Liberia Kicks Off Bicentennial Celebrating Arrival of Black Americans

President George Weah on Monday called on Liberians to embrace unity and reconciliation as he launched year-long celebrations of the bicentennial of the arrival of the first free Black Americans in 1822.

The former slaves arrived in Providence Island, now the capital Monrovia, in 1822, as part of a mission by the American Colonization Society, which aimed to reduce the number of free Blacks in the U.S. by settling them in Africa.

The Republic of Liberia was founded in 1847, the second Black republic in the world at the time, after Haiti.

{snip} Weah celebrated Liberia’s progress despite periods of civil unrest {snip}

“I believe that our forefathers can look down on today’s Liberia with pride and satisfaction, seeing that their dreams have not only been realized, but that their vision has also been sustained,” he said.

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