democratic self interest political leadership of our country over the years coupled with widespread ignorance of our people in illiteracy illiteracy led to widespread poverty social marginalization and injustice was created a fertile soil for change in the seventy's then be. See that regrettably in the eighty's ritual was a path of change that was quite similar to the was a big revolution in Russia that is violent revolutionary strategy as compared to the rule of law or using the policies or methods at and because of this it ended up turning the whole nation into a failed state and shifting leadership meaning just putting you know like musical chairs you move one to the leaders you put in another one you destroy the nation but there's no vision there's no new direction to carry us forward so my original question was asked for your recommendation but then my colleague did actually and I saw that you gave us things like we need to ensure that those who are responsible for the process are punish which means justice we need to look into the issue of last ration with those who brought the sorrow don't end up becoming leaders again and we need to put mechanisms into place to help those who have suffered meaning reparations and we need to revisit the history and learn better from it but even as I look at all of these solutions they seem to again be external meaning like you know the mind and body are structural changes will the structural changes really bring a change when the inner heart and spiritual values of our leaders and the people have not change from selfishness to unselfishness So I would like to you know just give us some comments in that area from your experience where one of the things that I said we were just a conference of violence in Atlanta Emory University of Washington was there and I was there I was invited as a Liberian historian and.

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Provide insight in kind of structures and one of the things that I said to them was. I think it's very important for us to we use our value systems. Of moral authority. And I think it's very important to do that how do we reestablish those values to stand is to engage.

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The leadership and this means with the just leaders local leaders and or the kind of leaders and I think it's very important for us to so that we can begin to look at what what when we were not of this new system particularly this system that I believe was imported from the United States that we do now what happened to the costumers system how did he walked for us and I think when we are able to do that we'll be able to help each other accountable so that's one way but there's another thing whenever a country.

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Comes out from this kind of war conflict. Impatience hired the people so even if their structure was that you going to put in place a question that people are asking what is it there for me now not in the long run but in the stock turn so whatever structures and I always bring back my colleagues and others to look at what happened in Ghana.

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In Ghana what happened even though I did not go through this kind of protective war there was a time where they have their own shortcomings and when what came into power he began to put structures in place and people said this is not what we're looking for we're looking for results now but guess what happened that at play a very crucial role in providing dividends in what happens in the country even even now know that even the current sea of Karna is equivalent to the dollar of the United States if not even sly.

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It's Lee So just structures and I remember coming from Liberia going through to Ghana I was in a one of the taxi drivers car where I actually am I said do you think what this man is doing is going to happen he said Well many people don't see that way but in the long run it's going to help us what is the point that I'm making here.

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It is good to put the foundational structures for the long term developing cause like us what we want is a quick fix let's fix it right now if you fix it right now what's going to happen in the long run is something very different so it seems to me there's Fuck shows that are very important that appear to Liberia it's all Liberians one of the things that we did when we were in Monrovia and I took some colleagues with me is to begin to look about this question of national identity and we do talk with.

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My uncle here about me to say I'm an idealist. And if you are able to create a national identity where everybody will see themselves within that scope then we can begin to ignore that it would be wrong for me to watch you because right you belong to me and I belong to you I don't believe John.

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One of the profound things and I always tell people it is not I'm Laurie Fine Prince Johnson but as one thing that is sad when he was interviewed one time he said how can we do wrong to each other because we are now one another through marriage and through religion and I was so profound except I did not practice that you know.

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But the but I was so profound it was so profound that if we're able to have these structures that remind us and if people begin to see I was sad because what we need is a notch. On identity because all of the semblance that we're using now the we do not see ourselves within them so maybe the three R.'s you can make recommendation one of the things that I really admire about South Africa it's even the flag.

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Now appeals to the people the population they see themselves within the flood at the beginning they were saying what does it got to do with us until one able to change a simple fact and you saw them serve that one part of this life it talks about agriculture it talks about it talks about I can relate to these and what do we have to be able to produce to relate to Liberians as we struggle to be able to put structures in place only that we will not go back to those things that brought us back to work because all thing that is very important.

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We can put all the structures in place we can do all of the things that we have to do. If we did not address the immediate situations of and power in people economically and politically with a particularly economically we must employ our people especially those.