A letter to Malia and Sasha Obama, in light of their visit to Liberia.
OP-ED: Protect Endangered Girls by Leveraging Foreign Aid to Bring Democracy
America’s First Lady Michelle Obama is coming to Liberia to promote education for girls. But Liberian girls face far greater life and death challenges, more daunting than education.
OP-ED: Michelle Obama’s Visit Follows Historical Template of Superficial US Engagement in Liberia
On Monday, Michelle Obama, with daughters Malia and Sasha in tow, touches down in Liberia for a day. The US first lady will not set foot in the capital, her two public events will be at a school in Unification Town and at the Peace Corps training facility in Kakata. No sooner will the Obama’s have arrived and they will be on their way to Morocco.
OP-ED: Systemic Discrimination and Dysfunction Exacerbates Refugee Crisis
As our world faces the worst refugee crisis in history, the best responses have been largely self-serving and as a consequence, have exacerbated and not solved the problem.
OP-ED: My Caseworker Experience in West Africa
In July of 2001, I was renting an apartment in Dakar, Senegal, and rapidly running through my hard earned savings from DJ work and driving a taxicab in Chicago, my hometown. I was having a blast, taking long train rides to Bamako, Mali, learning French with the English majors at Cheikh Anta Diop University, exploring Dakar nightlife, collecting Senegalese Hip-Hop and Mbalax music on cassettes and CDs, visiting the beaches in Casamance, southern Senegal, but I was also going broke.
OP-ED: Commemorating the ‘Day of the African Child’
Children are the fabric of society’s sustainability; therefore, their development determines the fate of what the outcome of society is.
OP-ED: Why the Surge of Concern for Liberia’s Ability to Fight Islamic Terrorism is Misplaced
In March, the Ivorian coastal resort town of Grand Bassam was targeted by Islamic militants linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. This event seems to be the primary calculus behind the new alarm. Thomas-Greenfield’s view was shared by the UN Panel of Experts on Liberia, whose final report stated that “terrorist attacks in Côte d’Ivoire heighten security concerns in Liberia.â€
OP-ED: President Obama Must Declassify 28 Pages of 9/11 Report
This Memorial Day weekend, we in America honor those who tragically lost their lives during the 9/11 attacks as well as the thousands of American citizens killed serving in the conflicts that followed.